California’s Corporate Cattle

Author(s): Melonie R Shier

Year: 2017

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. 

Cite this Record

California’s Corporate Cattle. Melonie R Shier. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435275)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 242