Cattle baron
Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence[1] through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes referred to as cowmen,[2] stockmen, or just ranchers. In Australia, similar individuals owned large cattle stations. A similar phenomenon occurred in part of Canada in the early twentieth century.
Notable examples
In the American Old West:
- Otto Franc
- Charles Goodnight. Essayist and historian J. Frank Dobie said that Goodnight "approached greatness more nearly than any other cowman of history."[2]
- John Chisum
- Tom McCall
- Conrad Kohrs; see Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
- Oliver Loving
- James Dolan
- Susan McSween
- Frank Wolcott
- Margaret Borland
- Matthew Rohrbach see the belt buckle of the corn belt
In Australia:
In Canada:
- The Big Four (Calgary) (four businessmen: two ranchers, a meat packer, and a brewer who founded the Calgary Stampede, the world's richest rodeo)
- George Lane, rancher
- A. E. Cross, rancher Bar U Ranch
- Patrick Burns
- Archibald J. McLean
In England:
- Jonathan Wall (Baron of Cambridge who held a significant amount of land on which he kept several thousand cattle)
In popular culture
Cattle barons appear in numerous Western novels and films, often as villains. Such films include Broken Lance (1954), Lawman (1971) and Heaven's Gate (1980). In the Fallout video game series, Brahmin barons are exactly the same as cattle barons but herd mutated livestock instead of normal animals.
Since the 1970s, the term remained a recurring archetype in popular culture, mainly in Western movies and television. the figure is usually portrayed as a wealthy and politically influential ranch owner, often serving as an antagonist in conflicts of land, water or grazing rights. In the 1980 film - Heaven's gate that is based on the Johnson County War the cattle barons are presented as powerful members of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, working against immigrant settlers. Other recent examples can be seen according to commentators in the television series Yellowstone.[4][5]
See also
- Cattle Baron's Ball, a Dallas, Texas fundraising event
- Wyoming Stock Growers Association
- Aztec Land & Cattle Company (1884–1902)
- Willamette Cattle Company
- Santa Fe Ring
- Empire Ranch
References
- ↑ ""baron" definition 4 Merriam-Webster online dictionary© 2010 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- 1 2 Deborah Hedstrom-Page (2007). From Ranch to Railhead with Charles Goodnight. B&H Publishing Group. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-8054-3272-5.
- ↑ "Cattle baron's death mourned". Bigpond news (source: ABC). 3 December 2005. Archived from the original on 5 December 2005.
- ↑ "Cattle – Jeff Arnold's West". 23 January 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
- ↑ Scofield, Rebecca (2017). ""Chaps and Scowls": Play, Violence, and the Post-1970s Urban Cowboy". The Journal of American Culture. 40 (4): 325–340. doi:10.1111/jacc.12805. ISSN 1542-734X.