Political Ecologies of Cattle Ranching in Northern Mexico: Private Revolutions

Appendix A: Ranching and Regional Literature

Appendix A Ranching and Regional Literature Although the origins and growth of cattle raising are not the principal focus of this book, it is useful to point out some important works on these related topics in the literature. In the preparation for this work, it became quickly apparent that someone needed to comment on the current research and merits of existing studies on ranching. At the fundamental level of pastoral systems, see the works by anthropologists Tim Ingold (1980), and Barfield (1993), who clearly and eloquently distinguish between types of pastoralism, from nomadic to permanently settled forms. For the British Isles, the studies by Carrier (1936) and the research of geographers E. Evans (1942, 1957, 1973) and P. S. Robinson (1984) reveal the complexity of traditional sheep pastoralism and the dearth of open-range cattle traditions in Ireland and Scotland. On the Iberian Peninsula , Butzer (1988) examines the pastoral precursors to eventual New World grazing complexes, and Jordan (1989) ties patterns from Spain to Latin America in general, suggesting a highland/lowland model for most regions of the Americas. The advent of domesticated livestock in the Western Hemisphere began with the Caribbean, yet no single study has addressed ranching explicitly, so we must glean information from Sauer’s (1966) study and the largely unheralded, but remarkably comprehensive, work of David Watts (1987). Some anecdotal information for the Caribbean can also be extracted from Crosby’s (1972) work. The eventual dispersal from the main islands of Hispaniola and Cuba resulted in a network of coastal savanna grasslands (Olive 1952–1953; D. Harris 1980). Most research in the Caribbean comes from historians, and their contributions for this region are important for understanding the diffusion and adaptation of various livestock strategies in the southeastern United States and countries lying next to the Gulf of Mexico. 200 Appendix A For the more relevant Mexican origins of the pastoral system in Sonora, there are several important regional studies in geography and history. For North America, in general, Donald Brand (1961) and Morrisey (1950, 1951) elaborate the northward spread of livestock raising out of the core of New Spain, and Gerhard’s (1972, 1982) contributions serve as a template of sources and maps for future ranching studies at the regional or local level. Indeed, we already have fine analyses at the regional scale by Butzer and Butzer (1993, 1995, 1997) who make careful use of archival records while remaining aware of the field conditions in each region. Additional work by Bensin (1935) and Doolittle (1987) suggests an eastern lowland Gulf Coast component as a key source region for later pushes in the cattle frontier of Texas. West’s (1949) examination of the Parral mining district in Chihuahua serves as a model for illustrating the close ties between extractive industries on the northern frontier of New Spain and Mexico, and also details relationships between land use and land tenure. Brading (1971) focuses on the mercantile-miner aspects that West does not treat with some discussion of livestock. Many of the earliest cattle ranches in Sonora and Chihuahua were established concomitantly with these early mines. For a more updated, modern interpretation of industrial cattle ranching in Chihuahua, I recommend Machado (1981), who does a commendable job for the bulk of the twentieth century until 1975. In Spanish, Ascencio Franco’s (1992) work on the meat industry in Guadalajara is a great complement from an economic anthropologist’s point of view. The Pacific Coast roots of later Sonoran ranching initiatives are treated in detail by Jordan (1993). A more specific case study analysis is provided by Meigs’s (1935) work on the Dominican missions in Baja California , but ranching is the central focus of his study and is complemented by Henderson’s (1964) later dissertation on agriculture and ranching in Baja. A notable Mexican contribution to the Pacific literature is Serrera Contreras (1977), whose monograph on the Guadalajara region is an extended treatise on economic history, including some focus on livestock. The Serrera Contreras volume also demonstrates the possible source of current ranching patterns in Pacific Mexico, namely that cattle dominated the hot lowlands, while horses and mules were far more common in the altos of the state of Jalisco. This pattern does not hold for Sonora. The Ranching and Regional Literature 201 Jaliscan altos are the highlands in the state of Jalisco, and the cultural phenomenon of charrería, cultural performances centered on equestrian skills, is...