XIT: The Story of Land, Cattle, and Capital in Texas and Montana by Michael M. Miller (review)

Abstract

In XIT, Michael M. Miller examines the XIT Ranch’s cattle business activity by contextualizing the company’s place in the American livestock industry and against the broader context of an everemerging economic system of capitalist enterprise, often run by businessmen overseas, on a disappearing western frontier. Miller weaves together his narrative through examinations of XIT cattle activity in Texas and Montana from 1885 to 1912. Events in chapters 2 and 3 represent the setup for Miller’s narrative about the ranch’s origins and subsequent business growth until its operations ceased in the early twentieth century. In chapter 2, Miller discusses provisions in the 1876 Texas constitution aimed at promoting open settlement for average small farmers, yet loopholes around and constant legal increases in acreage limits resulted in many public lands falling into corporate ownership. Miller, in chapter 3, details the chaotic set of events surrounding reconstruction plans for and disagreements about the Texas capitol between 1881 and 1888 and the role XIT associates played in it while dysfunctional leadership delayed project completion. Although this chapter tells an important story about how an expensive real estate venture ultimately inclined XIT to invest in cattle as a potentially more profitable market, Miller does not make this premise explicit until chapter 4. For the remainder of the book, Miller effectively describes XIT’s transition from investing in real estate to cattle, as well as the challenges company officials encountered in securing desired levels of revenue. XIT owners started their initial cattle operations in 1885 on lands purchased in the Texas panhandle. There they intended to profit through selling the livestock to prospective settlers hoping to obtain land in the waning era of open westward expansion. Miller highlights several underlying sets of obstacles that plagued goals of XIT affiliates and settlers alike, including cattle diseases, harsh winters, and difficulties securing transportation contracts with railroad companies. Cattle frequently suffered fevers that spread among herds, for which XIT operators in Texas constantly received blame, hindering efforts to expand when nearby jurisdictions imposed laws restricting transport of cattle. Securing transport agreements with railways like the Fort Worth & Denver City, and eventual additional land purchases for cattle grazing in Montana, initially helped offset some of the issues with dwindling property availability in Texas and business growth. Still, XIT businessmen were ultimately unable to accomplish longterm sustainability and profits. Cattle prices and demand among buyers declined into the early years of the twentieth century, and the company mismanaged its operations. Miller’s work skillfully sheds light on a declining livestock market in a period when open western settlement was also diminishing.