The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 527
616 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
Antipacker agitation mounted in the mid-188o's as the livestock
press urged its readers to attack the "men of millions" in the "great
and wicked lake city. . . ." "Knock the syndicate in the head and
flatten it out," exhorted the Dallas News; because if this were accom-
plished, the lone obstruction on the "road to fortune" would be re-
moved." This prodding begot well-intentioned but feeble action. R. R.
Claridge of the Texas Stockman and Farmer spoke for numerous prom-
inent cattlemen, when he favored the establishment of packing and
refrigerator facilities in Fort Worth, Houston, or San Antonio. The
trust could then be bypassed, and stockmen and butchers could ex-
ploit the southwestern market for dressed beef. If Armour or his
accomplices beat them to the punch, Claridge warned, Texans would
remain in their present condition of peonage.' The creation of a
producer-owned syndicate was another popular scheme. The most not-
able attempt in this vein was the American Cattle Trust. John T. Lytle,
a prominent Texas rancher and trailing contractor, and C. C. Slaughter
were among the founders and served as Texas directors of this organ-
ization that was designed to buy and feed range stock and to process
and market the meat. This unrealistic attempt to thwart power with
power fell victim to internal dissension and weak financing, and was
dissolved in 18go after a three-year existence." The stillborn Beef
Producers' and Butchers' National Association, supported by Slaugh-
ter and other Texans, likewise failed to bring relief during this same
period of frustration.'
Subsequent schemes also proved futile as Chicago packers invaded
Texas early in the new century and overcame the competition of
small plants in a number of cities. The South Texas cattle baron, Ike
Pryor, sought unsuccessfully to require that these slaughterhouses be
municipally owned or federally regulated so as to keep combinations
eStockman, January 4, 1887; Dallas News, quoted in Las Vegas Stock Grower, October
23, November 27, 1886.
7Stockman, March 8, 1887. Numerous editorials and stockgrowers' resolutions boosted
the construction of packing plants in Texas. For example see San Angelo Standard,
December 4, 1886; New York Times, January 18, 1887; Fort Worth Daily Gazette, Febru-
ary 2, 1887; Fort Worth Weekly Gazette, September 5, 1889; Taylor County News (Abi-
lene), April 25, 189o; Northwestern Texas Stock Raisers Association, notes and minutes,
March 8, 1892, typescript (Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University), 32.
'Gene M. Gressley, "The American Cattle Trust: A Study in Protest," Pacific Historical
Review, XXX (February, 1961), 61-77; Gressley, Bankers and Cattlemen, 259-266; Las
Vegas Stock Grower, April 30o, 1887.
9Beef Producers' and Butchers' National Association, "Circular No. 2," January 4, 1889,
in Las Vegas Stock Grower, January 19, 1889.527
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971, periodical, 1971; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101200/m1/539/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.