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59-584: In 1946, Herbert L. Kokernot Jr., son of Texas cattle rancher and entrepreneur Herbert L. Kokernot, retooled the semi-professional baseball team the Alpine Cats into the Alpine Cowboys. While semi-professional teams were not uncommon in Texas at the time, the Alpine Cowboys had the unusual benefit of a brand new stadium, Kokernot Field , opened for them in 1947. Constructed at a cost of $ 1.5 million,

118-411: A Rancho or Estancia as "a unit of land which comprises a Hacienda, where cattle and horses are raised, and which is in the care of a Caporal who is the captain of the other cowboys." Niceto de Zamacois , in his book "Historia de Méjico" (1879), defined terms as follows: "...the men of the countryside who carry out their jobs on horseback are given the name of "Rancheros," derived from the word Rancho that

177-773: A car crash outside of Eldorado, Texas while on a road trip to play Austin . The team retired his number, 57. In 2024, Alpine held a league best 45–4 record. The team set the Pecos League record with a .918 winning percentage. On August 5, 2024, infielder James Prockish became the all time Pecos League hits leaders. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches [REDACTED] Disabled list ‡ Inactive list § Suspended list Roster  updated December 16, 2023 Transactions Won Pecos League Champtionship ( San Rafael ) 2-0 Cattle rancher A ranch (from Spanish : rancho / Mexican Spanish )

236-546: A circle; a mess hall. “Rancho” in Spain is also the: “food prepared for several people who eat in a circle and from the same pot.” It was also defined as a family reunion to talk any particular business. While “ranchero” is defined as the: “steward of a mess”, the steward in charge of preparing the food for the “rancho” or mess-hall. In South America, specifically in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brasil, Bolivia and Paraguay,

295-691: A farm (occasionally also ranch) in South African English and plaas in Afrikaans . Pecos League The Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs is an independent professional baseball league headquartered in Houston , which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout California , New Mexico , Arizona , Colorado , Kansas , Oklahoma , Missouri , and Texas . The league plays in cities that do not have Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball teams and

354-538: A few struggling smaller operations have added some dude ranch features such as horseback rides, cattle drives, and guided hunting to bring in additional income. Ranching is part of the iconography of the " Wild West " as seen in Western movies and rodeos . The term ranch comes from the Spanish term rancho , itself from the term rancharse , which means “to get ready, to settle in a place, to pitch camp”, itself from

413-689: A number of baseball professionals, including two Hall of Fame inductees. Among them was coach Tom Chandler . Team members included Gaylord Perry and Norm Cash . In 1959, the Boston Red Sox moved their minor league affiliate, the Lexington Red Sox of the Nebraska State League , to Alpine, and took the traditional name "Cowboys" for the team. The new Cowboys immediately won the Class D Sophomore League title and set

472-589: A number of terms, including cowhand , ranch hand, and cowboy . People exclusively involved with handling horses are sometimes called wranglers . Ranching and the cowboy tradition originated in Spain , out of the necessity to handle large herds of grazing animals on dry land from horseback. During the Reconquista , members of the Spanish nobility and various military orders received large land grants that

531-459: A pasturing land or agricultural settlement where cattle are raised. Originally used to refer to a hamlet or village where cattle is raised and where the land is sowed; and to a small independent cattle farm, or to a cattle station, an area of land for cattle raising, that is dependent of a hacienda , a large cattle estate. In Spain it retained its military origin, being defined as: the group of people, typically soldiers, who eat together in

590-616: A settlement originated. For example, many of the traditions of the Jalisco charros in central Mexico come from the Salamanca charros of Castile. The vaquero tradition of Northern Mexico was more organic, developed to adapt to the characteristics of the region from Spanish sources by cultural interaction between the Spanish elites and the native and mestizo peoples. Cattle ranching flourished in Spanish Florida during

649-473: A steep ramp, and tied by their horns to the horns of a tame, older steer (or ox ) and taken to fenced-in areas. The industry grew slowly under the reign of Kamehameha's son Liholiho ( Kamehameha II ). When Liholiho's brother, Kauikeaouli ( Kamehameha III ), visited California , then still a part of Mexico , he was impressed with the skill of the Mexican vaqueros . In 1832, he invited several to Hawaii to teach

