Cattle Trails

1. Cattle Trails By: Teagan

2. Black Cowboys • Black cowboys have been part of Texas history since the early nineteenth century, when they first worked on ranches throughout the state. Black cowboys have continued to work in the ranching industry throughout the twentieth century. Weekend rodeos featuring black cowboys began in the late 1940s and continue to be popular. These contests owe their existence to the Negro Cowboys Rodeo Association, formed in 1947 by a group of East Texas black businessmen-ranchers and cowboys. On cattle drives, cowboys guided huge herds of cattle north to the new railroad lines extending across the great plains.

3. Western Cattle Trail • The Chisholm Trail and the Great Western Cattle Trail were famous cattle trails which started in Texas and ended in Kansas. People in the Eastern United States started eating more beef in the late 1800s. This meant they needed a way to get the cattle from the ranches in Texas. Texas didn't have any railroads at this time, so people had to take the cattle to railheads in Kansas. A railhead is an end point for a railroad Cattle sold at higher prices in the Northeast, so farmers took their cattle on cattle drives to the railheads and then shipped the cattle to the North and Northeast in order to make more money.

4. Chisholm Trail • Cattle drives came to an end by the late 1800s. One reason was because the cattle ranchers and the farmers didn’t get along. The farmers had started fencing in their land with barbed wire. Expanding railroad lines also helped end the cattle drives.

5. Why they did it • Ranchers realized that they could make a huge profit if they could figure out a way to get their cattle across the country so they did for money.