Episode 2 of 3

End of the Open Range Era

When: 1886–1887
Where: Western United States
Part of: The extremely harsh winter of 1886–87 begins on the Great Plains

The harsh winter marked the end of the open range era and led to the entire reorganization of ranching in the Western United States.

The winter of 1886–87 was extremely harsh for much of continental North America, especially the United States. It is most known for its effects on the Western United States and its cattle industry. This winter marked the end of the open range era and led to the entire reorganization of ranching.

Sources

Winter of 1886–87 in the United States Wikipedia, revision of 2026-01-06

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.