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708-857: A travel team, the Hollywood Stars , who played a handful of home games in Los Angeles . For 2019, the Ruidoso Osos were replaced by the Wasco Reserves , and the league reduced the number of divisions from three to two. For 2020, the Martinez Sturgeon and Santa Cruz Seaweed were announced as expansion teams, and the San Rafael Pacifics were added from the Pacific Association . They joined

767-722: Is a one-month showcase beginning in March for recent college graduates and free agents looking to catch on to a full season league. In May 2014, Fox Sports 1 aired a six-part documentary about life in the Pecos League, mostly based on the Trinidad Triggers . In August 2014, Jon Edwards made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers becoming the first player in Pecos League history to play in Major League Baseball . In September 2016, Chris Smith

826-514: Is also a method used to raise less common livestock such as horses , elk , American bison , ostrich , emu , and alpaca . Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly any size. In the western United States, many ranches are a combination of privately owned land supplemented by grazing leases on land under the control of the federal Bureau of Land Management or the United States Forest Service . If

885-580: Is an area of land , including various structures, given primarily to ranching , the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep . It is a subtype of farm . These terms are most often applied to livestock-raising operations in Mexico , the Western United States and Western Canada , though there are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called ranchers , cattlemen , or stockgrowers . Ranching

944-426: Is an employee of the actual owner, the term foreman or ranch foreman is used. A rancher who primarily raises young stock sometimes is called a cow-calf operator or a cow-calf man . This person is usually the owner, though in some cases, particularly where there is absentee ownership, it is the ranch manager or ranch foreman. The people who are employees of the rancher and involved in handling livestock are called

1003-531: Is applied to a small hacienda, or to a part of a large one that is divided into racherias or ranchos. Those who carry out the same tasks in the haciedas of Veracruz are given the name of "Jarochos." Thus the term Rancho in Mexican Spanish became a unit of land that makes up a hacienda where cattle is raised and where people live in farmhouses. The people that live and work in those Ranchos managing cattle and horses are called Rancheros. As settlers from

1062-427: Is not affiliated with either. The Pecos League season is a highly condensed one. Schedules vary, but teams have played as many as 70 games in 72 days, or 80 games in three months. The Pecos League operated six teams in the 2011 and 2012 seasons and expanded to eight teams for 2013. Continued growth saw the league reach a high of 10 teams for 2014. The Pecos League also operates a spring developmental league, which

1121-534: The Conquistadors came to the Americas in the 16th century, followed by settlers, they brought their cattle and cattle-raising techniques with them. Huge land grants by the Spanish (and later Mexican) government, part of the hacienda system, allowed large numbers of animals to roam freely over vast areas. A number of different traditions developed, often related to the original location in Spain from which

1180-539: The Homestead Act of 1862, more settlers came west to set up farms . This created some conflict, as increasing numbers of farmers needed to fence off fields to prevent cattle and sheep from eating their crops. Barbed wire , invented in 1874, gradually made inroads in fencing off privately owned land, especially for homesteads. There was some reduction of land on the Great Plains open to grazing. The end of

1239-569: The Kingdom of Castile had conquered from the Moors . These landowners were to defend the lands put into their control and could use them for earning revenue. In the process it was found that open-range breeding of sheep and cattle (under the Mesta system) was the most suitable use for vast tracts, particularly in the parts of Spain now known as Castilla-La Mancha , Extremadura and Andalusia . When

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1298-681: The Revolutionary War , and three or four drives in the late 1930s, when area cattle were herded down Montauk Highway to pasture ground near Deep Hollow Ranch. The prairie and desert lands of what today is Mexico and the western United States were well-suited to " open range " grazing. For example, American bison had been a mainstay of the diet for the Native Americans in the Great Plains for centuries. Likewise, cattle and other livestock were simply turned loose in

1357-567: The United States moved west, they brought cattle breeds developed on the east coast and in Europe along with them, and adapted their management to the drier lands of the west by borrowing key elements of the Spanish vaquero culture. However, there were cattle on the eastern seaboard. Deep Hollow Ranch , 110 miles (180 km) east of New York City in Montauk, New York , claims to be

1416-591: The 17th century. The word "Rancho" in Mexico developed different definitions from what it originally meant in Spain. In the book "Descripción de la Diócesis de Guadalajara de Indias" (1770), Mateo José de Arteaga defined "Ranchos" as "extensions of land where few people live with few assets and sheltering in huts." In 1778, José Alejandro Patiño , in his text "Topografía del Curato de Tlaxomulco," defined Ranchos as "In these Indian kingdoms, Ranchos are country houses of little pomp and value, where men of average means and

