Cattle Drives

The herds on this board walked east to stock ranges that had just been emptied. After the Sioux war of 1876 and 1877, and the 1878 war that cost the Paiute their Malheur reservation, ranchers from Wyoming and Montana who had failed to fatten Texas longhorns came to Baker each spring for Oregon cattle. Outfits of forty riders took up to six months over 1,200 miles. The board's closing year, 1884, is the year the Oregon Short Line met the Oregon Railway and Navigation line at Huntington, and Baker cattle could ride east in cars.

What the plaque says

Oregon History Cattle Drives After the close of the Sioux and Piute Indian wars the ranchers of Wyoming and Montana, discouraged in their attempts to fatten the Texas longhorn, turned to Oregon for their cattle. During the spring cattlemen and their cowboys arrived daily from the Rocky Mountain area to purchase herds which had been assembled around Baker from remote parts of the state. The herds were sometimes six months in making the 1,200 mile drive and required an outfit of 40 cowboys with a remuda of several hundred Oregon cow ponies, which were also superior to the eastern breed. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 head of cattle were trailed overland annually during the more favorable years between 1875 and 1884.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center — 12 mi
  A hilltop museum that Baker City built to revive its economy, above a mile of wagon ruts and the first view the emigrants had of the valley ahead.

More markers nearby

• Baker — 11 mi
• The Lone Tree of the Oregon Trail — 11 mi
• The Lure of Gold — 12 mi