Cattle Kingdoms

Spanish Origins The Spanish brought cattle and horses to Texas Spanish cows mixed with heavier animals brought by Anglos This resulted in the lean and tough Texas longhorn Spanish vaqueros, or cowboys developed skills in riding, roping, herding, and branding They used lariats to round up cattle

Spanish Origins

Influence of Civil War Civil War ending marked the beginning of the cattle boom New markets opened up for Texas ranchers as population grew Longhorns worth $3-$4 in Texas but $30-$40 in the Eastern United States Large supply and high demand for beef created great profits for Texas ranchers Cattle boom helped Texas recover from the war

Cattle Trails The Northern demand for beef led to the rise of the cattle trails Cattle drives began with a roundup Drove the herds to towns with rail stations Sent by rail to Northern states where they would be slaughtered for meat Ranchers made LARGE profits moving a herd to market

Cattle Trails

Problems with Cattle Trails Bandits stole cattle Farmers complained… Cattle trampled their crops Longhorns spread “Texas Fever” to their cows Some states passed quarantine laws to keep Texas cattle away Quarantine – isolate or separate to prevent the spread of disease

Famous Trails Chisholm Trail The route between Abilene, Texas and Kansas Jesse Chisholm used this route to ship goods north from Texas to Kansas 1871 – 600,000 cattle moved north on the trail 1884 – 5 million cattle traveled on the trail

Famous Trails Great Western Trail Opened in 1874 by drover John T. Lytle Drover – person who moves livestock to market Developed to the west of the Chisholm Trail Ran from Indian Territory to Dodge City, Kansas and then north to a rail station in Nebraska

Famous Trails Goodnight–Loving Trail Trail blazed by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving Chose this route to avoid the hostile Plains Indians Ran from West Texas through New Mexico, into Colorado and finally Wyoming Towns grew up along the trails and were known for violence and lawlessness

Famous Trails

Life on the Trail Cowboys rounded up cattle into a central camp in early spring They branded the animals and divided them into herds A typical herd numbered about 3,000 head of cattle A trail boss (manager) planned the cattle drive

Life on the Trail Trail boss decided how many men – usually 11-18 including a cook and scout They brought 50-60 good horses – the spare horses were called the remuda Trail boss picked the route and responsible for success of cattle drive He made $100 for a month of work Cooks – $75 Horse wranglers – $50 Waddies, or trail hands – $25-$40

Life on the Trail Two skilled cowboys, called pointers, led the cattle Two or three more cowboys rode on each side, or flank, of the herd Several rode in back, called drags, to make sure the weak animals did not fall behind Cowboys spent 2 hours on guard duty A herd moved about 10-15 miles a day Cattle sometimes broke into a stampede

Cowboys Cowboys were in their teens to mid-20s Small build – large men were too big for the horses 2/3 were white/Anglo 1/3 were African American, Mexican, or Tejano Daily life was boring, dirty work Some rode up to 36 hours in saddle Storms, dust, heat, rattlesnakes and river crossings made life unpleasant

Cowboys

Cowboys Frank Hastings, a prosperous rancher described the difficult job of putting a cattle drive crew together: “The foreman and wagon boss had been through the aggravating experience of getting an outfit together. It had been no trouble to find riders, but to secure a cook, a “hoss wrangler”, and hoodlum wagon driver was a problem. No one wants to drive the hoodlum wagon with the duties of supplying wood and water for camp and branding, helping the cook with dishes, or other odd jobs. The “hoss wrangler” was not hard to find but whoever takes the job aches all the time to be promoted to a riding job, and is therefore dissatisfied.”

Female Cowboys Some women became rich and powerful Lizzie E. Johnson Early Texas “cattle queen” First woman to ride the Chisholm Trail with a herd under her own brand Margaret Heffernan Borland Took over the family business after her husband died In 1873, she became the only woman to lead a cattle drive

Female Cowboys Margaret H. Borland Lizzie E. Johnson

Big Ranches By the late 1870s, land and cattle companies owned more than HALF the land in West Texas Ranchers soon enclosed nearly all the rangeland in South Texas This brought an end to the big cattle drives Huge ranches spread out across Texas

King Ranch Richard King started with 15,000 acres in Nueces County in 1852 When King died in 1885, he owned more than 600,000 acres His widow Henrietta and his son-in-law, Robert Kleberg doubled the size of the ranch The King ranch grew to more than ONE MILLION ACRES, about as large as the state of Rhode Island

King Ranch Headquarters Kingsville, TX Richard King

JA Ranch Charles Goodnight’s JA Ranch was located in the Panhandle It covered more than one million acres by the late 1880s The ranch supported 100,000 cattle Goodnight improved his cattle through careful breeding His ranch produced some of the nation’s finest beef

JA Ranch Charles Goodnight

XIT Ranch XIT was another large Panhandle ranch It enclosed more than 3 million acres, surrounded by 6,000 miles of barbed wire fence XIT was almost as large as the state of Connecticut Group of investors from Chicago, John and Charles Farwell, owned the XIT Received land after building a new capitol in Austin in 1888

Charles and John Farwell XIT Ranch Charles and John Farwell

Other Texas Ranches Sheep industry thrived in Central and South Texas By 1886, Texans owned nearly 5 million sheep Goat ranching also expanded in Texas in the late 1800s Some Texans owned mustang ranches Mustangs are wild horses and thousands lived on the plains

Quiz Why did some states pass quarantine laws to keep Texas cattle away from areas? A. to keep the cattle from destroying private property B. to keep children from being hurt by cattle C. to prevent crops from being trampled D. to prevent the spread of disease Spanish cowboys used lariats to … A. brand their animals B. round up the cattle from horseback C. secure their supplies to the saddle D. make coffee over an open fire