Cattlemen and Cowboys of Illinois
Profiles of beef cattle people connected to Illinois.
- 1860-1948Alvin Howard SandersA young Northwestern law graduate became the voice of American livestock publishing.Illinois
- Armour and CompanyPhilip Armour and his brothers started in a rented plant on the Chicago River and grew into one of the nation's…Illinois
- 1874Barbed wireA twisted strand of wire with sharp barbs let ranchers fence vast pastures cheaply and brought the open-range era to a…Illinois
- 1839-1903Gustavus Franklin SwiftA Cape Cod butcher moved to Chicago and rebuilt the beef trade around refrigerated rail cars.Illinois
- 1851-1934John ClayFrom a tenant farm on the River Tweed to a Chicago commission house, John Clay spent more than sixty years in the…Illinois
- 1868-1970sLibby, McNeill & LibbyA Chicago partnership built on packed beef turned canned meat into a national and export business, then passed through…Illinois
- est. 1860sLivestock carFrom open-topped cars to feeding and watering designs, the stock car shows how the rail trade in live cattle slowly…Illinois
- Morris & CompanyA German immigrant who reached Chicago at 15 built a packer with ranches, canning and nearly a hundred branches.Illinois
- 1838-1907Nelson MorrisA German-born boy who worked a Chicago stockyard became a cattle trader and then a packer with 100 branches.Illinois
- 1832-1901Philip Danforth ArmourA gold rush miner turned Milwaukee grocer became the Chicago packer who made use of everything but the squeal.Illinois
- est. 1860sRefrigerator carShipping carcasses instead of live steers changed who made money from beef, and it started with an insulated boxcar…Illinois
- Swift & CompanyGustavus Swift's decision to kill cattle in Chicago and ship the meat east built one of the Big Five packers.Illinois
- built c. 1875 to 1879Union Stock Yard GateA limestone arch on Exchange Avenue is the lasting reminder of the yards that made Chicago a meat-packing capital.Illinois
- 1865-1971Union Stock Yards (Chicago)For more than a century, cattle from the whole country rode the rails to a 320-acre South Side complex that set the…Illinois