View of the Grant-Kohrs Ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though there are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called stockgrowers or ranchers. Ranching is also a method used to raise less common livestock such as elk, American bison or even ostrich, emu, and alpacas.

Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly any size. In the western United States, many ranches are a combination of privately owned land supplemented by grazing leases on land under the control of the federal Bureau of Land Management. If the ranch includes arable or irrigated land, the ranch may also engage in a limited amount of farming, raising crops for feeding the animals, such as hay and feed grains.

Ranches that cater exclusively to tourists are called guest ranches or, colloquially, "dude ranches." Most working ranches do not cater to guests, though they may allow private hunters or outfitters onto their property to hunt native wildlife. However, in recent years, a few struggling smaller operations have added some dude ranch features, such as horseback rides, cattle drives or guided hunting, in an attempt to bring in additional income. Ranching is part of the iconography of the "Wild West" as seen in Western movies and rodeos.

Ranch occupations[link]

The person who runs a ranch is usually called a rancher, but the terms cattleman, stockgrower, or stockman are also sometimes used. A person who primarily raises young stock sometimes is called a cow-calf operator or a cow-calf man. This person is usually the owner, though in some cases, particularly where there is absentee ownership, it is the ranch manager or ranch foreman.

The people who are employees of the rancher and involved in handling livestock are called a number of terms, including cowhand, ranch hand, and cowboy. People exclusively involved with handling horses are sometimes called wranglers.

Origins of ranching[link]

Ranching and the cowboy tradition originated in Spain, out of the necessity to handle large herds of grazing animals on dry land from horseback. During the Reconquista, members of the Spanish nobility and various military orders received large land grants that the Kingdom of Castile had conquered from the Moors. These landowners were to defend the lands put into their control and could use them for earning revenue. In the process it was found that open-range breeding of sheep and cattle (under the Mesta system) was the most suitable use for vast tracts, particularly in the parts of Spain now known as Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia.

History in North America[link]

The historic 101 Ranch in Oklahoma showing the ranchhouse, corrals, and out-buildings.

Spanish North America[link]

When the Conquistadors came to the Americas in the 16th century, followed by settlers, they brought their cattle and cattle-raising techniques with them. Huge land grants by the Spanish (and later Mexican) government, part of the hacienda system, allowed large numbers of animals to roam freely over vast areas. A number of different traditions developed, often related to the original location in Spain from which a settlement originated. For example, many of the traditions of the Jalisco charros in central Mexico come from the Salamanca charros of Castile^{[citation needed]}. The Vaquero tradition of Northern Mexico was more organic, developed to adapt to the characteristics of the region from Spanish sources by cultural interaction between the Spanish elites and the native and mestizo peoples.^[1]

United States[link]

An 1898 photochrom of a round-up in or near the town of Cimarron, Colorado, USA.

As settlers from the United States moved west, they brought cattle breeds developed on the east coast and in Europe along with them, and adapted their management to the drier lands of the west by borrowing key elements of the Spanish vaquero culture.

However, there were cattle on the eastern seaboard. Deep Hollow Ranch, 110 miles (180 km) east of New York City in Montauk, New York, claims to be the first ranch in the United States, having continuously operated since 1658.^[2] The ranch makes the somewhat debatable claim of having the oldest cattle operation in what today is the United States, though cattle had been run in the area since European settlers purchased land from the Indian people of the area in 1643.^[3] Although there were substantial numbers of cattle on Long Island, as well as the need to herd them to and from common grazing lands on a seasonal basis, the cattle handlers actually lived in houses built on the pasture grounds, and cattle were ear-marked for identification, rather than being branded.^[3] The only actual "cattle drives" held on Long Island consisted of one drive in 1776, when the Island's cattle were moved in a failed attempt to prevent them from being captured by the British during the American Revolution, and three or four drives in the late 1930s, when area cattle were herded down Montauk Highway to pasture ground near Deep Hollow Ranch .^[3]

