What Happened in History: Browse Historical Facts on Kudos 365

Record Snow and cold hit the Northern Plains. The winter of 1886–1887, also known as the Big Die-Up, was extremely harsh for much of continental North America, especially the northern plains of the United States where the cattle industry was decimated. The cattle, already weak from lack of forage from the previous dry summer became weaker as they trudged through the deepening snow in search for food. Hundreds of thousands of cattle are said to have died, Montana ranchers alone lost an estimated 362,000 head of cattle, more than half the territory's herd. The disaster led to a major reorganization of ranching and ending the open range era. More