John Illiff

• 1861 - bought a heard of skinny cattle for $500 - he fattened them on the plains
• he then sold the fat cows to mining towns, railroad builders and Indigenous Peoples on the plains
• due to the Colorado gold rush - more people moved their - this meant their was a higher demand for beef
• However there was a problem - Denver didn't have a railroad point - so Iliff had an idea
• John Iliff bought land for a ranch near Denver - using the Homestead act
• in 1870 - 26000 cattle
• Iliff became Denver's first millionaire
• in 1872 - he arranged a contract to provide the Sioux tribe with beef - the reservation had 7000 people in it
• this lead to the start of open range - large unfenced area's of land which livestock could roam freely
• ranching on the plain - decreased Buffalo numbers
• this led to the Beef Bonanza - cattle barons copied Iliff and making a lot of money