Ranching
This article is about ranching. For other meanings see Ranch (disambiguation).Ranching is the raising of
cattle or
sheep on
rangeland, although one might also speak of ranching with regard to less common
livestock such as
elk,
bison or
emu. The word applies in the western
United States, in
Canada,
Latin America and
South America. (
Australian usage would refer to ranches as "
stations";
New Zealanders use the term "
runs".)
Historically, during a period on
the Frontier in
North America after the removal of the
American bison and the
Native Americans and before the coming of the
homesteaders, ranching dominated economic activity. The
public lands on the
Great Plains consisted of "open range," where anyone could turn cattle loose for grazing.
Barbed wire, invented in
1869, gradually made inroads in fencing off privately owned land, especially for homesteads. Ranching became limited to lands of little use for
arable farming.
Deep Hollow Ranch, 110 miles east of
New York City in
Montauk, New York, claims to be the first ranch in the United States, having continuously operated since 1658.
Ranching forms part of the
iconography of the
Western in motion pictures.
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Cattle drive in Colorado, USA |
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The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo), Australia's largest pastoral company
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S Kidman & Co (Australia), owners of the world's largest cattle station (ranch).
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The Thomas Ranch- located in
Cochise County,
Tombstone,
Bisbee,
Arizona since
1902.
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6666 Ranch - located in
West Texas.
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King Ranch - one of the largest ranches in the world, located in south
Texas.
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Vestey Group - major cattle ranching and interests in
Argentina,
Brazil and
Venezuela.
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XIT Ranch - a large ranch in the western
Texas Panhandle (no longer in existence).
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Bell Ranch, NM - a large ranch in the North Eastern New Mexico
New Mexico.
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CS Cattle Company - a large family owned ranch in Northern New Mexico[
1]
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La Escalera Ranch - Ranked by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the largest ranches in Texas, estimated 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) located in
Pecos County,
Reeves County,
Brewster Baylor County; owned and operated by the
Gerald Lyda family, headquartered in
Fort Stockton, Texas. The Lyda family has been involved in other major ranching operations in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, including the sprawling Ladder Ranch in southeastern New Mexico, now owned by media mogul
Ted Turner.
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Double Check Ranch, Arizona Sun Natural Beef - located in
Dudleyville, AZ.
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Breaking Clean by
Judy Blunt, Knopf: 2002, hardcover,
ISBN 0375401318*
This Was Cattle Ranching: Yesterday and Today by
Virginia Paul, Superior Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, 1973
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Heart-Diamond by
Kathy L. Greenwood, University of North Texas Press, 1989, hardback,
ISBN 0929398084*
The Bell Ranch As I Knew It by
George F. Ellis, The Lowell Press: 1973, hardcover,
ISBN 0-91350415-7*
Cattle Ranges of the Southwest, published 1898, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
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The Handbook of Texas Online: Ranching
