October 2025 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN 23 traversed Nebraska, giving the state the first hubs – which included Ogallala, Kearney and Sidney – to transport cattle east. The cow herds soon followed. Two of these early pioneers were the brothers Mark and John Coad. As Irish immigrants, they acquired their capital to enter the cattle business through freighting as well as supplying hay and firewood to Fort Laramie and Fort Sedgwick. With these funds, they bought 10,000 Longhorns from Texas as well as pedigreed bulls from Illinois to breed them, which at that time would have been red, dual-purpose Shorthorns. The brothers also started moving their steers east to a major farming area in Nebraska so they could be fattened before going to market, making them pioneers in both breed improvement and finishing cattle. One enterprising Nebraska ranch owned by Tom Webster lay along the spur of the Chisholm Trail that led to Ogallala. His ranch had the last water on what was often called “Fetcher’s Route” before the final 40 miles to Ogallala – the longest stretch on the trail without water. He allowed the trail drives to water and rest their cattle there before making the last A map of the Great Plains, Wikimedia commons, public domain. A prize herd of fat Shorthorn-Longhorn crosses by Currier & Ives. Credit: Library of Congress. stretch of the trip, which by necessity required an overnight without watering the cattle. Webster built a stone corral, and for payment for his services got two sore-footed cattle that were unlikely to make it to Ogallala anyway, and a sound animal. He would also trade a sound animal for three more sore-footed cattle. He would heal up the cattle, starting them in the corral, and through this process was able to stock his ranch. Today, the Webster Ranch is owned by the well-known Maddux family where much of the stone corral still stands. William A. Paxton is another success story from those early years. He started working as a farm hand at the age of 12 for $8.50 per month before going into business for himself, breaking sod for homesteaders. He would go on to work for Creighton on the telegraph line and the railroad, leveling land and supplying railroad ties. When he had enough money, he went into business for himself, which included developing one of the largest ranches in Nebraska. He was based in Omaha and was one of the key players in the development of the Omaha Stockyards. Of course, these examples of the start of early ranches in Nebraska only represent a sample of the many that were getting into the ranching business. They preceded the investors from Europe and the East Coast, who joined in get-rich-quick schemes of the cattle and grass gold rush. Quite the opposite, most of these very first ranchers had entered the business based on money earned by the sweat of their brow. However, when the industry started switching over to promoters and rich investors, it was slowly building a house of cards that would eventually topple. Novice managers, overstocking, no winter management and utilizing the wrong type of cattle to improve their herds would all hasten this inevitability, which will be covered in the next edition of this feature. ~NC~ President Ulysses S. Grant. Credit: Library of Congress.
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