Notes on Cattle Dipping

Arsenic and Old Bovine Lace - History of the Cattle Tick Eradication Program in the South By Robert G. Pasquill, Jr., Forest Archeologist National Forests in Alabama September 2012 Introduction Texas fever, also known as splenetic fever, red-water fever, and the bloody murrain, has been known in cattle for many years. One of the plagues visited upon the Egyptians in Exodus was “murrain of the beasts” that afflicted their cattle (Exodus 9:1-7). As early as 1795 it was recognized in the United States that as cattle were moved from one area to another, they could spread sickness. In that year, the North Carolina legislature restricted the movement of cattle from the oak to the longleaf pine sections of the State. It would be nearly another 100 years before it was understood that ticks on Southern cattle were the cause of the sickness. By the 1890’s the movement of Southern cattle to the north was restricted. One of the primary objectives of the USDA’s Bureau of Animal Industry was to establish the line between the infected and non-infected areas of the country. By 1906, the Federal government had established a quarantine line between North and South. Stockmen began treating their cattle with solutions to kill the ticks. Eventually, the most effective method to kill ticks was to dip the cattle in an arsenical bath. Cattle dipping vats were built across the Southern States. Initially, the vats were constructed by individual stock owners. Later, counties held elections to vote on tick eradication. Finally, states passed state-wide compulsory dipping laws. The tick eradication program, officially begun in 1906, called for the coordination between county, State, and Federal officials. Forty years later, most of the cattle ticks had been eradicated. The program was not without opposition. Some of the opposition took the form of anti-dipping associations. Some of the opposition was violent, with officials being shot and vats being dynamited. Many of the old cattle dipping vats can still be found today. Some vats have been recorded as archeological sites. Recently, the question has been raised about the potential health risk they pose. While records were diligently kept and published on the number of square miles released from Federal quarantine, the records indicating the numbers and locations of the vats are more obscure. The purpose of this research is to assist in locating cattle dipping vats, to acquire a better understanding of the distribution and number of cattle dipping vats, and to provide a historical context for the vats when they are located, to facilitate any management activities required for the treatment of the cattle dipping vat sites. Early History Southern cattle fever was first described in 1814 by Dr. James Mease when cattle from South Carolina spread disease as they were driven north. The southern cattle remained healthy while all others that mixed with the herd during their progress to the North were infected. The southern cattle were prohibited from passing through the State of Virginia (USDA 1909:462). In 1868, Texas cattle were shipped to Illinois and Indiana in the early summer. This resulted in the loss of many local cattle. The cattle shipped from these states to Eastern markets died during transportation. This enormous loss in cattle prompted the study of the disease, and established the danger of allowing southern cattle to be shipped north during the hot weather. In 1885, discussion began of the “infected district” and eventually, the establishment of the “Texas fever quarantine line” in 1891 by Dr. Daniel Elmer Salmon, head of the Bureau of Animal Industry (Mohler 1905:7-8). Dr, John Gamgee’s Report on Splenic or Periodic Fever in Cattle – 1871 In the summer of 1868, Professor John Gamgee, a British Veterinarian, was hired by the United States Department of Agriculture to study contagious diseases in cattle, specifically Spanish fever. He had come to the Chicago with the original intention of studying meat preservation, but in June of 1868 there had been numerous reports of cattle fever in Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois, all pointing to Texas cattle as being the source of the outbreaks. He was instructed to investigate the extent and nature of the Texas cattle traffic (Gamgee 1871:83-84). His findings, including a definition of the disease, symptoms, post-mortem appearances, causes and nature of the disease, curative treatment and prevention, were published in the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture on the Diseases of Cattle in the United States in 1871. Dr. Gamgee proposed to call the disease as “splenic fever of cattle” as the disease was readily distinguished, as a rule, by the enlargement of the spleen. The disease was also known as Texas fever or cattle fever. It had been recorded among cattle