Video Parts (2)
This clip is Part 1 of a 2-part film.
CATTLE RANCH,A Part 1
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “The ranches of the United States produce the cattle which are fattened for beef. More than seven-eighths of these animals are produced west of Chicago. The cattle country is a land of little rain, few streams, scattered grass and distant hills.” Cattle on range land, mountains in distance. “The grass is so scant, that each animal requires twenty acres. The cattle are far apart and move several miles each day grazing.” “The cattle land was once the range of buffalo.” Buffalo in zoo. “From Canada to Texas the great buffalo herds roamed with the seasons. This animal was once so numerous, that in 1868 the great herds stopped railroad trains in Nebraska.” Close-up of buffalo. “When the buffalo herds passed away, the cattle ranches came in. Today, more than seven million animals are on the land of the buffalo.” “The cattle ranches in Texas were large. One had 100,000 cattle, 150 cowboys and 1,600 horses.” Herd on range. “The cowboy has a lonely life, following the herds through the dust of summer and winter snow.” “These sly and cunning coyotes are waiting to catch the calves.” “Sometimes the calves are weak and are taken to the ranch house to be fed.” Calves eating from trough. “Saving the calves prevents loss on the ranch. Calves that cannot run with the herd are hand fed.” Woman feeding calves with bottle. “Every day the riding skill of the cowboy is tested to hold the herd together. This is a troublesome animal.” Cowboys on horseback chase cow. “The cowboy selects his ‘cow pony’ from the wild horses in the ranch corral.” “The wild horse struggles to throw its skillful rider.” Cowboys on horseback, one horse bucking. “The ‘bucking bronco’ is dangerous.” “The bucking horse throws its rider. The cowboy does not mind these hard knocks.” Rodeo bucking bronco event. “After breaking, the horse becomes the cowboy’s faithful pal.” Close-up of cowboy on horse. “The cowboy’s hat -- the ‘sombrero’ with its broad brim, shields the head from heat and rain.” “The ‘chaps’ protect the legs from the thorns, the rain and the cold.” Man on horseback, chaps draped from saddle horn. “The ‘rope’ or lasso is necessary to the cowboy who uses it skillfully.” Cowboy demonstrating fancy rope work. “The land of the modern ranch is enclosed in miles of barbed wire. It has springs, streams or ponds for the stock.” “Flowing wells sometimes furnish water to the dry ranches.” Artesian well. “With water, the dry ranches have fields of alfalfa for grazing.” “A modern ranch has barns for storage and a house.” Views of ranch buildings. “The foreman of ‘-U’-Bar U-a modern ranch.” Man poses on horseback. “The cattle of the wild west days have been replaced by these beef producers.” “Each season the cattle are dipped in vats of chemicals to destroy ticks and other parasites.” Cattle are driven through chute and through dip tanks. “After the spring round-up, the herd grazes over the boundless lands.” “The cowboys keep the animals moving to better grass.” Herding on horseback. “The beef round-up is in the fall. The beef animals are ‘cut out’ from the herd and shipped to the packing house or to a farm to be fattened.” Cowboys cutting beef cows from herd. “Feeding corn to ranch cattle in Illinois.” Cattle in feed lot. “In a few months, the ranch animal is ready for beef, and it now arrives at the stockyards to be sold.” Cattle in pens at stockyard. “The cowboy’s life was free and hardy. He was ‘square’ and a part of the big wild West. He and his bronco still live in bronze.” Statue of cowboy on horse. “The End.” [1922]
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