Murdo MacKenzie (April 24, 1850 – May 30, 1939) was twice (1891–1901 and 1922–1937) manager of the Scots-owned Matador Land and Cattle Company, and founding president of the American Stock Growers Association, for whom he testified before congress and the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

. His testimony led to passage of the

Hepburn Act The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that expanded the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and gave it the power to set maximum railroad rates. This led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers. ...

of 1906 which eased railroad fares for western shippers. President

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

appointed him to the

National Conservation Commission The National Conservation Commission was appointed on June 8, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt and consisted of representatives of the United States Congress and relevant executive agency technocrats; Gifford Pinchot served as chairman of its e ...

in 1908, and it was Mackenzie, then manager of the Brazil Land, Cattle and Packing Company, with whom Roosevelt stayed when he visited

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1913.

Biography

MacKenzie was born near

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where he attended parish school and graduated from the

Tain Royal Academy Tain Royal Academy is a secondary school in Highland, Scotland. The school first opened in 1813, with a new building opened in 1969 and an educational campus currently being built, due to open in 2018. Tain Royal Academy is part of the Golspie, ...

in 1869. He served in a law office and in the British Linen Bank, then as factor for Sir Charles Ross's estate at

Balnagown Castle Balnagown Castle is beside the village of Kildary in Easter Ross, part of the Highland area of Scotland. There has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, although the present building was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. It i ...

. He married Isabella Stronach MacBain in 1876 and fathered five children with her. Among these was his son, David G. (Dode) MacKenzie, who, in December 1909, was shot (possibly murdered) in LeBeau, South Dakota, while also working for Matador. He sailed to the United States in 1885 to accept an offer to manage the Prairie Land and Cattle Company in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

. After becoming a naturalized citizen, he was elected mayor of Trinidad in 1891, before accepting the directorship at Matador. He died, aged 89, in 1939 in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he is buried. The town of

Murdo, South Dakota Murdo is a List of cities in South Dakota, city in and county seat of Jones County, South Dakota, Jones County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 475 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Murdo was founded in about ...

was named for Mackenzie. In 1981, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...

In popular culture

MacKenzie appears as a character in the fictional

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-American anthropomorphic Pekin duck. Like his nephew Donald Duck, he has a yellow-orange bil ...

comic book, ''

The Buckaroo of the Badlands "The Buckaroo of the Badlands" is a 1992 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It's the third of the original 12 chapters in the series ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck''. The story takes place in 1882. The story was first published in the Danis ...

'' (1992), set in 1882, in which the poor, newly hired Scrooge, helped by Theodore Roosevelt, rescues a championship bull belonging to MacKenzie. In ''

Raider of the Copper Hill "The Raider of the Copper Hill" or "The King of the Copper Hill" is a 1993 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the fourth of the original 12 chapters in the series ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck''. The story takes place from 1884 to 1 ...

'' (1993), set in 1884, Scrooge leaves Mackenzie to prospect for copper while his former employer drives his herd to Texas.

Notes

References

* Clarke, Mary Whatley, (June 1951) "Murdo Mackenzie", ''Cattleman''. * Douglas, C. L., (1939/1968) ''Cattle Kings of Texas'' Dallas: Baugh; reprinted Fort Worth: Branch-Smith. * Hayter, Delmar J. * Pearce, W. M. (1964) ''The Matador Land and Cattle Company''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Pearce, W. M. * Blasingame, Ernest "Ike", (1958) "Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days". Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Murdo American cattlemen 1850 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Scottish people 20th-century Scottish people Scottish emigrants to the United States Mayors of places in Colorado