OklahomaHorses Magazine May 2022

May/June 2022 • OklahomaHorses 23 issue of stray cattle in the Cherokee Strip. At the meeting, they formally organized the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association. Pressured by the federal government and the increase of white settlement in the territory, the association was short-lived. During its 10-year history, it is credited with being one of the most significant as- sociations in the world. But much like the cattle-drive era, the large-scale leasing era also proved to be short. The post–Civil War era saw the rapid ex- pansion of railroads in the West, including Indian Territory. As early as 1866, Congress passed various acts authorizing rail com- panies to eventually enter the territory. By the end of the 1880s, countless railroad lines crisscrossed the territory, helping to eliminate the need for moving herds up the cattle trails to Kansas. The expansion in rail lines also increased pressure for opening Indian Territory to white homesteaders. Hoping to recoup their large capital invest- ment, railroad companies lobbied Wash- ington to open the territory to new settlers so developing communities would lead to increased agricultural and business-related operations. As Oklahoma opened to white settlement through a series of land runs and other procedures, free-range ranching ground to a halt. Cattle ranching in the new Oklahoma Territory (split off from the eastern part of Indian Territory after the first land run, in 1889) adapted quickly as smaller ranches popped up across the area when settlers staked new claims. Although a few large ranches such as the Miller Brothers’ 101 Ranch, the Hitch Ranch, and the Chap- man-Barnard Ranch continued to graze cattle on thousands of acres, many Okla- homans turned their attention to raising improved breeds such as Herefords. Scientific Ranching Transforms the Cattle Industry In 1910, businessman Edward Morris established a stockyard and meatpack- ing plant in Oklahoma City. Wilson and Armor constructed meat-packaging and processing plants in Oklahoma City within a few years. The area quickly became known as a “packing town” and employed thousands of workers. Eventually, the newly formed stockyard gained in size. It contin- ued to grow as other significant markets in Chicago, Kansas City, and Omaha were shuttered. By the end of the twentieth cen- tury, the Oklahoma National Stockyards had grown to become the world’s largest stock-feeder cattle market. Oklahoma ranchers quickly adapted to new, improved scientific ranching after Oklahoma statehood in 1907, when Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory were ad- mitted to the Union as a single state. Some of the old practices such as cowboys riding horseback and eating from a chuck wagon were still used during roundups, but the days of wild Texas longhorns making their way across the prairie were replaced with the development of improved cattle breeds. Rather than wintering cattle on open grassland, ranchers began to supply herds with hay and provide some protection from the elements. Animal-science programs at agricultural and mechanical colleges helped to turn livestock into a booming business as diseases that had plagued livestock for years were controlled or eradicated. This transition into science-based animal husbandry helped to push cattlemen from “scrub” longhorns toward purebred cattle. Oklahoma ranchers, including various oil-company executives, began to build large stocks of English Herefords, Aberdeen Angus, and Durhams to supply the thriving This map shows land that the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association leased to ranchers in 1884.