36 Nebraskaland • November 2020
oday we take for granted that the livestock business
involves large feedlots, management based on
nutritional science and use of the latest technology.
A Nebraskan named Thomas Benton Hord was an
innovator who helped create the modern livestock industry.
From his beginnings in the open-range era, Hord became,
arguably, Nebraska's fi rst modern cattleman.
Hord started out during the Western cattle boom of the
1880s. He worked with partners and Eastern investors to
build large herds on the unfenced ranges of Wyoming and
Nebraska. Survival was a challenge. A severe winter in 1886-
1887 decimated herds, and a fi nancial panic in 1893 led to
years of economic depression and low livestock prices.
Meanwhile, relations between cattlemen and homesteaders
became violent in parts of Wyoming. During the "Johnson
County War" of 1892, cattle barons hired gunmen to go
after alleged rustlers. One of Hord's foremen, Mike Shonsey,
was involved in the killing of two men; the following year
Shonsey shot to death another man who came seeking
revenge. Shonsey then fl ed to Nebraska and spent the rest of
his life working at Hord operations in Central City and Clarks.
With the end of the open range, cattlemen began to think
of ways to raise large numbers of animals within limited
boundaries. Based in Central City, Hord began operating ever-
larger feedlots for cattle and sheep. By 1903, his operation had
13 feed yards and 18,000 acres of crops. In a typical year, Hord
fi nished 10,000 cattle, 10,000 sheep and 7,000 hogs, feeding
them 8,000 tons of hay and a million bushels of corn. He was
T
How a Nebraskan Helped Invent
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
Cowboys, who worked for Thomas Hord, at dinner at the 77 Ranch in Wyoming. History Nebraska RG4232-1-10
