Post Civil War Texas The Frontier Cotton, Cattle & Railroads 1. Westward Expansion & the Natives 2. Postwar Changes in Texas Farming 3. Cotton – King of Texas Crops 4. Cattle 5. Railroads lead to Commercial Farming 6. Other advancements (technology)

Texas Frontier Line How were settlers and settlements protected from Indian attacks?

Stock your chuck wagon http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ranchhouse/pop_games/chuckwagon_flash.html

SHARECROPPING

CHANGES IN FARMING COMMERCIAL COTTON-FARMING BOOM EFFECTS: Greatly increased the production and value of Texas farm goods Created an oversupply of cotton and led to a steep drop in cotton prices Led to hardships for Texas cotton farmers Increased the number of tenant farmers and sharecroppers

LEADING INDUSTRIES LATE 1800s Flour milling Lumber/Timber Cottonseed Oil Meatpacking Mining

Railroads develop the Frontier Played a major role in opening up the frontier to farming Businesses came to the area Population of West Texas boomed

Effects of the Rail Boom New cities were born and new areas were settled Texas became more connected to the rest of the country New residents were attracted to Texas Towns bypassed by rail lines often lost population – Example: Jefferson lost population Gov. Hogg & TX Legislature created the Texas Railroad Commission in response to corruption

Texas Railroads, 1900

Comparing Railroads to other forms of Transportation Railroads were faster! Example: A 35 mile trip by horse took a day and a half; by train it took 2 hours Railroads were cheaper! Transporting goods by train = ½ the cost of transporting goods by wagon

NEW FARMING TECHNOLOGY New technology, such as threshers, made farming faster and easier Windmills and dry farming techniques helped to adapt to growing crops in drier climates threshers – machines that separate grain or seeds from plants and made harvesting crops faster and easier

RAILROADS TECHNOLOGY 1. Move goods to market cheaper 1. Windmills – pump water   2. move goods to market faster 2. Cotton gin – separated cotton from seeds Cleaned and baled cotton 3. encouraged westward expansion – farmers bought land for commercial farming 3. Steel plow – stronger & longer lasting than iron plow 4. increased local business – farmers bought goods (seed, fertilizer, farm equipment) 4. Railroads – fast & inexpensive transport