from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana, whenever the local cattle were put to graze on pastures previously or simultaneously occupied by herds from Texas and Florida. Southern cattle tended to recover, but it was extremely fatal among northern stock, with death occurring within ten or twelve days (Gamgee 1871:84- 86). Dr. Gamgee made detailed observations on the symptoms of infected cattle and their post-mortem appearances, which undoubtedly were “cutting edge” for the period. However, when he theorized on the cause and nature of the disease, he attributed the fever to similar causes of intermittent diseases in man. He observed that Texas and Florida were unhealthy climates for man and animal. Texas also offered poorer grazing for cattle. Texas cattle that wintered in Illinois, Indiana or Missouri could gain one to three hundred pounds over the weight they would reach in their native state (Gamgee 1871:106-107). Dr. Gamgee gave some consideration to the possibility that the disease was spread by eating prairie grass that had been contaminated with the excretions of other cattle. This also applied to eating hay in stockyards. He pointed out that British government 2 prohibited the importation of hay from the United States. He also observed that the disease was influenced by the seasons. A few “nipping frosts” checked the disease “anywhere and everywhere.” Numerous reports of outbreaks of Spanish fever had been halted with the coming of cold weather. It was also recorded that Texas cattle could be freely placed with western stock during the winter months (Gamgee 1871:116-118). It had been widely known that Texas cattle were often covered with ticks. Dr. Gamgee received drawing of the ticks found on Texas cattle from C.V. Riley, the Missouri State Entomologist. The young ticks could be found in abundance on the grasses, and it was thought that this poisoned the grasses. Dr. Gamgee dismissed the idea that ticks were involved in the transmission of the disease. “The ‘tick theory’ has acquired quite a renown during the past summer; but a little thought should have satisfied any one of the absurdity of the idea.” Dr. Gamgee’s reasoning was that the ticks could be easily separated from the cattle by means of a wooden fence. He had observed Texas cattle, both alive and dead, as well as dead western cattle that were completely free of ticks. He also observed that although they were specifically looking for “irritating parasites” in the stomach and intestines, they had never seen any ticks in the alimentary canal. It was also observed that the tick was not confined to Gulf-coast cattle, and the disease was not spread from western cattle to other cattle (Gamgee 1871:118-119). While Dr. Gamgee was not in a position to recommend any system of quarantine, he did conclude that anyone interested in the cattle trade should remember that during the summer months, they should never mix southern cattle with western cattle. A line of demarcation should be made distinct and the Texas cattle be kept from other stock (Gamgee 1871:127). Texas Fever Outbreak – July 1884 On July 30, 1884, The New York Times had four separate articles under the headline, “Cattle Killed and Quarantined at All the Great Western Depots.” Articles from Chicago, St. Louis, Topeka and Kansas City all reported on cattle dying from Texas fever. On July 28th, veterinarians examining a herd of cattle at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago had deduced that the Texas fever was “superinduced by drinking water strongly impregnated with alkali.” On July 29th, another train with 12 cars containing 240 head of cattle had arrived in Chicago from the same herd from Southwestern Kansas. Fifteen cattle were found dead in the cars, another 55 had been thrown from the train, and many more were sick and trampled. The entire herd, from both days, was ordered destroyed, in all about 500 head. It was determined that the cattle had been in the Kansas City Stock Yards for 30 days. An article from Kansas City reported that the presence of Texas fever at the stock yards had been introduced by a herd received from the Indian Territory. Some of the cattle had been sent to Chicago and the rest had gone to Manhattan, Kansas. An article from Topeka, Kansas reported that Mr. N.A. Adams had purchased 200 head of Colorado steers at Kansas City the previous week, and 30 head of them had died of the Spanish or 3 Texas fever. One carload had been stopped in Topeka where six head had died, and the rest had gone on to Manhattan where they were quarantined. By mid-afternoon the following day, 25 head had died. The article from St. Louis reported that a dispatch from Roadhouse, Illinois had been received stating that 16 carloads of cattle from the Indian Territory had arrived at the Chicago and Alton stock yards.

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