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 the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

. His testimony led to passage of the

Hepburn Act The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that expanded the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and gave it the power to set maximum railroad rates. This led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers. ...

of 1906 which eased railroad fares for western shippers. President

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as ...

appointed him to the

National Conservation Commission The National Conservation Commission was appointed on June 8, 1908, by Theodore Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt and consisted of representatives of the United States Congress and relevant executive agency technocrats; Gifford Pinchot serve ...

in 1908, and it was Mackenzie, then manager of the Brazil Land, Cattle and Packing Company, with whom Roosevelt stayed when he visited

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1913.

Biography

MacKenzie was born near

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; ), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enc ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, where he attended parish school and graduated from the

Tain Royal Academy Tain Royal Academy is a secondary school in Highland, Scotland. The school first opened in 1813, with a new building opened in 1969 and an educational campus currently being built, due to open in 2025. Tain Royal Academy is part of the Golspie, ...

in 1869. He served in a law office and in the British Linen Bank, then as factor for Sir Charles Ross's estate at

Balnagown Castle Balnagown Castle (also Balnagowan)(Ross Castle) is beside the village of Kildary in Easter Ross, part of the Highland area of Scotland. There has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, although the present building was remodelled in ...

. 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 in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality in Las Animas County, Colorado, United Stat ...

. After becoming a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

, he was elected mayor of Trinidad in 1891, before accepting the directorship at Matador. He died, aged 89, in 1939 in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, where he is buried. The town of

Murdo, South Dakota Murdo is a city in and the county seat of Jones County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 475 at the 2020 census. History Murdo was founded in about 1907 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. As about halfway ...

was named for Mackenzie. In 1981, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

In popular culture

MacKenzie appears as a character in the fictional

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

comic book, ''

The Buckaroo of the Badlands "The Buckaroo of the Badlands" is a 1992 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It's the third of the original 12 chapters in the series ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck''. The story takes place in 1882. The story was first published in the Danis ...

'' (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 of ''

Raider of the Copper Hill "The Raider of the Copper Hill" or "The King of the Copper Hill" is a 1993 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. It is the fourth of the original 12 chapters in the series ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck''. The story takes place from 1884 to 188 ...

'' (1993), set in 1884, Scrooge leaves Mackenzie to prospect for copper while his former employer drives his herd to Texas.

Notes

References

* Clarke, Mary Whatley, (June 1951) "Murdo Mackenzie", ''Cattleman''. * Douglas, C. L., (1939/1968) ''Cattle Kings of Texas'' Dallas: Baugh; reprinted Fort Worth: Branch-Smith. * Hayter, Delmar J. * Pearce, W. M. (1964) ''The Matador Land and Cattle Company''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Pearce, W. M. * Blasingame, Ernest "Ike", (1958) "Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days". Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Murdo 1850 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 19th-century mayors of places in Colorado People from Tain American cattlemen Scottish emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States