The Hashknife Outfit :: essays research papers

section 1 IntroductionWhen the Aztec oxen Company ("The Hashknife rig") first got to northeastArizona, they found knee-high herbage as farthermost as they could see. They moved oxen fromTexas to Arizona and just kept saving in more and more. They ran those cows onabout 2 gazillion acres of land between Flagstaff and New Mexico. The oxen graze thegrass off and the drought that had already started kept more grass from growing in. There was already very little water, so the cattle started dying off by the thousands. Country that used to look kindred an ocean of grass turned into a dried out, wind blamed desert. During this same time, the railroads were being put in across the countryand cattle were starting to be shipped on trains. (This meant higher transportation costswhen cattle prices were starting to go down.) Some of the worst parts of Arizonas history was caused by the Hashknife articulated lorryand its cutthroat hired help. Mormon settlers were harassed, robb ed, and run out of thecountry. Cattle were stolen from the settlers and other ranches. But the worst problemsfrom the Hashknife cowboys was had by the sheepmen and the towns people. Towns likeHolbrook were the scenes of killing, drinking, whoring, and troublemaking. Thesheepmen were harassed, their sheep killed, and sometimes got themselves killed.Section 2 The Search The Hashknife Outfit pioneered large-scale cattle ranching in Arizona but theirover grazing scarred the land, drought and hard winters killed the cattle, and theircriminal sort made its mark on Arizonas history.The "Hashknife tell on resembled a cooking instrument used by chuckwagon cooks tochop up meat and potatoes for hash. The brand was have by the Aztec Land and CattleCompany and was used to brand thousands of cattle. more cattle ranches came to beknown by their brands instead of by their federation names because it was easier forpeople to remember--thats why the Aztec Land and Cattle Company was called t he"Hashknife Outfit".(my mom--Arizona family verbal tradition)"The Hashknife Outfit was established in northern Arizona in 1884. Ashareholder in the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad persuaded a group of Eastern investors topurchase a million acres of grazing land offered for sale by the railroad. The new ranch,called the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, brought in 33,000 head of Texas LonghornCattle, a large remuda (herd of saddle broke horses) of horses, and the Hashknife brand"(Hughes xi). When the stockholders of the Aztec Land and Cattle Company were first meetingto form the company, cattle prices were already headed downward.