Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society
Portals
to the Past by David W. Jackson
Area used to be
nation’s cattle capital
In
light of today’s terrorist, biological and environmental threats, imagine how
the hostilities of the American Civil War paralyzed most day-to-day
operations across our country, and decimated communities and industries
because of, and yet without discrimination. Union
and Confederate soldiers surviving the horrors of the battlefield had to
subsist between skirmishes. Often fending for themselves, they confiscated
foodstuffs and livestock. A scarcity of commodities after the War included
beef, but sizeable herds of Texas long cattle grazed in the southwest. Getting
cattle to hungry eastern markets saw the advent of cattle drives and the
American cowboy, who herded longhorns out of New Mexico and Texas and up
through Oklahoma to the nearest railhead at Abilene, Kansas. Cattle buyers
would then load their commodities on train cars headed east toward Kansas
City. But, getting goods, including beef, from Kansas City to eastern
markets was an obstacle because of the wide and muddy Missouri River.
Providentially, foresighted Kansas City promoters and politicians managed to
get the first railroad bridge across the Missouri at Kansas City. The
Hannibal Bridge was dedicated in 1869, and Kansas City steamed forward full
throttle to become the second largest rail center in the country, second to
Chicago. The railroad bridge, and the stampeding cattle industry, helped
transform the small Town of Kansas into metropolitan Kansas City. As cattle from
the southwest were shipped from Abilene into Kansas City they were
transferred to other rails heading out in every direction to eastern markets.
The holding pens constructed to transfer cattle became the famed Kansas City
Stockyards . . . Jackson County’s first million-dollar industry that soon
generated a million dollars a day. After the advent of refrigeration, packing
houses could provide prepared meat-to-market. Having overcome
transportation challenges, producing better quality beef became a priority
for the industry. One inferior trait of Texas Longhorn cattle was that their
slender hindquarters made tough meat, particularly cuts of steak. Jackson
County farmers responded to the demand for better steak by trying to breed a
better bull. To protect money generated by the new cattle industry, bankers
and corporate leaders began establishing vast farm estates across eastern and
southern Jackson County in an attempt to be the first to develop a new breed
of beef cattle. Suddenly,
livestock breeding became fashionable, and each ranch or estate competed to
outdo the other. Cattle were imported from Europe and the United Kingdom and
crossbred as breeders searched for perfection. Jackson County became the
Cattle Capitol of the country. Simpson
and Gudgell, an Independence outfit, finally made
the right connection with a bull obtained in England named Anxiety IV. Much
of the beef available today is American Polled Hereford, the product of the
perfect beef first sired by Simpson and Gudgell on
their ranch along Noland Road, south of 23rd Street. It’s hard to imagine in today’s
sprawling Kansas City metropolitan area that cattle and agriculture were once
vital to Jackson County. What happened to those huge livestock, dairy and
produce farms, some of which were still in place in the mid-1960’s?
Little primary documentation has yet been donated and the Jackson County
(Mo.) Historical Society welcomes additions of written historical information
and original photographs that corral for future citizens this area’s rich
livestock lineage and agricultural heritage. |
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