The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-23
WICHITA UNION STOCKYARD
THE GREAT LIVE STOCK MARKET
OF THE SOUTHWEST.
Receipts of the Year Ending February,
1890, 1871 Cattle and 121 GA Hogs
For the First Twenty Days of
the Present Month, 2,482 Cat
tie and 1873 Hogs.


our leading business men conceived the
idea that within a few years Wichita
would develop large live stock market
and become a packing center owing to the
large number of cattle and hogs raised in
country contiguous to this city that must
necessarily find a market in the principal
city to which all other products of the
same territory were looking for market.
! About the middle of December 1886 meet
ing was called and all the gentlemen inter
ested in the matter were present. \ board
of directors were chosen, a charter drawn
up Incorporating the Wichita Union Stock
Yards company of Wichita, Kan. The
charter was filed with the secretary Of
state December IS, 1856. The following
! gentlemen qualified as the board of direc-
I tors for the first year, February 3, 1887. j.
| o. Davidson, \. 4. English, w. X. Car
! Isle, Talton Emery and w r. Dulaney
/ Early in the spring of 'S7 they commenced
/ the building of the first yards, which Gov
cred a space Of some three and half acres
of ground, the pens and alleys all being
rooted.
The yards were completed early in De-
! tOber Of that year. Mr.. Jeff Houston, now
one of the heaviest cattle buyers on the
market, went into Butler county and pUr-
chased a car load of cattle and hogs and
/ shipped them to the yards He says he
was three or four days selling this one load
to the local butchers. How different from
/ the market of today. This was the only
load of stock handled at the first yards,
for on the night of the 18th of that month
the yards caught fire in some mysterious
way and were entirely consumed. This
was severe blow to the company but,
nothing daunted and with the pluck and
energy which possess the men who have
built the Wichita of today, and with more
faith than ever that Wichita within few
years was destined to become a great live
stock market and packing center, they at
once commenced preparations for rebuild
ing the yards, which were completed Feb
ruary /, 1888 Stock was received and sold
on that date The receipts continued light
until the following November, when the
Jacob DOld Packing company commenced
operations in their immense packing house, .
which had been in process of erection for
eight months. The receipts of live stock /
for eight and half months previous to
this were 80 cattle and ,l51 hogs and for
the two and half months following, orup
to February l. 1889 the receipts were go /
cattle and 1929 hogs.
This concluded the first years business /
Of the Wichita Union Stock Yards com
pany. The receipss for the second year up |
to February l, 1890, were l., IA cattle and /
l21 81 hogs, gain over the first years |
business of 1206S cattle and Ill G35 hogs. |
The receipts for the first twenty days in |
March, 1889, were 233 cattle and D $50 hogs, .
and for the same period this year, :, 4S2 /
cattle and ll,S13 hogs, a gain for twenty .
days of 2,342 cattle and 6,723 hogs None /
of the now great live stock centers of the /
country made half as good a showing dur
ing the early part of its second years eX- /
istence. The great packing house of Fran
els Whitaker & Sons commenced opera
tions August |, 1889, which more than
doubled theldemand for hogs
About IA year ago the stock yards COM
pany realized the fact that the old yards
were inadequate to handle the large in
crease of business for this year and com
menced figuring on plans for an entire new
plant Of double the size of the old yards,
with all conveniences known to modern
stock yards. They purchased forty acres
of ground just east of the packing houses
and commenced building August l of last
last, and the first load of stock was nm
loaded and sold at the yards December 23,
1889 The new yards are very complete
and as good as any in the country, and SUI
perior to many older yards. The cattle
and hog pens and all the alleys are under
roof They have chutes for unloading
twenty cars of stock at one time, without
moving the train. All the railroads enter
- - 2
joint track into the yards
The company has added fifteen addi
tional cattle pens to accommodate the
large increasing business in this line, and
viii have to double the present capacity to
take proper care of the cattle which will
come to this market another fall. They
reserve the old yards for feeding through
Texas cattle, thus preventing any danger
of Texas fever in the new yards.
The growth of this as a live stock mar
ket is certainly wonderful. and is now far
in advance of the expectations of the most
Sanguine. This is destined to become the
great live stock market of the southwest,
and Will, within a very few years, equal
the Kansas City market of today Many
who have given the subject d great deal of
thought predict that this market Will out
do that of Kansas City within ten years.
This is without question the best hog
market in the United States today. as bet
ter prices are realized on the same grade
of hogs Most of the hogs that come
to this market are mixed, and
run uneven in size ranging from
100 TO 80 pounds in the same load. and
yet the packers take them all without sort
ing at the same price, and always pay
within - @10c of what Kansas City pay
for sorted lots
Our packers are only getting about one
fourth as many hogs aS they need to run
their houses to advantage.
The cattle market is growing very fast.
Less than six months ago if a shipper sent
in two or three good butchers cattle with
a load of hogs the commission man would
hang his head. and feel like saying, Il
wish they would not send cattle here, rs
there i no market for them. " They would
work hard To sell the cattle at even a fair =;
price Those days are gone, and now with
receipts of 100 to 215 cattle daily they all ,
sell at strong prices for all grades, and
there are always plenty of buyers TO take
all the offerings There seems to be a gen
aral impression that choice heavy cattle
IAN not be sold on this market; such how
ever. i not the case. There are order buy .
as on this market constantly for that
lass Of cattle for Chicago. st. Louis. Gin
,innati and Buffalo markets. shippers and :
feeders of this kind of cattle will bear in :
mind that very few of this grade OF cattle !
ire slaughtered in Kansas City bur are q
old to order buyers and shippers FOR mar I
of for+har east Inst 3S liberal rates can !