This short 1950s film “Herds West” was produced and photographed by Florence Avalon Daggett, an American filmmaker who specialized in short documentaries and educational films about Western subjects such as Native American tribes and cattle. In this short film, she focuses on the cattle industry and the movement of cattle along the production line. It is narrated by Tom McKee. The film opens with a scene of a road running through America’s Southwest countryside (0:11). Sign reading “Watch for Cattle” with a car in background (0:13). Lone car driving in the countryside (0:18). A cow/bull eating grass (0:27). Cattle grazing (0:30). Pipe with water coming out (1:00). Reservoir with mountains, dykes of dirt piled up, fields, and clouds in the background (1:07). Two cowboys/ranchers on horseback near a reservoir (1:12). Well and windmill with cattle and mountains in the background (1:20). Shadow of windmill (1:25). Map of the Southwest (1:31). Close up map of Southern California and Nevada as well as Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (1:39). Black Aberdeen-Angus cattle surrounded by dry grass (1:48). Brahman cattle (2:01). Red and white Hereford cattle (2:18). Landscape of the American Southwest, field, mountains, clouds (2:41). A cow/bull eating grass (2:46). Dry grass (3:01). Drought, dry dirt (3:04). Windmill turning, well, roofed feeding bend/cell (3:11). Roofed feeding cell (3:17). Cell feeder with cattle walking up to feed from it (3:23). A cow/bull eating from the feeder (3:27). Branded Hereford cattle (3:41). Rancher/cowboy walking along a fence holding two iron rods (3:44). Cattle owner smoking pipe and holding the iron rods (3:48). Cattle owner laying down two iron rods (3:58). Cowboy lays straight lines across the two iron rods (4:08). From this process he creates a branding iron for the Diamond S brand (4:11). Brand registry document (4:16). Hereford cattle (4:26). Hair of Hereford cattle (4:28). Cut ear of Hereford cattle (4:33). Hereford cattle walking close to bushes and dry ground (4:44). Cowboy/Cowhand rounding up cattle (4:48). Hereford cattle on the range (4:51). Lots of Hereford cattle being driven by cowboys/riders (4:55). Herd of Hereford cattle (5:00). Corral full of Hereford cattle (5:06). Cowboys divide the cattle (5:12). Hereford cattle driven into the corrals (5:29). Branding irons heated in burning in an old oil drum (5:33). Open fire heating branding irons (5:38). Cowboys carrying branding irons (5:44). Cowboys branding and vaccinating cattle (5:49). Cowboy sprays cattle with insecticides/antiseptic liquids (6:03). Cowboys opening gate to Hereford cattle (6:22). Hereford cattle packed close together (6:27). Cowboy driving Hereford cattle out of the corral (6:31). Sale cattle such as yearlings ride on conveyor belt (6:37). Yearlings boarded into a truck for shipping and moved (6:43). Cattle walking up the ramp into a rail car (6:49). Train cars (6:56). Farm with silo (7:04). Cattle eat corn (7:11). Cattle moving down ramp into a railside corral (7:31). Cattle feeding (7:42). Valleys of the West along the Salt and Gila rivers in Arizona with lush grass and mountains (7:48). Imperial valleys of California (7:52). Cattle grazing (7:58). Cattle feeding in feed yards (8:04). Thousands of cattle in feeding yard with silos in the background (8:07). Rancher walking (8:17). Rancher consulting scientist on cattle nutrition and diet (8:25). Pile of barley (8:39). Piles of alfalfa hay (8:46). Machinery used to supply cattle with feed (9:04). Mill (9:14). Control room for the mill with worker (9:17). Blended feed (9:50). Feed wagons carry feed (10:03). Feed wagons deliver feed to thousands of cattle (10:11). Cattle eat the feed (10:30). Cattle resting (10:38). Cattle fat and ready for slaughter/market (10:43). Cattle move out of pens toward the packing plant (10:58). Cattle grazing on the open range (11:16).

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