One can see a lot of cattle in Wyoming, if you drive through
you will also see plenty of horses and an abundance of pronghorn. But this post
is all about cattle and the beginning of the cattle industry in the state.
In 1847 a group of Mormons drove the first herd of cattle
through the state. Later these cattle of Durham and Devon type were developed
and used to stock western Wyoming ranches, along with the tough longhorn out of
Texas.
The first cattle proving that Wyoming grass could support them
was a complete accident. Robert Campbell and his partner Seth Ward wintered hundreds
of oxen in the Chugwater and Guernsey area as early as 1852. The cattle
wintered on Chug Creek and near Seth Wards, Oregon Trail trading post at Register
Cliff, near Guernsey on the North Platte River.
The first, poor, tired, sore footed oxen they wintered were
expected to die, they really were not trying to start a cattle industry in Wyoming.
But to their great surprise, when spring came, the oxen not only survived the
winter, but thrived, and were ready to go back to work on the trail.
The rest is easy to see. Take a drive through any part of Wyoming
and cattle, fat and sassy, can be seen, enjoying the hard short grass of Wyoming.
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