The Cattle Industry

What outlasted the silver was the grass. Cattle had ranged Nevada's valleys since the 1850s, but the transcontinental railroad — finished in 1869, its rails crossing this northern country — turned grazing into a business: Texas longhorns trailed in to fatten on valley feed, then loaded for Omaha and San Francisco. When the mining camps emptied, the ranches stayed, and they carried the state through the lean end of the century. More than a century on, cattle still claim better than ninety percent of Nevada's cropland.

What the plaque says

The numerous valleys of Nevada have supported a vigorous cattle industry since the 1850's. Beginning in the western part of the state, cattlemen ranged their herds throughout northern Nevada by the 1870's. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 was the catalyst that created a prosperous industry. Longhorns from Texas were driven to fertile valleys for feeding, then shipped as far as Omaha and San Francisco to market. As the mining booms subsided, Nevada's ranches kept the state alive in the late 19th century. Improvements in breeding stock and winter feeding helped build vast ranching empires for hard working stockmen. Today, more than 90 per cent of Nevada's crop land is devoted to feed for cattle. For more than a century, Nevada has been a principal food producer for the nation.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carlin & the Carlin Trend — 20 mi
  The small railroad town west of Elko that sits beside the largest gold complex on earth — and, because the gold is invisible, shows you almost none of it.

More markers nearby

• Palisade — 16 mi
• Carlin — 19 mi
• Carlin Canyon — 24 mi