Cattlemen and Cowboys of Kansas
Profiles of beef cattle people connected to Kansas.
- est. 1857AbileneA cluster of log cabins in 1867, Abilene shipped hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorns within four years.Kansas
- 1859-1996Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayA Kansas-chartered railroad followed the trail herds west and became one of the great carriers of range cattle.Kansas
- est. 1858Baxter SpringsBaxter Springs took Texas cattle when Missouri closed its doors, then watched the railroad end the trade.Kansas
- died 2022Bob FooteFrom a stock-rack truck to nine-figure cattle deals, a Kansas dealmaker turned trading instincts into a family feeding…Kansas
- est. 1871CaldwellThe first stop north of Indian Territory shipped about 100,000 head a year in the early 1880s and buried a long list…Kansas
- 1872-1955Calvin W. FloydA farm boy from southeastern Kansas who worked his way into a large cattle business and a seat on the Sedan Bank board.Kansas
- 1979-presentCargill Meat SolutionsThe meat business of a company founded as an Iowa grain warehouse in 1865 now ranks among North America's largest beef…Kansas
- 1868-1953Dan Dillon CasementA railroad builder's son turned Kansas stockman, writer and association founder whose ideas about efficiency and farm…Kansas
- est. 1872Dodge CityBuilt on buffalo hides and the Santa Fe Railroad, Dodge City shipped Texas cattle by the thousands until quarantine…Kansas
- Dr. Jack ReeveA Kansas State veterinary graduate who turned a century-old family homestead into a feedlot and passed it to a sixth…Kansas
- 1906-1985Earl BrookoverA civil engineer turned irrigation farmer who built a feedyard where the grain was, and warned early about the water.Kansas
- est. 1867EllsworthFor four or five seasons Ellsworth was the busiest place in Kansas for Texas longhorns, and then the trade moved on.Kansas
- 1876-1946Emil C. KielhornA hired hand who learned English and saved to buy land in 1903 ended up leading the state's livestock association.Kansas
- 1936-2004Excel CorporationA packer that moved from Chicago to Wichita became a Cargill subsidiary and, with IBP and ConAgra, handled most of the…Kansas
- Gene RaymondA Southern Plains Limousin man whose family is honored by the junior association, set against the breed's arrival in…Kansas
- d. 1878George GrantA Scottish promoter built a British ranching colony on the Kansas plains, lost his fortune, and left behind the first…Kansas
- est. 1867HaysBorn beside an army fort in 1867, Hays outfitted wagon trains, shipped some Texas cattle and kept its Boot Hill.Kansas
- 1862-1933Horace Greeley Adams Sr.A Kansas banker's son who spent about fifty years building a family cattle company with his three sons.Kansas
- livingJan LyonsA Flint Hills Angus breeder who became the voice of beef producers during the 2003 BSE scare.Kansas
- 1883-1961Jesse C. HarperHe built Notre Dame's football program before World War I, then spent most of his life ranching in Clark County, Kansas.Kansas
- livingJoe MorganAn Iowa State graduate who moved to Garden City in 1985 and built a customer-cattle feedyard on one rule: keep the…Kansas
- livingJoel JarnaginA Jetmore, Kansas, farm kid rose from feed mill manager to CEO of the fourth-largest cattle feeding company in the…Kansas
- 1837-1915Joseph G. McCoyAn Illinois mule and cattle dealer who built stockyards beside the railroad at Abilene and opened a market for Texas…Kansas
- 1879-1954L.L. JonesA Bureau of Animal Industry meat inspector who came home to Garden City and ended up running one of the best-known…Kansas
- livingLee BorckA loan officer turned feedlot owner who organized small Kansas feeders into a cooperative and built a data-driven link…Kansas
- Loren DollA Kansas feeder who started in 1961 with his father and three Irsik brothers and led the company into seven feedyards.Kansas
- est. 1871NewtonThe Santa Fe reached Newton in July 1871, and one violent summer gave the town a name it spent years living down.Kansas
- Paul J. BrownA farmer who began running cattle in 1961 as a hedge and turned a small custom yard into one of the largest feeding…Kansas
- 1931-2009Raymond E. Adams Jr.A Kansas senior partner in Adams Cattle Company who pushed for higher beef quality and raised ranch Quarter Horses.Kansas
- est. 1878Spring Hill Ranch (Tallgrass Prairie)A stone mansion, 30 miles of stone fence and a purebred herd tell the story of the end of open-range ranching in the…Kansas
- livingTom JonesA Garden City farm kid who bought a 28,000-head yard in 1999 and spent the next two decades building a research-minded…Kansas
- est. 1868WichitaWichita lived as a Texas cattle market for only a few seasons in the 1870s, but those seasons gave the city its start.Kansas
- 1829-1911William Davis PooleA tanner's worker from Ireland who got off a stuck steamboat on the Kaw River and stayed to build a ranch.Kansas