1475-458: The 1840s, and expansion both north and west from that time, through the Civil War and into the 1880s, ranching dominated western economic activity. Along with ranchers came the need for agricultural crops to feed both humans and livestock, and hence many farmers also came west along with ranchers. Many operations were "diversified", with both ranching and farming activities taking place. With

1534-572: The 2010 season, Alpine reorganized as a nonprofit corporation and became charter members of the Pecos League alongside Las Cruces. In 2011, the Cowboys retired "Big Bend" and returned to the Alpine Cowboys name. In 2012, the Cowboys won their first Pecos League championship, defeating Roswell . In 2019, the club captured their second Pecos League championship, defeating Bakersfield in the finals. On June 9, 2023, pitcher Jared Strait died in

1593-626: The 2024 season, the Lancaster Sound Breakers and Monterey Amberjacks did not return. The Sound Breakers folded due to the city of Lancaster entering into a lease with a soccer organization to use The Hangar , leaving the Sound Breakers without a stadium. The City of Monterey reportedly did not renew its contract with the league, but the Amberjacks plan to return in 2025. To replace the Sound Breakers and Amberjacks,

1652-583: The 6 teams would play a condensed 36-game season beginning on July 1, 2020. All games were played at Coastal Baseball Park in Houston, Texas . The Pacific Division originally planned on enacting a similar format, but due to the ongoing pandemic, were unable to compete in 2020. For the 2021 season, the Salina Stockade returned and the league announced the addition of the Colorado Springs Snow Sox as an expansion team. On April 4,

1711-548: The Alpine area into the new team. In 2009, the Cowboys finished fourth with a 37–23 record. The Cowboys then defeated Bay Area in the semifinals, earning them a berth in the championship. They were then defeated by Alexandria two games to none. In 2010, the final year of the CBL, the Cowboys went 33–15 in the regular season. They then defeated Las Cruces in the championship, earning them their first Ferguson Jenkins trophy. After

1770-650: The American government so that they could keep better control of the pasture land available to their own animals. Ranching in Hawaii developed independently of that in the continental United States. In colonial times, Capt. George Vancouver gave several head of cattle to the Hawaiian king, Pai`ea Kamehameha , monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and by the early 19th century, they had multiplied considerably, to

1829-591: The Hawaiian people how to work cattle. The Hawaiian cowboy came to be called the paniolo , a Hawaiianized pronunciation of español. Even today, the traditional Hawaiian saddle and many other tools of the ranching trade have a distinctly Mexican look, and many Hawaiian ranching families still carry the surnames of vaqueros who made Hawaii their home. In Argentina and Uruguay , ranches are known as estancias and in Brazil , they are called fazendas . In much of South America , including Ecuador and Colombia ,

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1888-780: The Houston Apollos in the American Association as a travel team. In April 2021, Yermín Mercedes was called up to the Chicago White Sox where he set a major league record as the first baseball player in modern MLB history to begin a season with eight consecutive hits. For the 2022 season, the league announced three expansion franchises: the Santa Rosa Scuba Divers, Austin Weirdos, and Weimar Hormigas. After competing in 2021, Salina

1947-743: The Sophomore League folded and the team moved to Idaho , becoming the Pocatello Chiefs of the Class C Pioneer League . Professional baseball returned to Alpine in 2009 with the Big Bend Cowboys of the Continental Baseball League . The team was founded by Frank Snyder, a Fort Worth law professor, who had previously founded the CBL's Texarkana Gunslingers and who brought several local investors from

2006-823: The Topeka Train Robbers, moved to Bakersfield, California , taking the place of the former Bakersfield Blaze , who folded following the 2016 California League season. The Train Robbers were joined in California for 2017 by three expansion teams: the High Desert Yardbirds (replacing the California League's High Desert Mavericks ), the Monterey Amberjacks , and California City Whiptails . The league also announced

2065-568: The United States. The gaucho culture of Argentina , Brazil and Uruguay are among the cattle ranching traditions born during the period. However, in the 20th century, cattle raising expanded into less-suitable areas of the Pantanal . Particularly in Brazil , the 20th century marked the rapid growth of deforestation , as rain forest lands were cleared by slash and burn methods that allowed grass to grow for livestock, but also led to

