Imagine that!  Oh, save the males!
 
Brian Siegel
 
 
> Thought this tidbit might be of interest to HISTARCH readers.  It
coincides
> with 150th Anniversary of the founding of Utah by the Mormons.
>
> Mike Polk
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> From the Deseret News, Salt Lake City (May 2, 1997):
>
> What happened to the West's oxen?
>
> Beefy pioneer heroes have mostly vanished, ending up on dinner
> tables.
>
> By Danny Katayama
> Associated Press writer
>
>       CHEYENNE, Wyo.   In the settling of the West, they were
essential but
> unsung heroes. They symbolized the rugged, durable, arduous traits
required
> to
> make the odyssey into the American frontier.
>       Yet while westward expansion is glorified, the ox appears to be
> forgotten, and
> the animal is rarely found on the lands it helped settle. In fact,
there's a
> question
> whether the species known as the ox really existed in the West or
whether it
> was the
> product of cross-breeding.
>       History books and documentaries say the ox played a prominent
role in
> the
> movement west   pulling wagons along the Oregon and Mormon trails,
both of
> which weaved through the heart of Wyoming.
>       Thousands of people are expected this summer to celebrate the
150th
> anniversary of the trek made by Mormons and to retrace their journey.
But,
> along
> that route and across most of the Wyoming landscape, nary an ox can be
seen.
>       So what's become of the ox?
>       "It is a thing of the past   it is like an endangered species,"
said
> Gerald Olsen,
> a third-generation rancher who lives near the path of the Mormon,
Oregon and
> Overland trails. "We can bring oxen back at any time if people had the
> brainpower
> on how to train them. But the only reason to bring back a thing like
this is
> for a
> hobby."
>       In 1850, the U.S. Census reported there were 1.7 million oxen in
the
> nation. By
> 1890, that number dropped to about 1.17 million nationally, 720,767 in
the
> West
> and only 11,684 in Wyoming.
>       Such statistics are no longer kept, according to officials with
the
> Wyoming
> Agriculture Statistical Services.
>       The truth may be that oxen, purely put, were never here   at
least as a
> distinct
> animal. In that light, ox as a special breed is as real as the big
blue Babe
> of Paul
> Bunyan lore.
>       "It's just a myth. Oxen were probably a variety of breeds," said
Robert
> Boyd, a
> professor in the Agriculture Department of Laramie County Community
College
> in
> Cheyenne. "So as such there was probably never a true breed."
>       The mystique and misconceptions of the animal are widespread,
said Jim
> Mattson, site manager of a living history farm in Minnesota that uses
a
> couple of
> hybrid oxen.
>       "Typically, we have 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a year and many of
them
> have
> that question: What happened to them?" said Mattson, whose farm
duplicates
> pioneer life between 1850 and 1876. "We have to really explain what
they
> are."
>       Mattson and Boyd say the ox could have been any crossbreed,
possibly
> reddish
> or brown or spotted and possibly including Hereford, Longhorn,
line-back or
> shorthorn crossbreeds to develop muscle for work on the range.
>       The animals typically were allowed to continue building muscle
as draft
> animals
> beyond 10 years of age, and they grew to about 2,000 pounds. An
average steer
> for beef purposes is about half that size.
>       Part of the ox's demise   or perhaps, more accurately, its
> transformation
> can be traced to breeding patterns. Settlers, having arrived at their
> destinations,
> found the animals more productive for breeding beef cattle than moving
wagons
> or
> plowing fields.
>       And progress eventually erased the need for these beasts of
burden
> much
> like motorcycles now are taking the place of horses for herding
cattle.
>       "Soon as they got modern transportation, we could plow better in
the
> fields with
> a dadgum tractor," said Olsen, who lives in Nebraska, in "spitting
distance"
> of the
> Wyoming state line. "They didn't disappear from the planet. They were
just
> turned
> out to pasture. Instead of working in the fields, you eat them."
>