Bill Nye's Cordwood

In this witty, turn‑of‑the‑century essay, Bill Nye turns his eye to the booming cattle frontier, painting a lively picture of the vast grazing lands that stretch from the Canadian border to the Mexican plains. He explains how the romance of the open range has given rise to countless fortunes—and a growing need for skilled hands to manage the herds, brand the stock, and keep the ranges from being overrun.

Nye’s imagination then leaps to a bold solution: a dedicated college for cowboys. He sketches a school where a young rancher could learn everything from rope tricks to the science of brand identification, even studying the language of the range as if it were a classic text. The piece balances humor with earnest advocacy, suggesting that a formal education could turn the rough‑and‑ready cowboy into a learned steward of America’s most iconic industry.