Cattle Ranching in the 1800s
By Jonathan Brandt
The History
• A ranch is a large area of land that is used
to farm animals. Ranchers let the animals
graze, and have space for themselves. In
these open ranges they often raised
cows, elks, bison, or even ostrich, emu
and alpacas.
Ranches
• A ranch is a large area of land that is used
to farm animals. Ranchers let the animals
graze, and have space for themselves. In
these open ranges they often raised
cows, elks, bison, or even ostrich, emu
and alpacas
Open-Range
•
The western Open-Range tradition
started from the early practice of animals
grazing in newly gained western territories.
The cattle could roam free regardless of
ownership. Later these ranges were partly
shut down due to farming, mining, and
railroads ripping through the middle of
them.
Cattle Breeds
•
There are over eight hundred breeds of
cattle recognized worldwide. The type in
the U.S. is Bos Inducus that is found in
warmer climates, other kinds of cattle are
Africangus, Aleutian wild cattle, American,
Milking Devon, White park, Amerifax,
Barzona, Beefalo, Beefmaster, Brangus,
Bue Lingo, Florida Cracker, Randall, and
Texas Longhorn.
Life of a female cow
• The life of a female cow has a special
purpose; they are used for milk, butter,
and after that, meat. In some cases, there
is veal, which is a calf that is not very
strong and is used for tender meat usually
only two to four weeks after birth. The
average life span of a cow is around
twenty years, a cow on a dairy farm is
alive for often four to five years.
Meat
Industry
• Men slaughter animals for beef in the meat
industry. Using animals like pigs, cows, bison,
sheep, and other livestock. This cattle industry
is mainly focused on producing meat for human
consumption but it also includes a variety of
other products including hides, feathers, and
dried blood. These industries are also called
meat packing plants. The meat industry grew
with the construction of railroads made available
through the transport of items to central areas
for processing, and the transport of products
throughout the whole nation.
Cattle and Meat transportation
• In the 1800’s the main way to go somewhere was the railroad and
they also used this to ship beef from one place to another. Using
the railroad would be much faster than carrying it yourself in a
wagon or something similar to that. By 1848 the exportation of meat
had increased almost 10%; the first shipment of meat supposedly
was shipped in 1867 with twenty cars full of longhorn cattle. By
1900 the railroads dominated the meat market and the trucking
industry was its rival. When the idea of the refrigerated trailer had
come along, this was the main way of shipping cattle to different
places. Overtime the railroads fell into disrepair, so they were used
less to ship any more cattle to auctions, feeders, and processors.
Shipping cattle by truck was much more economical, humane, and
offered more options in routing cattle to auctions. The trucking
industry helped to create an interconnected road system throughout
the whole United States.
Cowpeople
• A cowboy (or cowgirl), was an animal herder
who took care of animals on a ranch in North
America, they normally used a horse to herd the
cattle, and took care of other things on the farm
as well. A different type of a cowboy is called a
Wrangler, who would only take care of the
animals, (specifically the horses). Cowboys
would also sometimes participate in rodeos,
which is a large bull wrangling competition.
The finish…or is it?????????
• Ranchers had a large effect on the U.S. in
all these ways. Ranchers are a big part of
the history of North America. Providing
meat and other products throughout the
U.S.
The
“power”
sources
• Meat Industry
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_packing_indust
ry
• Cattle Breeds
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cattle_breeds
• Ranches
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranch
• World Book Encyclopedia No.3 C-Ch, Cattle,
1996 Edition
• United States History, Holt Rinehart and
Winston, 2007, Chapter 18 Section 1 Pg. 589