Murdo MacKenzie(April 24, 1850 – May 30, 1939) was twice (1891–1901 and 1922–1937) manager of the Scots-owned Matador Land and Cattle Company, and founding president of the American Stock Growers Association, for whom he testified before congress and theInterstate Commerce Commission.His testimony led to passage of theHepburn Actof 1906 which eased railroad fares for western shippers.
PresidentTeddy Rooseveltappointed him to theNational Conservation Commissionin 1908, and it was Mackenzie, then manager of the Brazil Land, Cattle and Packing Company, with whom Roosevelt stayed when he visitedBrazilin 1913.
Biography
editMacKenzie was born nearTain,Ross-shire,Scotland,where he attended parish school and graduated from theTain Royal Academyin 1869. He served in a law office and in the British Linen Bank, then as factor forSir Charles Ross's estate atBalnagown Castle.He married Isabella Stronach MacBain in 1876 and fathered five children with her. Among these was his son, David G. (Dode) MacKenzie, who, in December 1909, was shot in LeBeau, South Dakota, while also working for Matador.
He sailed to the United States in 1885 to accept an offer to manage the Prairie Land and Cattle Company inTrinidad, Colorado.After becoming a naturalized citizen, he was elected mayor of Trinidad in 1891, before accepting the directorship at Matador.
He died, aged 89, in 1939 inDenver, Colorado,where he is buried.
The town ofMurdo, South Dakotawas named for Mackenzie.[1]
In 1981, he was inducted into theHall of Great Westernersof theNational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.[2]
In popular culture
editMacKenzie appears as a character in the fictionalScrooge McDuckcomic book,The Buckaroo of the Badlands(1992), set in 1882-1883, in which the poor, newly hired Scrooge, helped by Theodore Roosevelt, rescues a championship bull belonging to MacKenzie. At the beginning ofRaider of the Copper Hill(1993), set in 1884, Scrooge leaves Mackenzie to prospect for copper while his former employer drives his herd to Texas.
Notes
edit- ^Hellmann, Paul T. (May 13, 2013).Historical Gazetteer of the United States.Routledge. p. 993.ISBN978-1135948597.Retrieved30 November2013.
- ^"Hall of Great Westerners".National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.RetrievedNovember 22,2019.
References
edit- Clarke, Mary Whatley, (June 1951) "Murdo Mackenzie",Cattleman.
- Douglas, C. L., (1939/1968)Cattle Kings of TexasDallas: Baugh; reprinted Fort Worth: Branch-Smith.
- Hayter, Delmar J.Murdo MacKenziefrom theHandbook of TexasOnline
- Pearce, W. M. (1964)The Matador Land and Cattle Company.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Pearce, W. M.Matador Land & Cattle Companyfrom theHandbook of TexasOnline
- Blasingame, Ernest "Ike", (1958) "Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days". Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.