Section 1: Introduction
When the Aztec Cattle Company ("The Hashknife Outfit") first got to northeast
Arizona, they found knee-high grass as far as they could see. They moved cattle from
Texas to Arizona and just kept bringing in more and more. They ran those cattle on
about 2 million acres of land between Flagstaff and New Mexico. The cattle grazed the
grass off and the drought that had already started kept more grass from growing in.
There was already very little water, so the cattle started dying off by the thousands.
Country that used to look like an ocean of grass turned into a dried out, wind
blasted desert. During this same time, the railroads were being put in across the country
and cattle were starting to be shipped on trains. (This meant higher transportation costs
when cattle prices were starting to go down.)
Some of the worst parts of Arizona's history was caused by the Hashknife Outfit
and its cutthroat hired help. Mormon settlers were harassed, robbed, and run out of the
country. Cattle were stolen from the settlers and other ranches. But the worst problems
from the Hashknife cowboys was had by the sheepmen and the towns people. Towns like
Holbrook were the scenes of killing, drinking, whoring, and troublemaking. The
sheepmen were harassed, their sheep killed, and sometimes got themselves killed.
Section 2: The Search
The Hashknife Outfit pioneered large-scale cattle ranching in Arizona; but their
overgrazing scarred the land, drought and hard winters killed the cattle, and their
criminal behavior made its mark on Arizona's history.
The "Hashknife brand resembled a cooking utensil used by chuckwagon cooks to
chop up meat and potatoes for hash. The brand was owned by the Aztec Land and Cattle
Company and was used to brand thousands of cattle. Many cattle ranches came to be
known by their brands instead of by their company names because it was easier for
people to remember--that's why the Aztec Land and Cattle Company was called the
"Hashknife Outfit".(my mom--Arizona family verbal tradition)
"The Hashknife Outfit was established in northern Arizona in 1884. A
shareholder in the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad persuaded a group of Eastern investors to
purchase a million acres of grazing land offered for sale by the railroad. The new ranch,
called the 'Aztec Land and Cattle Company', brought in 33,000 head of Texas Longhorn
Cattle, a large remuda (herd of saddle broke horses) of horses, and the Hashknife brand"
(Hughes xi).
When the stockholders of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company were first meeting
to form the company, cattle prices were already headed downward.
o Were influenced by the German missionaries who pushed them out of their land. They attacked colonists and Germany declared war, ultimately killing 60% of them.
Many people may ask, “What the heck is the Cattleman’s Association?” Normally, the first thoughts that fill people’s minds when they hear “Cattleman’s Association” are: farmers, cows, farms, rednecks, dairy, beef, steaks, hamburger, milk, and so on. Many of these “stereotypes” prove true and many not so much. My experience with the KCA (Kentucky Cattleman’s Association) may be limited, but its roots run deep in my hometown and my family. Although a great number of my family members are in the KCA, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about them, which inspired me to “get to know” them.
Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso 1880-1920 analyzes and discusses the Mexican immigrants to El Paso, Texas. The most western city of the vast state of Texas, a city in the edge of the Chihuahuan desert; a place too far away from many regions of the United States, but as Mario García explains a very important city during the development of the western United States. He begins explaining how El Paso’s proximity to different railroads coming from México and the United States converged there, which allowed El Paso to become an “instant city”, as mining, smelting, and ranching came to region. (García 2)
...f Farm Animals as Products, in the Western and Southwestern States and Territories, and in Virginia, and of the Best Routes to and the Cost of Reaching the Districts Described 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1876. Print.
When looking at the vast lands of Texas after the Civil War, many different people came to the lands in search for new opportunities and new wealth. Many were lured by the large area that Texas occupied for they wanted to become ranchers and cattle herders, of which there was great need for due to the large population of cows and horses. In this essay there are three different people with three different goals in the adventures on the frontier lands of Texas in its earliest days. Here we have a woman's story as she travels from Austin to Fort Davis as we see the first impressions of West Texas. Secondly, there is a very young African American who is trying his hand at being a horse rancher, which he learned from his father. Lastly we have a Mexican cowboy who tries to fight his way at being a ranch hand of a large ranching outfit.
