34 Nebraskaland • May 2022
y the mid-1870s Nebraska's open-range cattle industry
… was experiencing growing pains," writes historian
Jim Potter. In the Platte Valley and the Panhandle,
people worried about the "introduction of Texas cattle
to supply the Indian agencies, unregulated 'round-ups' that
caused ownership disputes (in winter, long hair made brands
hard to see), and bulls running at large year round."
In early 1875, cattlemen met in Ogallala to organize
the Stock-Growers Association of Western Nebraska. At
the group's request, the state legislature authorized stock
inspectors and limited the roundup period to May 15 through
November 15.
The association then organized their fi rst offi cial roundup
to begin in Sidney on May 15. One party followed Pole Creek
up from Sidney and eventually worked east down both the
South and North Platte rivers. A second party worked west
from North Platte as far as Ash Hollow.
What was such a roundup like? Potter found a lively
Eyewitness
Account of an 1870s
Nebraska Roundup
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
''B
Utter
Disregard
for Peril"
"