The Open Range[link]

The prairie and desert lands of what today is Mexico and the western United States were well-suited to "open range" grazing. For example, American bison had been a mainstay of the diet for the Native Americans in the Great Plains for centuries. Likewise, cattle and sheep, descended from animals brought over from Europe, were simply turned loose in the spring after their young were born and allowed to roam with little supervision and no fences, then rounded up in the fall, with the mature animals driven to market and the breeding stock brought close to the ranch headquarters for greater protection in the winter. The use of livestock branding allowed the cattle owned by different ranchers to be identified and sorted. Beginning with the settlement of Texas in the 1840s, and expansion both north and west from that time, through the Civil War and into the 1880s, ranching dominated western economic activity.

Along with ranchers came the need for agricultural crops to feed both humans and livestock, and hence many farmers also came west along with ranchers. Many operations were "diversified," with both ranching and farming activities taking place. With the Homestead Act of 1862, more settlers came west to set up farms. This created some conflict, as increasing numbers of farmers needed to fence off fields to prevent cattle and sheep from eating their crops. Barbed wire, invented in 1874, gradually made inroads in fencing off privately owned land, especially for homesteads. There was some reduction of land on the Great Plains open to grazing.

End of the Open Range[link]

The severe winter of 1886-1887 brought an end to the open range. Waiting for a Chinook, by C.M. Russell.

The end of the open range was not brought about by a reduction in land due to crop farming, but by overgrazing. Cattle stocked on the open range created a tragedy of the commons as each rancher sought increased economic benefit by grazing too many animals on public lands that "nobody" owned. However, being a non-native species, the grazing patterns of ever-increasing numbers of cattle slowly reduced the quality of the rangeland, in spite of the simultaneous massive slaughter of American bison that occurred. The winter of 1886-1887 was one of the most severe on record, and livestock that were already stressed by reduced grazing died by the thousands. Many large cattle operations went bankrupt, and others suffered severe financial losses. Thus, after this time, ranchers also began to fence off their land and negotiated individual grazing leases with the American government so that they could keep better control of the pasture land available to their own animals.

Ranching in Hawaii[link]

Ranching in Hawaii developed independently of that in the continental United States. In colonial times, Capt. George Vancouver gave several head of cattle to the Hawaiian king, Pai`ea Kamehameha, monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and by the early 19th century, they had multiplied considerably, to the point that they were wreaking havoc throughout the countryside. About 1812, John Parker, a sailor who had jumped ship and settled in the islands, received permission from Kamehameha to capture the wild cattle and develop a beef industry.

The Hawaiian style of ranching originally included capturing wild cattle by driving them into pits dug in the forest floor. Once tamed somewhat by hunger and thirst, they were hauled out up a steep ramp, and tied by their horns to the horns of a tame, older steer (or ox) and taken to fenced-in areas. The industry grew slowly under the reign of Kamehameha's son Liholiho (Kamehameha II). When Liholiho's son, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III), visited California, then still a part of Mexico, he was impressed with the skill of the Mexican vaqueros. In 1832, he invited several to Hawaii to teach the Hawaiian people how to work cattle.

The Hawaiian cowboy came to be called the paniolo, a Hawaiianized pronunciation of español. Even today, the traditional Hawaiian saddle and many other tools of the ranching trade have a distinctly Mexican look, and many Hawaiian ranching families still carry the surnames of vaqueros who made Hawaii their home.

Ranching in South America[link]

In Argentina, ranches are known as estancias, and in Brazil, they are called fazendas. In much of South America, including Ecuador and Colombia, the term hacienda may be used. Ranchero or Rancho are also generic terms used throughout Latin America.

