Download or read book Cowboys, Gentlemen, and Cattle Thieves written by W. M. Elofson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2000 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prostitution, gunfights, barroom brawls and cattle rustling - while prevailing images from the American old West - have typically been absent from histories of the Canadian frontier. In Cowboys, Gentlemen, and Cattle Thieves Warren Elofson demonstrates that the Canadian frontier was less restrained, law-abiding, and insulated from death and violence than has been believed. He challenges traditional views that Canadian ranching society was a microcosm of the "Old World," arguing that the greatest influence on ranchers and settlers was the need to deal with the frontier environment.