Pioneer ranchers began settling Hale County in the early 1880s, when land was plentiful and cheap but life was hard, with many settlers living in dugouts and supplies freighted from Colorado City until the railroad reached Amarillo. Cattle roamed the free grazing land until round-up time, when they were separated according to brands, and ranchers earned extra income by selling buffalo bones for fertilizer, working on the railroad, or hiring out to larger ranches. Many worked at the Circle Ranch of Col. C. C. Slaughter, which covered land in four counties, and other significant ranches included the Callahan, Barton, and Norfleet ranches. When the public land was gone and free grazing ended, the larger ranches were divided into smaller tracts. The transition from ranching to farming was difficult, but by the early 20th century wheat farming and dairy production began to replace ranching operations. The Dust Bowl and Depression of the 1930s brought new hardships. Soon after World War II, however, a high percentage of the cultivated acreage in Hale County was under irrigation, allowing crop diversification with high yields of grain sorghum, corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables, and livestock production, while cotton became the leading cash crop.