South Dakota-1953: Rancher Herding Cattle On The Open Range

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1953
Decade1950s
LocationSouth Dakota, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1953 South Dakota

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Rancher Herding Cattle On The Open Range — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1953, this vintage home movie captures a rancher guiding a herd of cattle across the open plains of South Dakota. The grainy, monochrome footage shows a man in a blue jacket walking through tall grass as cows roam freely under an overcast sky. The wide, flat landscape stretches to the horizon, with a simple fence line visible in the distance. The film's natural wear, including scratches and soft focus, adds authentic archival texture to this nostalgic slice of rural American life.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127721300

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1953 Estimated (Based on visual or technical evidence.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no independent reel-level note corroborates it.
Location: South Dakota, United States Estimated (Based on visual or technical evidence.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no independent reel-level note corroborates it.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Useful for 1950s rural America requests needing authentic home-movie footage of cattle ranching, open range movement, or South Dakota plains life.
Period detail: The 8mm footage may show mid-century ranch work through simple outdoor clothing, unfenced-looking grassland, distant fencing, and a small cattle herd on open plains.
Home-movie behavior: The camera observes from a home-movie distance as a rancher walks behind or alongside cattle, giving the scene an unstaged family-record feel.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a man in a blue jacket, scattered cattle, tall prairie grass, a distant fence line, flat horizon, overcast sky, and film gate borders.
Film character: Soft focus, visible grain, muted color, scratches, and slight handheld framing give the clip a physical 8mm archive texture.
Edit role: Editors can use it as a rural cutaway, memory beat, transition into ranch life, or brief insert establishing cattle on open plains.
Historical context: The clip visually situates cattle handling within a broad prairie landscape, showing a small-scale rural scene without making claims about ranch ownership or operation.
Research note: A person is visible at a distance, so likeness review may be needed; no logos or readable brands appear, and copyright clearance is separate from likeness or property questions.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1953 South Dakota ranch footage, 8mm cattle herd home movie, open range plains, mid-century rural America, and vintage rancher cutaway.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with same-reel ranch or travel scenes, then South Dakota 1953 material, then broader cattle, prairie, rural labor, or 1950s home-movie footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1953 South Dakota 8mm frame showing a distant rancher and scattered cattle on flat open grassland near a fence line. — A rancher follows cattle across the open plains, with a low horizon and fence line in the distance.

A man in a blue jacket walks through South Dakota grassland toward cattle spread across the open range in this 1953 home-movie frame. — The rancher walks away from the camera toward cattle grazing and moving across the prairie.

Cattle are scattered across a broad South Dakota prairie landscape, with muted 8mm color and a low distant horizon. — Cattle move through tall grass across the wide, flat range.

Several cattle stand and move across open South Dakota grassland, framed by 8mm film borders and a broad horizon. — The herd remains spread out across the prairie as the camera holds a distant view.

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