Part one: Birth of a boom. The demise of the bison ; Cattle for cash ; Birth of the cattle town ; Cattle-town high jinks ; Lighting the fuse ; Cowboy aristocrats
Part two: Cowboys and cattle kings. From stockyard to steakhouse ; The rise of Cheyenne ; Barbed wire : the devil's rope ; Frewen's castle ; The nature crusader
Part three: The boom busts. Teddy Blue and the necktie socials ; Mortal ruin ; Poker on joint-stock principles ; The big die-up ; The fall of Cheyenne
Part four: Nails in the coffin. The rustler problem ; Nate Champion and the Johnson County War ; The cowboy president ; The closing of the range ; Failed second acts ; Myths of the Old West
Afterword: "Unhorsed for good."