Mayer Halff facts for kids

Mayer Halff (1836–1905) was a very important rancher in Texas. He was also a well-known member of the Jewish community in the state. Mayer bought a huge amount of land, about 1 million acres (400,000 hectares), for ranching in western Texas and New Mexico. At one point, he owned the third largest number of cattle in the entire United States.

Mayer Halff's Early Life

Mayer Halff was born on February 7, 1836, in Lauterbourg, a town in Alsace, France. His family was already involved in the cattle business. In 1851, when he was about 15 years old, Halff moved to the United States. He joined his brother Adolphe in Galveston, Texas.

For several years, Halff worked as a traveling salesman, selling goods around Liberty, Texas. Sadly, his brother Adolphe died in a shipwreck in 1856. In 1857, Mayer's younger brother Solomon came to Texas. The two brothers then became business partners. Solomon managed their dry goods store, which sold items like fabric and clothing. Meanwhile, Mayer became more and more involved in trading cattle. Halff became a U.S. citizen in 1860.

During the American Civil War, Halff moved to southern Texas and Matamoros, Mexico. He did not fight in the war. His brother Solomon was drafted into the Confederate Army. He was jailed for a short time but later joined a military unit. In 1864, the Halff brothers opened a new dry goods store called "M. Halff and Brother" in San Antonio.

Becoming a Ranching Leader

Halff started buying land and cattle in the 1850s. After moving to San Antonio in 1864, he quickly bought a million acres of ranch land. This land stretched west from San Antonio all the way to Fort Stockton, Texas, the Pecos River area, and into New Mexico.

After the Civil War ended, there were about 5 million longhorn cattle roaming freely in western Texas. Many of these cattle did not have clear owners. In 1877, Halff joined other ranchers in moving thousands of cattle north. They drove the cattle from Texas to railroads in Dodge City, Kansas. From there, the cattle were sent by train to markets in the eastern United States, where people bought beef. Halff continued to drive cattle north, often to Colorado, until 1893.

Challenges on the Ranch

Mayer Halff owned more than a dozen ranches across western Texas and New Mexico. One of his ranches was the Peña Colorado, located near Marathon, Texas. This ranch was in the desert area known as the Big Bend region. The Peña Colorado ranch was very large, covering over 100,000 acres.

In the 1880s, people in the Big Bend still worried about raids from Comanche and Apache groups. Because of this, U.S. soldiers were stationed at Camp Peña Colorado, which was on Halff's land. Ranching was not always easy. For example, about half of Halff's cattle in the Big Bend died during a severe drought between 1885 and 1887.

In 1893, during a cattle drive in New Mexico, a big hailstorm hit. The storm killed most of Halff's horses and many of his cattle. This left Halff and his cowboys stranded on foot. He once joked about how a nearby herd belonging to another rancher was not harmed by the storm.

Another time, one of Halff's ranch managers, Rufe Moore, traded some cattle for a whole trainload of bacon. Halff, being Jewish, did not eat pork. He jokingly asked, "What in the name of God would a Jew do with a trainload of hog meat?" But Moore was smart and sold the bacon for a good profit. Halff called him "the smartest man I've ever seen."

The Famous Quien Sabe Ranch

In 1896, the Halff brothers bought their largest and most famous ranch, the Quien Sabe. It was located near Midland, Texas. The ranch got its name from a Mexican cowboy. When asked the name of the ranch, he replied, "Quien Sabe?" This means "who knows" in Spanish.

The Quien Sabe ranch included more than 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of land that they owned or leased. It was one of the last giant open range ranches in Texas. These ranches allowed cattle to roam freely over vast areas. One year, the Halff ranches branded 35,000 calves. This huge number made Mayer Halff the third largest cattle owner in the United States.

Family Life

Mayer Halff married Rachel Hart on September 2, 1866. They had four children who grew up past infancy.

Later Years and Legacy

Mayer Halff passed away on December 23, 1905, due to health issues. His son, Henry, took over the ranches and continued the family's ranching business. Mayer Halff is remembered as a key figure in the history of ranching in Texas.