THE CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL EXPANSION - BRITISH RANCHERS IN WYOMING, 1879-1889

In the late-nineteenth century, open-range cattle ranching in the Amer ican West became popular among the British upper classes both as an in vestment and as a vocation. However, after a severe winter in 1886-188 7, many of these enterprises failed and foreign investment in the Amer ican range cattle industry waned. This paper examines the experiences of British ranchers in Wyoming and in particular the career of Moreton Frewen (1857-1924) in order to explore the dialectical relationship b etween culturally constructed nature, shaped by discourses of class an d gender, and material nature, itself transformed by capitalist produc tion. Although from an elite family, Frewen lacked the financial resou rces necessary to sustain the kind of life to which he felt he was ent itled. The great profits and excellent big-game hunting supposedly ava ilable to ranchers attracted him to the Powder River region of Wyoming , where he began a ranch that failed in the crisis of 1886-1887. Briti sh images of a bountiful American nature spurred investment, but also led to ranching practices that were ultimately harmful to the ranges u pon which cattle depended. A detailed study of the elite British ranch ers provides insight into the specific cultural, historical, environme ntal, and local contexts within which global capital expansion takes p lace.