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OPEN RANGE RANCHING IN NORTH DAKOTA 1870S-1910S

CONTEXT STUDY

Barbara Beving Long 1996

Rivercrest Associates, Inc.

969 Rivercrest Road North. Lakeland, Minnesota 55043 ? 612/436-1804

The context which is the subject of this document has been fmanced in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, a division of the United States Department of the Interior, and administered by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The contents and opinions, however, do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of the Interior or the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

This program receives Federal funds from the National Park Service. Regulations of the United States Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in departmental Federally Assisted Programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes she or he has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of Federal assistance should write to: Director, Equal Opportunity Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20013-7127.

MANUSCRIPT DATA RECORD FORM

1. Manuscript Number (leave blank):

2. Former Manuscript Number (leave blank):

3.

Author(s):

BARBARA BEVTING LONG

4. Title:

OPEN RANGE RANCHING IN NORTH DAKOTA, 1870S-1910S

5. Date:

1996

6. Number of Pages (including front matter, references cited, and appendices): 102

7. Type (I=Inventory, T=Test, E=Excavation, O=Other):

TYPE 0

8. Acreage (for inventory only):

N/A

9. Legal Location:

NIAI

ABSTRACT

Open Range Ranching in North Dakota, 1870s-1910s, is a context study of an important aspect of agriculture in North Dakota. The study covers the circumstances behind the establishment, growth and evolution over time of ranching operations in western North Dakota. The principal defining features of open range ranching are neglect of livestock, the availability of an extensive free and open range, the presence of stockmen's associations who impose order, and the absence of land surveys. These practices could not have developed in North Dakota until the buffalo were slaughtered and the Native American occupants of the land removed to reservations. The construction of transcontinental railroad systems directly fostered the industry, for it provided the means for cattle to reach growing markets in Europe and eastern America.

Three types of open range ranching operations occurred. The first were the pre-railroad ranchers who supplied special markets, including mining camps in the Black Hills, Indian agencies, and military outposts. Developing in earnest between 1881 and 1886, bonanza ranching was ranching on a large scale; many participants brought stock in from Texas. Still other open range ranchers shipped in blooded stock, mostly Shorthorn and Hereford, from the Midwest and the west coast. Significant numbers of ranchers came to North Dakota from Texas, the East and Midwest, and foreign countries, including France, Canada, and Scotland.

The winter of 1886-87 was disastrous, following on the heels of a drought, and thousands of cattle perished. Coupled with falling prices, the winter marked a shift on the open range. Factors in the change included ignorance of the qualities of the semiarid Great Plains environment, onset of land surveys, and the arrival of many more homesteaders. The free range policy encouraged overstocking of the range as an international speculative fever brought on a fleeting cattle boom. Large numbers of cattle continued to be brought into western North Dakota, but in diminishing numbers. The definition of a "big rancher" changed over time, from between 10,000 and 25,000 in the 1880s to between 50 and 1000 head by 1904. By the 1910s, the open range ranching period had passed.

The context for this study was related to actual examples through the development of property types. Livestock Management Networks are properties associated with moving livestock into, within or out of the free range. Open Range Ranch Headquarters were constructed to accommodate personnel and livestock, such as saddle horses, at ranch headquarters. Research identified 145 ranches established some time between the late 1870s and the late 1890s in 19 counties. Significant concentrations were located in Billings, Dunn, McHenry, and Oliver counties.

The context study was prepared following National Register Bulletins 15, 16A and 16B, 24, 30, and 32, and state guidelines. All work was conducted in a manner consisted with the standards and guidelines published by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

? ABSTRACT?

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