Bell Ranch: Cattle Ranching in the Southwest, 1824-1947

Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A.: University of New Mexco Press, 1993. First Edition Stated . Hard Back. Fine/Good. 6 1/2" X 9 1/2. 393 Pages Indexed. Marron boards and endpapers. Illustrated with 28 pages of black and white photographs in two sections. Front board is just beginning to show signs of endpaper loosening through use Backfree endpaper has light creasing. No marks or stamps and interior text pages are faultless. Dust jacket has some tears and a one inch chunk missing from the top spine area which there was an attempted tapoe repair. This study of Bell Ranch, originally three-quarters of a million acres in northeastern 'New Mexico, traces cattle ranching from its nineteenth-century frontier beginnings to its evolution into a market- based commercial enterprise in the twentieth century. The emphasis throughout is on showing how the ranch worked, especially the direction its owners and managers provided. From the 1870s to the 1890s, the ranch was owned by Wilson Waddingham, a larger-than-life figure who, in his reckless desire for wealth, undoubtedly overgrazed the land. But beginning in the late 1890s, new owners in the East initiated changes that transformed the Bell from a frontier outfit into a modern business. Under the guidance of three extraordinary managers, Bell Ranch successfully adapted to change by applying new technology to feed, water, and transport cattle, by managing rangeland and herd to limit overgrazing, and by breeding improved cattle to produce better beef for the consumer. Contents in Seven Chapters: Introduction, Don Poablo Montoya, John S. Watts, Wilson Waddingham, Arthur J. Tisdall, Charles M. o'Donel, Albeert K. Mitchell, and Epilog. Plus Preface, and Notes.