2124-728: The all-California Pacific Division, and replaced the California City Whiptails and High Desert Yardbirds in the circuit. The Tucson Saguaros moved to the Mountain Division, taking the place of the White Sands Pupfish . Interdivisional games would not be played to cut down on travel and other expenses. Later, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the league announced that the Mountain Division teams would not play at their home stadiums, and that 4 of

2183-490: The brand of his "o6" Ranch—a tradition that continues with the current Cowboys' cap insignia. In addition to supporting the team and the region with a state of the art stadium, Kokernot also actively supported athletes in Alpine and elsewhere, bringing promising high school graduates onto the roster of the team and offering college scholarships to players throughout the southwest. The team featured future major league stars, including Norm Cash , Gaylord Perry , and Joe Horlen . In

2242-408: The days of segregation in Texas, Kokernot arranged for many exhibition games between traveling Negro league teams—led by such stars as Satchel Paige —and visiting Mexican League teams. Those exhibitions drew fans from hundreds of miles away. In a 2007 article, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram described the team as "one of the state's finest semiprofessional teams". The team launched

2301-496: The depletion of the land within only a few years. Many of indigenous peoples of the rain forest opposed this form of cattle ranching and protested the forest being burnt down to set up grazing operations and farms. This conflict is still a concern in the region today. In Spain, where the origins of ranching can be traced, there are ganaderías operating on dehesa -type land, where fighting bulls are raised. However, ranch-type properties are not seen to any significant degree in

2360-403: The elaborately decorated stadium included imported infield clay shipped by train from Georgia. The Cowboys used the stadium as its home field from 1947 through 1958, during which time they took a dozen titles in the regional and were runners up for a national championship. At the end of championship seasons, Kokernot presented each team member with a pair of handmade red cowboy boots emblazoned with

2419-452: The first ranch in the United States, having continuously operated since 1658. The ranch makes the somewhat debatable claim of having the oldest cattle operation in what today is the United States, though cattle had been run in the area since European settlers purchased land from the Indian people of the area in 1643. Although there were substantial numbers of cattle on Long Island, as well as

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2478-593: The league announced its final division alignment for the season, which did not include California City and High Desert after previously indicating each would return. On August 3, the league announced the Bay Series between the San Rafael Pacifics , Monterey Amberjacks , Martinez Sturgeon, and Santa Cruz Seaweed after the Bakersfield Train Robbers tested positive for COVID-19 and had to cancel their final home series. The Pecos League operated

2537-621: The league brought in two new teams for the season, the North Platte 80s and the Pecos Bills . Both of which are the first time that each city has had a team in the league. Before the 2025 season, the Amberjacks made a return while Marysville folded. A new expansion team, the Kansas City Hormigas was announced. A high number of Pecos League teams postponed their premiere seasons before they were slated to play, like

2596-566: The military French term se ranger (to arrange oneself, to tidy up), from the Frankish hring , which means ring or circle . It was, originally, vulgarly applied in the 16th century to the provisional houses of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The term evolved differently throughout the Spanish speaking world : In Mexico, it evolved to mean a cattle farm, station or estate,

2655-408: The need to herd them to and from common grazing lands on a seasonal basis, the cattle handlers actually lived in houses built on the pasture grounds, and cattle were ear-marked for identification, rather than being branded. The only actual "cattle drives" held on Long Island consisted of one drive in 1776, when the island's cattle were moved in a failed attempt to prevent them from being captured during

2714-399: The open range was not brought about by a reduction in land due to crop farming , but by overgrazing . Cattle stocked on the open range created a tragedy of the commons as each rancher sought increased economic benefit by grazing too many animals on public lands that "nobody" owned. However, being a non-native species, the grazing patterns of ever-increasing numbers of cattle slowly reduced

2773-433: The point that they were wreaking havoc throughout the countryside. About 1812, John Parker, a sailor who had jumped ship and settled in the islands, received permission from Kamehameha to capture the wild cattle and develop a beef industry. The Hawaiian style of ranching originally included capturing wild cattle by driving them into pits dug in the forest floor. Once tamed somewhat by hunger and thirst, they were hauled out up

2832-459: The poor live, cultivating the small plots of land that they own or rent, sowing to the extent that each one can afford and raising their domestic, country animals, according to their strength." By the nineteenth century, the words Rancho and Estancia as used in Mexico had been consolidated to define a unit of land that made up a Hacienda or any rural area or the countryside in general. Domingo Revilla in 1844, in his text "Los Rancheros", defined

