The winter of 1886–87 was extremely harsh for much of continental North America, especially the United States. Although it affected other regions in the country, it is most known for its effects on the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

and its

cattle industry Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

. This winter marked the end of the

open range In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...

era and led to the entire reorganization of

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

ing.

History

The summer of 1886 had been unusually hot and dry, with numerous prairie fires, and water sources often dried up. In the fall, signs of a harsh winter ahead began to appear. Birds began flying south earlier than usual, beavers were seen collecting more wood than normal for the winter ahead, and some cattle grew thicker and shaggier coats. The first snows fell earlier than usual, in November, and were reported as some of the worst in memory. Extreme cold killed humans and animals. Some people got lost near their houses and froze to death very near their front doors. The winter weather even reached the West Coast, with snowfall of 3.7 inches in downtown

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

setting an all-time record on February 5, 1887.

Impact

Hundreds of thousands of cattle died in the

Big Die-Up In the Big Die-Up (or Great Die-Up), hundreds of thousands of cattle on the Great Plains of the United States died during the unusually cold and snowy winters of 1885–1886 and 1886–1887. Many ranchers were bankrupted as a result and the era o ...

during the unusually cold and snowy winters of 1885–1886 and 1886–1887. The loss of livestock was not discovered until spring, when many cattle carcasses were spread across the fields and washed down streams. The few remaining cattle were in poor health, emaciated and suffering from

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occ ...

. This resulted in the cattle being sold for much less, in some cases leading businesses to

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. "Many of them were big ranches that focused on short-term profits". Future president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

's cattle ranch near Medora, Dakota Territory was among those hit hard by that winter. In a letter to his friend

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850November 9, 1924) was an American politician, historian, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. A member of the History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served in the United States ...

, Roosevelt remarked "Well, we have had a perfect smashup all through the cattle country of the northwest. The losses are crippling. For the first time I have been utterly unable to enjoy a visit to my ranch. I shall be glad to get home."

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * * * 1886 meteorology 1886 natural disasters 19th-century cold waves 1887 meteorology 1887 natural disasters

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

1886 natural disasters in the United States 1887 natural disasters in the United States American frontier

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History

Impact

See also

References

Bibliography

External links