County of marker: Harding County
Location of marker: Canam Hwy (US-85/SD-20), Centennial Park, Buffalo
Marker erected: July 3, 2009
Marker erected by: Harding County Chamber of Commerce
Marker text:
Cattle Ranching In Harding County
Harding County is part of the "Short Grass Country", so named because of vegetation in the area. While most grasses go dormant during the fall, losing all nutritional value until spring, short grass 0 or "buffalo grass" - turns on the stem, retaining its nutrition during the winter. This advantage, along with the mild winters and the wind which usually keeps snow off the hilltops, makes Harding County an ideal area for cattle ranching.
It was these attributes that, along with the thousands of acres of free grazing , attracted the large southern cattle outfits to move into this area in the early 1880's. The cattle outfits primarily Texas and Oklahoma, began to drive north during the summer to graze on the rich buffalo grasses. These cattle barons soon discovered that it was not necessary to make the return drive in the fall. The cattle did well in this area during all but the most severe of winters. Thus the large ranch era was ushered into Harding County. Some of the early large cattle outfits, whose cattle ranged in this area, included the E6, the Turkey Track, the Hashknife, the Mill Iron, the CY, the 101, the Flying V, and the Maltese Cross and the Elkhorn, which were owned by Theodore Roosevelt. The Mill Iron which grazed western Harding County and eastern Montana, ran 80,000 head of cattle and owned 1,500 horses. The Turkey Track ran 45,000 head of cattle in Harding, Perkins and Butte Counties. At the same time, the Jones Brothers Ranch in the Slim Buttes was reportedly the largest horse ranch in the United States.
Because the large outfits kept the cowboys in the area, each one established headquarters where the cowboys lived and from which the cowboys worked.
The cattle herds were turned loose in the area to shift for themselves. At spring round-up, each outfit branded its calves. During the fall, huge round-ups were held, at which time each outfit gathered its cattle and the cattle which were to be sold were sorted out and train=led to the railway for shipment to the market. On the round-ups, each outfit would have five to eight wagons, 75 to 80 cowboys and 700 to 800 working horses.
Following the terrible winter of 1987-88 [should this be 1887-88?] which wiped out the majority of the large herds, the era of the free grazing came to an end with the coming of the smaller cattlemen, the homesteaders, and the sheepmen, who homesteaded the main watering places and sheltered areas, signaling the end of the large cow outfits. Many men who came north with the large outfits stayed and established their own ranches. They can be considered the first permanent settlers as they established homes and communities. The descendants of many of these families still ranch in Harding County
The vegetation in Harding County also proved advantageous for the raising of sheep, which could more easily adapt to the lack of water, and thus many large sheep ranches flourished in the area. Due to the fluctuating market for cattle, many cattlemen also added sheep to their operations to help financially. As one rancher stated: "Cattle for prestige, sheep for profit."