2891-565: The property. Employees are generally known as stockmen/stockwomen , jackaroos/jillaroos , and ringers (rather than cowboys). Some Australian cattle stations are larger than 10,000 km , with the greatest being Anna Creek Station which measures 23,677 km in area (approximately eight times the largest US Ranch). Anna Creek is owned by S Kidman & Co . The equivalent terms in New Zealand are run and station . In South Africa , similar extensive holdings are usually known as

2950-458: The quality of the rangeland, in spite of the simultaneous massive slaughter of American bison that occurred. The winter of 1886–87 was one of the most severe on record, and livestock that were already stressed by reduced grazing died by the thousands. Many large cattle operations went bankrupt, and others suffered severe financial losses. Thus, after this time, ranchers also began to fence off their land and negotiated individual grazing leases with

3009-459: The ranch includes arable or irrigated land , the ranch may also engage in a limited amount of farming , raising crops for feeding the animals, such as hay and feed grains. Ranches that cater exclusively to tourists are called guest ranches or, colloquially, " dude ranches". Most working ranches do not cater to guests, though they may allow private hunters or outfitters onto their property to hunt native wildlife. However, in recent years,

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3068-646: The record for the highest winning percentage 88–34 (.721) of any Red Sox minor league team. The 1959 champion team was managed by future Red Sox manager Eddie Popowski and featured three future major leaguers, pitcher Don Schwall , who two years later won the American League Rookie of the Year Awards ; second baseman Chuck Schilling , who finished fourth behind Schwall in the same balloting; and pitcher Guido Grilli . The 1960 team featured future California Angels all-star Jim Fregosi . In 1962,

3127-548: The rest of western Europe , where there is far less land area and sufficient rainfall allows the raising of cattle on much smaller farms. In Australia , a rangeland property is a station (originally in the sense of a place where stock were temporarily stationed). In almost all cases, these are either cattle stations or sheep stations . The largest cattle stations in the world are located in Australia's dry outback rangelands. Owners of these stations are usually known as graziers or pastoralists, especially if they reside on

3186-420: The spring after their young were born and allowed to roam with little supervision and no fences, then rounded up in the fall, with the mature animals driven to market and the breeding stock brought close to the ranch headquarters for greater protection in the winter. The use of livestock branding allowed the cattle owned by different ranchers to be identified and sorted. Beginning with the settlement of Texas in

3245-435: The term hacienda or finca may be used. Ranchero or Rancho are also generic terms used throughout tropical Latin America . In the colonial period, from the pampas regions of South America all the way to the Minas Gerais state in Brazil, including the semi-arid pampas of Argentina and the south of Brazil, were often well-suited to ranching, and a tradition developed that largely paralleled that of Mexico and

3304-450: The term is applied to a modest humble rural home or dwelling, a cottage ; while in Venezuela it’s an improvised, illegal dwelling, generally poorly built or not meeting basic habitability requirements; a shanty or slum house. The person who owns and manages the operation of a ranch is usually called a rancher , but the terms cattleman , stockgrower , or stockman are also sometimes used. If this individual in charge of overall management

3363-403: Was announced that the Las Cruces Vaqueros would sit out the 2016 season due to severe damage to their home stadium. Expansion team Salina Stockade was added to the league and played a limited 11-game home schedule in 2016. Following the 2016 season, a drastic shift in the Pecos League landscape occurred as two Kansas teams, the Salina Stockade and Great Bend Boom, both folded, while a third,

3422-450: Was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays becoming the second player from the Pecos League to make a major league roster, though he did not appear in a game that season. Smith would eventually make his debut for the Blue Jays on June 27, 2017, against the Baltimore Orioles . For 2016, the Las Vegas Train Robbers moved to Topeka, Kansas . Expansion teams were added in Great Bend, Kansas and Tucson, Arizona . On February 25, 2016 it

3481-401: Was not included as a member club in 2022. Before 2023, the league introduced 4 new teams; the Lancaster Sound Breakers, Marysville Drakes , Blackwell Fly Catchers, and Dublin Leprechauns. The Weimar Hormigas, Colorado Springs Snow Sox, Wasco Reserve, and Santa Rosa Scuba Divers folded. Tucson moved back to the Mountain Division, while the Santa Cruz Seaweed moved to Vallejo, California . For

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