Livestock markets for the sale and distribution of meat developed as 
early as the days of colonial America. In the mid-nineteenth century, 
as westward expansion increased and railroads developed, stockyard 
companies formed in order to meet the demand of a growing nation. 
Contrary to markets, these companies were centrally organized and 
managed by a select few principal partners. America's Historic 
Stockyards: Livestock Hotels is an examination of such stockyards,
from their early beginnings to their eventual decline.

    Stockyards helped to establish some of America's greatest cities. 
Early on the scene were stockyards in cities such as Cincinnati, 
otherwise known as "Porkopolis," and stockyards and packing 
powerhouse Chicago, considered the number one livestock market in 
the nation. Markets eventually expanded farther westward to California 
and Oregon.

    Other smaller markets made large contributions to the industry. 
The cow towns of Fort Worth and Wichita never reached the status of 
Chicago but had large livestock receipts. Fort Worth, for instance, 
became the largest horse and mule market in 1915, as World War I 
produced an increased demand for these animals.

    Meatpacking moguls known as the Big Four—Phillip Armour, 
Gustavus Swift, Nelson Morris, and Edward Cudahy—usually financed 
these growing markets, controlled the meatpacking business and, in 
turn, the stockyards companies. Although the members changed, this 
oligopoly remained intact for much of the duration of the stockyards 
industry. However, as railways gave way to highways, the markets 
declined and so too did these moguls. By the end of the twentieth 
century, almost every major market closed, bringing an end to the 
stockyard era.

    J'Nell Pate's examination of this era, the people, and the markets 
themselves recounts a significant part of the history of America's 
meat industry. 

_________________________________________________________

J'NELL L. PATE holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of North 
Texas. Her dissertation became Livestock Legacy: The Fort Worth 
Stockyards, 1887–1987. Now retired from Tarrant County College in 
Fort Worth, she is also the author of North of the River: A Brief 
History of North Fort Worth, Hazel Vaughn Leigh and the Fort Worth 
Boys' Club, Ranald Slidell Mackenzie: Brave Cavalry Colonel, written 
for juveniles, and Document Sets for Texas and the Southwest in U.S.
History, a primary source reader that she edited. She makes her 
home in Fort Worth.



What people are saying about this book

"J'Nell Pate provides a comprehensive look at America's stockyards
between 1865 and the 1980s . . . marvelous telling of this fascinating
story."—Review of Texas Books