In the colonial period, from the pampas regions of South America all the way to the Minas Gerais state in Brazil, including the semi-arid pampas of Argentina and the south of Brazil, were often well-suited to ranching, and a tradition developed that largely paralleled that of Mexico and the United States. The gaucho culture of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are among the cattle ranching traditions born during the period. However, in the 20th century, cattle raising expanded into less-suitable areas of the Pantanal. Particularly in Brazil, the 20th century marked the rapid growth of deforestation, as rain forest lands were cleared by slash and burn methods that allowed grass to grow for livestock, but also led to the depletion of the land within only a few years. Many of indigenous peoples of the rain forest opposed this form of cattle ranching and protested the forest being burnt down to set up grazing operations and farms. This conflict is still a concern in the region today.

Ranches outside the Americas[link]

Cattle in a dehesa in Bollullos Par del Condado, Spain

In Spain, where the origins of ranching can be traced, there are ganaderías operating on dehesa-type land, where fighting bulls are raised.

The term "ranch" and the need for vast grazing area is not used in the British Isles, where there is far less land area and sufficient rainfall to allow the raising of cattle on much smaller farms. From medieval times, cattle were traditionally raised in the small-area bocage. The only stock-raising lands in the British Isles that are anywhere close to the size of the ranches in other nations are the largest hill farms in the upland areas of the United Kingdom. For similar reasons, the concept of a "ranch" is also not seen to any significant degree in most of western Europe outside of Spain.

In Australia, the equivalent agricultural lands are known as 'stations' in the context of what stock they carry — usually referred to as cattle stations or sheep stations. The largest cattle stations in the world are located in Australia's dry rangeland in the outback. Owners of these stations are known as 'grazier', especially if they reside on the property. Employees are known as stockmen, jackaroos and ringers rather than cowboys. A number of Australian cattle stations are larger than 10,000 km², with the greatest being Anna Creek station which measures 23,677 km² in area (approximately eight times the largest US Ranch). Anna Creek is owned by S Kidman & Co. New Zealanders use the term runs and stations.

See also[link]

• Animal husbandry
• Cowboy
• Farm
• Guest ranch (also known as a Dude Ranch)
• Homestead (buildings)
• Horse
• Hunting
• List of Ranches and Stations
• Movie ranch
• Pastoralism
• Ranch-style house
• Rangeland

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Blunt, Judy. Breaking Clean Knopf: 2002, hardcover, ISBN 0-375-40131-8
• Campbell, Ida Foster and Alice Foster Hill. Triumph and Tragedy: A History of Thomas Lyons and the LCs, High-Lonesome Books, Silver City, New Mexico, 2002, softcover, ISBN 0-944383-61-0
• Ellis, George F., The Bell Ranch As I Knew It, Lowell Press: 1973, hardcover, ISBN 0-913504-15-7
• Greenwood, Kathy L. Heart-Diamond, University of North Texas Press, 1989, hardcover, ISBN 0-929398-08-4
• Paul, Virginia. This Was Cattle Ranching: Yesterday and Today, Superior Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, 1973
• Ward, Delbert R. Great Ranches of the United States, Ganada Press, San Antonio, Texas, 1993, paperback, ISBN 7-88051-025-1

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ranching

• The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Native Ranching and Rodeo Life on the Plains and Plateau
• The Handbook of Texas Online: Ranching
• Society for Range Management
• Western Watersheds Project
• Cattle Ranges of the Southwest, published 1898, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Guide to ranch archives in Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech
• Cowboys to Cattlemen Virtual Museum Exhibit and Lesson Plans at Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS from National Park Service

This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (January 2011)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Ty Murray
Murray at the premiere for Earth in April 2009
Born	(1969-10-11) October 11, 1969 (age 42) Phoenix, Arizona
Spouse	Jewel (m. August 7, 2008)

Ty Monroe Murray (born October 11, 1969) is a nine-time World Champion rodeo cowboy and co-founder and board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders.

Early life[link]

Murray was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Joy and Butch Murray. He has two sisters, Kim and Kerri. Murray's father was a former rodeo hand, and his mother was a young rider in the National Little Britches Rodeo Association. As a child Murray was taught rodeo fundamentals by his father.