"The Santa Fe Trail Lives On!" Welcome to SFTNet, the latest manifestation of the Santa Fe Trail saga. This service is designed for trail buffs, students, researchers, travelers on the trail--in short, anyone with an interest in historic or contemporary developments along the Santa Fe Trail. What Is The Santa Fe Trail? As many who read this introduction will know, the Santa Fe Trail is an ancient land route of communication between the desert Southwest of what is now the United States and the prairies and plains of central North America. In the Southwest it was also part of a longer route that ran down the Rio Grande into what is now northern Mexico. American Indian peoples used the route to trade the agricultural produce of the Rio Grande Valley and the bounty of the plains, such as jerked buffalo meat and buffalo hides. When the Spanish conquistador Onate came to New Mexico in 1598, he and his soldiers followed this ancient route as they explored the plains and traded with the peoples there. During the next two centuries the Spanish gained an intimate knowledge of the plains and the routes between the Mississippi-Missouri river systems and the Southwest. Then, in 1821, a trader from Missouri, William Becknell, came to Santa Fe along what was to become known as the historical route of the Santa Fe Trail. He opened the Santa Fe Trail as a commercial route between what was then ...
cowboys to New Orleans, some as far west as California, and some to the north
The border region has seen “rapid transformation in a short span of time, changing from a cattle ranching and mining area that attracted U.S., Mexican and European capitalists…to the center of a lucrative vice and pleasure-based tourist industry, to a region that …attracted an extraordinary amount of international capital to its manufacturing and services sector”. (Ganster/Lorey 2) Events and years such as the implementation of the railroad, the years before the Mexican Revolution, the land reform in 1936 and 1937, the implementation of the maquiladora program and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had a significant impact on the U.S. Mexican Borderlands.
Before the migration, it’s estimated that ½ million people inhabited the west. There were 200 different tribes that had to deal with tribal wars and the need to survive on a daily basis. Horses and cattle gave the natives increased mobility and hunting abilities. In the South Western US, there were two types of natives, horse riders and non horse riders. The buffalo were used for meat, skins, and the dried manure was used as fire wood. The natives became nomads because they were being pushed away from the migrants. The document Excerpt from an Overland journey from New York to San Francisco by Horace Greeley is a detailed journal of a writer who traveled west. Greeley founded The New Yorker and was one of the biggest boosters for westward travel. On his journey in 1859, he talks about the many people he meets and where they are from. He describes the native mountain men as “Indians of all grades from the tamest to the wildest, half breeds, French trappers and voyageurs and an occasional negro, compose a medley such as hardly another region can parallel.
In the year 1843, the stage was set for the Great Migration. Throughout the 1840s westward expansion started rolling. People living in the crowded east were lured west with promises of cheapland and open spaces. Thousands gathered in Missouri, to head out on a trail that would take more than nine months and close to two thousand miles to complete. There were more cows and buffalo on the trail than people, and most emigrants traveled with only a small farm wagon stocked with supplies. Many of these brave travelers were farm...
In the interior, the desire to control house herds - a critical resource in California was the reason for American trappers, horse thieves, Mexican soldiers and rancheros congregate. Sutter’s connection to an Indian woman (p. 39)
prices. The Oklahoma land run took place that year, with settlers lining up at a
While farmers sold millions of bushels, and bales of wheat, cotton and corn, state legislatures began to see a need to enforce laws upon these farmers and to gain control of their states and its people. Document C gives a good statement of legislature holding down railroads and the goods being transported. Document C states a prairie farmer , "...they carried a law through the Illinois legislature, which provides for the limiting of freight rates by a board of officials appointed for this purpose." Angered by these types of laws, farmers who used these railroads went against the laws in court.
Although early nineteenth century Kansas was vast in territory, the land was mostly unpopulated. This cheap abundant land along with the dream of a better life lured farmers from the east to start their lives in Kansas. Many people were driven to pack their belongings and start their westward bound journey. Floyd Benjamin St...
Thompson, Paul B. and Stout, Bill A. Beyond The Large Farm. Westview Press, Inc.: Colorado 1991