Beef Cattle History

The word "cattle" comes from the Old French word "chattel", which means "possession". Historians think cattle were first domesticated in Europe and Asia during the Stone Age. When an animal has been "domesticated", it no longer has to find its own food and shelter. Humans provide these items because it is either tamed for a pet, like a dog, used on a farm, or raised for meat. Beef cattle came to the U.S. when Christopher Columbus made his second trip here in 1493. The first cattle in Minnesota belonged to soldiers at Fort Snelling, which was built in the early 1820s.