Career[link]

Murray competed in the Arizona High School Rodeo Association where he was the All-Around Champion Cowboy and led Arizona to its first National High School Rodeo Association Championship in 1987. He was also the National All-Around Champion that year, competing all the rough-stock events as well as cutting. He went to Odessa College where he competed in rodeo for the school. When he turned 18, he joined the PRCA. Murray became the youngest PRCA All-Around Rodeo Cowboy, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Murray won the World All-Around Rodeo Champion title seven times, (1989–1994, 1998) being the top money-earner in bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding events for those years. Additionally, Murray won the PRCA World Bull Riding Championship title in 1993 and 1998.

After tearing his posterior cruciate ligaments, first in his right knee, and later in his left, Murray had both knees reconstructed in 1995. He was out of rodeo for a year. During that time he bought a 2000 acre (8 km²) ranch in Stephenville, Texas. In 1996, 6 weeks after his return to rodeo, he damaged his shoulder during a bull ride in Del Rio, Texas; he had surgery which laid him off for another year, costing him a major sponsor. His comeback in 1997 was astonishing — then he broke his shoulder at the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) event in St. Louis, Missouri, laying him off for another year. After a total of three years off, Murray came back in 1998 to win the PRCA All-Around Championship for the record 7th time, as well as his second PRCA World Champion Bull Rider title. He also qualified for the PBR Finals in 1998, and finished 20th in the PBR world standings that year

In 1999, Murray met singer/songwriter Jewel Kilcher, whose father had been an Alaska All-Around Rodeo Champion, and they became a couple. The two married in 2008 on a beach in the Bahamas. Murray joined the PBR full-time in 1999 (after dividing his time between the PBR and PRCA in the years prior). He and Jewel wrote the song "Til We Run Out of Road" about Murray and Cody Lambert, and Jewel also mentioned him, though not by name, in her song "Stephenville, TX." She appears with him in one of the "Man Law" commercials. It was announced on January 11, 2011 that they are expecting their first child together.^{[citation needed]}

Murray was the reserve world champion (second place) bull rider in the PBR in the years 1999, 2000, and 2001. In 2002, Murray retired from rodeo.

Murray was featured in the Miller Lite "Man Laws" series of commercials,^[1] and is a frequent announcer on televised PBR Bull Riding events. He took product endorsement deals to the next level, when he refused to sign for less than his perceived value. Ty's hiring of an agent made it acceptable for his fellow cowboys to hire agents, and paid endorsements have become a lucrative adjunct to a cowboy's yearly earnings.

As of 2011, he is the president of the PBR. He took over the role of president after former PBR president Tuff Hedeman left in the summer of 2004.

Television and film appearances[link]

In November 1999, Murray appeared as himself in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger in Season 8 Episode 8 titled "Widow Maker".

In 2007, Murray, along with his wife Jewel, appeared in the ABC reality television series Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, featuring a dozen celebrities in a stock car racing competition. In the first round of competition, Murray matched up against skateboarder Tony Hawk and actress Krista Allen.

In August 2007, he was back on television when CMT created Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge. Murray attempted to teach nine celebrities the art of bull riding.^[2]

In January 2008, he appeared as himself in an episode of CSI.^{[citation needed]}

On February 8, 2009, it was announced that both Murray and Jewel would be contestants on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, signifying the first time a husband and wife appeared as contestants on the show in the same season; however, Jewel had to withdraw from the competition due to an injury sustained during pre-season practice. Murray was partnered with new Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Chelsie Hightower.

In 2009, Murray and Jewel appeared on the HGTV Celebrity Holiday Homes special.^[3]

In January 2010, Murray and Jewel appeared on the ABC reality series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.^[4]

On February 22, 2010, Murray was co-host of WWE Monday Night RAW on USA Network with his wife Jewel^[5] where they had a bull-riding competition for the divas.

In July 2011, Jewel gave birth to a baby boy.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site