USA Guide
The Great Plains
The stockyards
Oklahoma City's stockyards, on Agnew Avenue and Exchange Street, are the busiest in the world, having sold over one hundred million cattle since 1910. They're well worth a visit, though vegetarians and animal-lovers should steer clear. This is the real thing, stomping, snorting, and smelly, with scrawny animals shunted in and out of tiny pens for auction. The roughnecks who spend their lives here – smoking, chatting, even sleeping – take no apparent notice of the quick-fire auctioneer, but nonetheless millions of head of cattle are bought and sold each year, and it can make for addictive entertainment. Morning sales, starting at 6am (Mon & Tues only), are the most intense, fizzling out by late afternoon.