Lecture 6: Ways
and Habits of the West
The title comes from a memoir written by Virginia Bill
Hamilton, who upon having taken up ranching in Dakota Territory, said he no
longer was fit for life back east, because he had adopted “the ways and
habits of the West.” This lecture, like Hamilton’s memoir, focuses on
ranching on the Great Plains.
Outline of
Lecture
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Introduction:
Rawhide to Lonesome Dove
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The Long Drive
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This is the traditional way to begin the story of the range
cattle industry in the American West—begin in Texas, tracing back to
Spanish origins, then forward with the long drive and with northward
expansion up the plains. Credit where it’s due—surely much of the culture
of the cattle range is of Hispanic origin. The origins and evolution of the
range cattle industry, however, are more complex than credited by early
historians.
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The Open Range
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Whereas early cattle drives ended in cattle town
stockyards, subsequent movements stocked the ranges north to Montana with
beeves to be finished on grass and then with breeding stock for cow-calf
operations. In prairie Canada, too, extensive ranching commenced, but on a
somewhat different basis than in the US. The end of the open-range cattle
industry, subject of so much nostalgia, is itself mythic—but not so
clear-cut as generally portrayed.
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Cattle
Kingdoms
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“The Cattle Kingdom” is a phrase often used in histories
to describe the open range era—as if once fences went up, cattle culture
ended on the plains. In fact, there have been new cattle kingdoms after the
open range, successions and adaptations whereby cattle culture continually
reinvents itself. It is a commonplace of our
mythology now and then to announce the demise of the cowboy. Such
announcements are premature.
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Amarillo by
Morning
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“The Cattle Kingdom” is a phrase often used in histories
to describe the open range era—as if once fences went up, cattle culture
ended on the plains. In fact, there have been new cattle kingdoms after the
open range, successions and adaptations whereby cattle culture continually
reinvents itself. It is a commonplace of our
mythology now and then to announce the demise of the cowboy. Such
announcements are premature.
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Assignments
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WWW
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In connection with the Long
Drive, check out my handy map of cattle trails.
"In Search of Virginia Bill" is
my site recounting research on South Dakota rancher and autobiographer W.
H. Hamilton.
My singing text of "The Strawberry Roan"
is posted at my folksong site.
Before you quit, throw your
loop over the International Texas Longhorn Association.
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Reading
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Thinking About the
Great Plains
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Haley, J. Evetts. “Cow
Business and Monkey Business,” Saturday
Evening Post 207 (8 December 1934): 26-29, 94-95.
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The Great Plains
at the Grassroots
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TBA
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Selected Bibliography
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Osgood, The Range Cattle Industry
Jordan, North American Cattle Ranching Frontiers
Abbott, We Pointed Them North
Adams, Log of a Cowboy
Gilfillan, Sheep
Lang, Ranching
with Roosevelt
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Film
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Rawhide
Red River
Lonesome Dove
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HIST 431 Home Page
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