Topics in Kansas History: Agriculture

Livestock

The livestock industry in Kansas has long been one of the most important aspects of the state's agricultural economy. Cattle drives, packinghouses, and large ranches are a significant part of this picture. Although this phase of the industry has been given a great deal of attention, raising and caring for various kinds of animals has long been a vital part of the general farm industry. In fact, mixed farming (grain-livestock) has always been the predominant form of agriculture in the state. Cows, chickens, hogs, and, of course, horses and mules have their own special place in the history of the family farm.

Cattle Drives

Joseph McCoy and others led the way in making several Kansas towns railheads for Texas cattle drives during the years following the Civil War. In 1867, Abilene became the state's first major cattle town.

Thousands of head of cattle were shipped on trains from railheads in Kansas to packing plants in Kansas City, Chicago, and other cities to the east. Between 1867 and 1885, towns like Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Newton, and Dodge City became famous for their place in this industry.

Caldwell, located on the Kansas-Oklahoma border south of Wichita, was also an important railhead. This photograph is of the first stock train to transport cattle from Caldwell to Chicago on the Rock Island line.

Ranching

"The Great Blizzard" of January 1886 hastened the transformation of the cattle industry in Kansas. Cattle, which reportedly drifted for hundreds of miles during the storm, died by the tens of thousands. The losses on some ranches in the main storm areas were as high as 80 percent. In the wake of this great disaster, many ranchers decided that the open range system would no longer work in Kansas.

Once the buffalo had been hunted to near extinction and the long drives had come to an end, Kansas became one of the country's leading cattle states. The state ranked third in the nation in cattle population by 1890, a position it held for several decades.

With the closing of the open range, Kansas cattlemen began to place greater emphasis on the breeding of better stock. Shorthorns and Herefords were popular in the 1890s. One rancher to work for better stock was Frank Rockefeller, the brother of John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil. He owned a Kiowa County cattle ranch of over 12,000 acres which specialized in purebred Herefords.

To protect their interests from threats posed by rustlers and homesteaders, ranchers formed large stock growers associations. These organizations gave the big cattlemen considerable control over the industry.

In addition to the large scale ranchers, medium sized and small farmers throughout the state contributed to the growth of the beef cattle industry.

Hogs

Hogs were also a very important part of the overall livestock industry in Kansas. In 1885, the state's hog population reached 3 million head. This meant that there were more than two pigs for every person in the state.

For many years, butchering hogs in the fall of the year was an important farm activity. It often became a community or neighborhood project.

Cattle

Although the cattle boom attracted the most attention, sheep were also becoming an important part of the Kansas livestock industry during the 1870s and 1880s. Stock sheep numbers reached an all time high in 1884--1,270,000 head. During the first half of the decade, the population of sheep in the state exceeded that of humans.

Dairies

Dairying was also important. Larger, more specialized dairy farms would become common later, but during the early years virtually every farm had at least one milk cow. Farm women often supplemented the family income by selling extra butter to local merchants. In 1884, nearly 24 million pounds of butter were produced. Before the end of the decade, there were over 650,000 milk cows on Kansas farms.

Work Animals

Work animals made up a vital segment of the livestock population on all farms well into the 20th century. Although oxen were fairly common in the 19th century, horses and mules were the primary source of power.

Poultry

Poultry products were also important to the Kansas farm economy. In 1903, nearly 6.5 million dollars worth of poultry and eggs were sold by producers throughout the state.

Find resources on livestock.

Letters, documents, objects, and photographs

Bibliographies, finding aids, and guides to the collections

Kansas Heritage, our popular history magazine

• "Comes A Horseman - The Farmers," Autumn 2003

Kansas History, our scholarly journal

• "Against Kansas' Top Dog: Coyotes, Politics, and Ecology, 1877-1970," Autumn 1997

Find other Agriculture topics.