The Building of an Industry

The Building of an Industry. Wyoming’s Agriculture. , The agriculture producers of the Big Horn Basin invite you to enjoy our majestic mountains, pristine streams, and lush meadows. These meadows aren’t here for aesthetics; man has strived to irrigate this dry rocky land to make his cows comfortable. In the 1800s there were only a few trails which could support wagon traffic, and few people lived here. Most cattle ran on open range, grazing close to natural water. , The terrible winter of 1887 decimated livestock herds, and local livestock owners recognized they had to do something to make their cattle more comfortable. They had to raise winter feed to get their cattle through the winters, and to show a profit. They used snow runoff and rainwater to irrigate the arid land, and built irrigation systems to create meadows. This water soaked the ground, seeping back to the streams creating fisheries and wetlands. Dams were built on rivers to irrigate large tracts of land, which helped make electricity available and form recreation areas. Trees now grow in formerly treeless river valleys. Ranchers fenced the land, drilled wells, and built reservoirs to water their livestock and land, benefiting wildlife. Roads were constructed to deliver feed to ranchers and haul livestock and produce to market. , Agriculture producers continue to invest time and money to develop and care for resources on their private land and federal grazing permits. Making cows comfortable benefits us all.