The Cattle Kingdom

1. The Cattle Kingdom Cowhands Cow Towns Cattle Boom

2. Creating a Cattle Kingdom • Before the whites arrived in the west, the Mexicans set up ranches • Strays from these ranches formed their own herds called longhorns • After the war, the demand for beef went up • Eastern cities, miners, railroad crews, farmers • Texas ranchers began rounding up herds of longhorns and drove the animals hundreds of miles north to railroad lines in Kansas and Missouri called cattle drives

3. Chisholm Trail Jesse Chisholm was a half Scottish half Cherokee man who made a cattle trail In the 1860’s he began hauling goods by wagon between TX and KS Pacific Railroad In 1867 ranchers began using this route Within 5 years, more than 1 million cattle were driven on this route

4. Life of a Cowhand • American cowhands learned from Spanish vaqueros (skilled riders who herded cattle on ranches in Mexico, CA, and the SW) • Lariat, chaparreras, etc. • Days could last 18 hours • Hot, tiring, dirty • Worked in all weather and faced dangers like thunderstorms, rattlesnakes, drowning, and stampedes • Usually earned about $1 a day (low)

5. The first American cowboys adopted a number of Mexican traditions and words, including chaps

6. The Cow Towns • Cattle drives ended in cow towns – cattle were held in great pens until they could be loaded into railroad cars and shipped to markets in the east • Ex: Abilene, TX or Dodge City, KS • Had dance halls, saloons, hotels, restaurants, barber shops, banks, churches • Sheriffs tried to keep the peace • Main street was where business was conducted

7. The Cattle Boom 1870’s ranches spread from Texas to the Plains  called the Cattle Kingdom Millions of dollars were invested in the area that created a boom Cattle were allowed to grange on the open range and were branded to identify them

8. The End of the Cattle Kingdom Barbed wire Range began to disappear  used fences Not enough grass to feed the cattle Need to buy feed and land pushed up costs Diseases like “Texas fever” destroyed herds Cold winters of 1886 and 1887 Heat and drought