California’s Corporate Cattle

Summary

When thinking about open range cattle production, seldom is that image linked to a picture of corporate America. The Kern County Land Company operating on over 2 million acres of land in the American West, much of it devoted to animal husbandry. All stages of husbandry was operated by the Kern County Land Company from the cow / calf operations to the abattoir and shipping to supermarkets.  In the San Emigdio Hills in south central California, where this paper will focus, the Emigdio Ranch was used to graze newly weaned calves for about a year before sending them off to feedlots for finished. This paper proposes to not only look at the husbandry practices of the San Emigdio Hills, but how these practices were affected by corporate structures. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Honoring Cowtown: Cattle Husbandry in Historical Zooarchaeology

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 242