British Aristocrats in the American West: A Review of Prairie Fever

Prairie Fever: British Aristocrats in the American West 1830 – 1890 was written by seventy – four year old author Peter Pagnamenta. Pagnamenta was born April 12, 1941, where he lived with his parents Frank and Daphane in Oxford, England. He attended Cambridge University where he received his Masters of Arts in 1963. Pagnamenta worked in television there in England with British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) in the 60’s, a producer in New York City, New York starting into the 1970’s and then started work the Thames Television in the last 70’s where he continue his career in television as the Executive Producer of documentaries for the station. Not only was Pagnamenta an accomplished producer, but writer as well.
Pagnamenta’s other works include, All Our Working Lives (1984), The Hidden Hall: Portrait of

Cambridge College (2004), Sword and Blossom (2006), The University of Cambridge: An 800th Anniversary Portrait (2009), and finally Prairie Fever: British Aristocrats in the American West 1830 – 1890 (2012). The first of these three books do not deal with the subject or the background of the American West nor those aristocrats who are covered throughout the book. Looking back at Pagnamenta’s earlier writing, the first dealt with the working class and their day struggles, while his next began to delve into the historical aspects he touched on in his most recent book Prairie Fever. Pagnamenta’s nonfiction work on Sword and the Blossom tells the true life story of a love affair between a young British Officer and a young Japanese woman at the turn of the twentieth century. Here is where Pagnamenta begins the journey into his path as a social historian as he worked to explain how these barrios continue to cause issues across the United States even after the 13th Amendment was placed into law. Social barriers were a major issue, still existing after the Civil War well into the twenty century. Pagnamenta’s last two books are pictorial histories of Cambridge University which Pagnamenta’s al ma mater. Pagnamenta’s book Prairie Fever, takes a closer look at the social interaction between the outspoken, and free-spirited cowboy and the reserved and sanctimonious British aristocrats.
Prairie Fever is set during the latter part of the nineteen century between 1830 – 1890.

During this time, there was still twenty states who had not entered into the Union, the population of the county would increase over 400% in sixty years and our nation would start with its seventh president Andrew Jackson and finish with the twenty-second president to be elected to the presidency Grover Cleveland. During this period not only did the world change, but the West. Pagnamenta did a great job as he explained in a chronological order how the west came into being. He broke the book into two main parts which I think was not only helpful to the reader, but also a great way to indicated to the audience there is a certain time break between the segments of the book. The author’s choice in doing this was a stroke of brilliance. The two key areas included, “Freedom of the Sprit” and “Staking a Claim” The major segments of the book gave a clear indication to the audience of the sub points that followed in each chapter. Each of the chapters built upon each other as Pagnamenta explained the significant role of the British Aristocrat in the shaping of the American

West.
The title of the book is give away to who the main characters are in this; the British Aristocrat. Although attempting to look at each character and explain his purpose or reason for coming to America, buying cattle ranches and settling them would take more time than this paper allows for. Those living in the United States during this period were not worried at the beginning about “foreigners’ buying up thousands upon thousands of acres of ranch land. The author spotlighted two different types of aristocrat that had come to the United States. There was the Lord or Duke who in Great Britain was losing his wealth to an antiquated system and doing what he could to keep that lifestyle. Mortan Frewen for an example came to the United States and begin to buy up land as quickly as possible using ever resource they could to secure these properties. John Adair who was another wealthy landowner from Europe, who owned a vast amount of land in the west, invited Frewan, on a hunting expedition. Upon Frewan’s arrival, it did not take long for him to fall in love with the beautiful landscapes that he encountered during his hunting expeditions. Frewan, worked hard to achieve what he had gained in the United States, in fact through letters to his to his future wife he attempted to explain the life he could give them in this new place. “I wonder darling if you will love this whole life. I think you will”. Frewan’s letter was far from swooping his young bride off her feet in anticipation to come to the West; however, it was convincing enough that she came to America to live with her husband near the Powder River basin in Wyoming. Although Frewan’s romantic tale of adventure in the great west, Pagnamenta quickly points out that the British aristocrats that had come West had plans of staying in this territory and making it their own.
Frewan states to his soon to be wife, “we are turning the natives out, and I think we shall annex the country before long”. Men like Frewan were staking claim to the ranches, prairies, and any land they could purchase. Another aristocrat that lay claim to thousands of acres of land in the West was the Earl of Dunraven. While on a hunting expedition in the Rockies, he came across an area of land that was breathtaking. He wanted to purchase the land, but the only problem was that it was Federal land and this was sold in smaller acreage versus a huge swath. The Earl worked his connections and was eventually able to purchase the 6,000 acres of Estes Park, Colorado for $15,000. This enraged locals in the area that knew that individuals like Dunraven would not live in Colorado, but manage his property from abroad in England. With each parcel that was bought those in the West felt, they were being pushed out and ruled by the will of the English Aristocrat. The forces of nature and the United States Government finally pushed backed on the land being purchased by the aristocrats and before the latter decade on the 19th century, many of the British landowners had sold off what they had and moved back to England.
The winter of 1886/87 was devastating for ranchers across the plains states. In states like Wyoming, ranchers lost over 15% of their cattle and in some areas of the state those numbers were closer to 25%. The price of cattle took a huge hit by the loss of cattle due to the storm and records indicate that the price of cattle did not get back to what they were before the blizzard until 1910. Many ranchers both British aristocrat and American lost many of their fortunes from this winter phenomenon. This would be the first part of what would send many of these landowners back to England, but prior to the losses being tallied from the storm a law was passed that sent the remainder back across the ocean. In February 1887, the Alien Land Bill was passed. If a landowner, had no intention of becoming a United States citizen, they were not eligible to purchase land. Pagnamenta, I believe was able to show the fear of many Americans of not having a place to call their own. Many were still aware of the atrocities that had taken place with land being taken from the Native American when the land was first settled and now these British “foreigners” were ousting them out of their land.
The Alien Land Bill, was in fact the final blow to many British aristocrats that held land in the West. Many began to sale the land back to those they had purchased it from and head back to their homeland. The west continued to struggle with growing pains well after the”British Invasion” was history, however the influence of the British was in fact good for our country, from this authors perspective it made not only the country but the land that made it up more important to those that lived there. Pagnamenta, did what I would consider a great job of chronicling the history of the British Aristocrat in the West. The examples and stories that were given were a fine example of what wealth and power can do to a country when those live there are not concerned of the consequences. Many Americans at the time did not think about the domino effect it would have on their land claims as well as the country as a whole with so much of the land being purchased by someone other than an American. The author also pointed at that the biased ideology of American’s during this time was being filled with the ideas of “Manifest Destiny” By having non-Americans owning land that was “rightfully” American land they could no longer afford to keep up with their purchasing power. When all else failed, they then turned to establishing laws and acts to forbid access to these lands. The author make a great argument that the British had come to claim what they felt was still rightfully theirs from past conflicts. However, the American had formulated a plan to fight, but without the bloody battles from over a century ago.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a variety of topics, from British and American history in the West, the influence of British culture in the West and finally understanding other European cultures made a stake on American soil. Excellent book for any personal library, in fact I plan to by a copy of my own.