Cattle baron

Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes referred to as cowmen, stockmen, or just ranchers. In Australia, similar individuals owned large cattle stations. A similar phenomenon occurred in part of Canada in the early twentieth century.

Notable examples

In the American Old West:

• Otto Franc was suspected to be an active member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, and is believed to have bankrolled part of the Johnson County War, a conflict between small cattle owners and large wealthy cattle outfits in 1892.
• Charles Goodnight. Essayist and historian J. Frank Dobie said that Goodnight "approached greatness more nearly than any other cowman of history."
• John Chisum
• Conrad Kohrs; see Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site

In Australia:

• Peter Menegazzo
• Sidney Kidman

In Canada:

• The Big Four (Calgary) (four businessmen: two ranchers, a meat packer, and a brewer who founded the Calgary Stampede, the world's richest rodeo)
  • George Lane, rancher
  • A. E. Cross, rancher Bar U Ranch

In England:

• Jonathan Wall (Cambridge) (Baron of Cambridge who held a significant amount of land on which he kept several thousand cattle)

In popular culture

Cattle barons appear in numerous Western novels and films, often as villains. Such films include Broken Lance (1954), Lawman (1971) and Heaven's Gate (1980).

In the Fallout (series), Brahmin barons are exactly the same as cattle baons but herd mutated livestock instead of normal animals.

See also

• Cattle Baron's Ball, a Dallas, Texas fundraising event