Unit One: The Wild West The Cattle Kingdom

The next mass movement of people into the West was into the Southern Plains area of Texas and surrounding areas to ranch and herd cattle on what was called the Cattle Frontier. At the end of the Civil War and after the cattle industry in the East was destroyed by the war and there was a massive influx of immigrants into the Eastern Coast cities, a new source of meat (cattle) was needed. These conditions and the rising prices in cattle led to cattle herding on the Great Plains and the growth of the Cattle Kingdom.

The Cattle Kingdom The Cattle Kingdom developed on large open field estates called ranches in Texas. The Texas ranchers rounded up wild cattle herds that roamed the area after the Spanish had left called Texas Longhorns. The Texas Longhorns were rough & durable, but were known as “the butcher’s nightmare: eight pounds of hamburger on 800 pounds of bone and horn.” To identify cattle herds, a brand was burned into the cows side with a hot iron poker.

The Cattle Kingdom The people who worked on the cattle ranches were mostly Civil War veterans that included Freedmen (blackmen), Native Americans, and Hispanics known as Cowboys or Wranglers. (buckaroo, cowpoke, cowhand, and cowpuncher) The Cattle were herded on the open range (large public domain grassland of the Plains) and allowed to graze across it known as free range cattle. Cattle found with no brandings were called mavericks and were claimed by anyone who found them.

Cowboy Terminology Lariat – a rope used to catch cattle. (the loop is called a hondo) Lasso – the action of roping a cow. Spurs – metal device placed on a boot to aid in walking and riding. Chaps – leather wore on the legs to provide protection. Bandana – cloth worn on face to block out dust. Saddle – a leather seat attached to a horse. Stirrup – hung from the saddle to place feet in while riding.

Cowboy Terminology Cowboy Hat – various size hats that developed from the Mexican sombrero, invented by John Stetson called the “Boss of the Plains”. Rodeo – was a competition between cowboys on various skills. Mustang or Bronco – A wild untamed horse that roamed the open range, was “broke” or “busted” for riding. (stallion-male, mare-female) Bridle – placed around the horse’s head to control (reins – leather straps used to steer the horse) Gun – most used a Colt.45 peacemaker (usually a six shooter), some also carried a long arm or rifle (most popular was the Winchester repeater).

Cowboy Equipment

Cattle Kingdom The cattle needed to be driven from the Plains region to railhead cities (place where the train stopped) to be shipped back east to be butchered. To get the cattle to the railheads, cowboys took the cattle on long drives (marches). The long drives were lonely, dangerous, and hard on the cowboys. The long drives were hard on the cattle causing weight loss, also during the transportation to regional slaughtering centers like Chicago (Armour and Swift slaughterhouses and meatpacking companies) cattle would die or become sick.

Cattle Kingdom One thing that helped the Cattle Kingdom develop into a major business was the invention of the refrigerated railway car by Gustavus Swift (actually designed by Andrew Chase). This allowed slaughtered meat to be transported to further locations allowing for the meat packing industry to grow, thus creating demand for more meat. Before cow the choice meat of Americans was pork. (was smoked and salted, highly unhealthy)

Cattle Kingdom The long drive crews included a trail captain, chuck wagon (cook), pointers (led the herd) and drags (prevented stragglers or weak cattle). The four most dominate cattle trails of the long drives were the Sedalia and Baxter Trail, Chisholm Trail, Western Trail, and Goodnight-Loving Trail. During a long drive if the cattle became scared or spooked and ran uncontrollably this was called a stampede.

The Cattle Trails

Cattle Kingdom Along the Western railways railhead towns called cow towns developed for the purpose of holding, selling, and distribution of cattle. Cow towns worked on the same boom and bust system as mining towns and looked just the same. The different cow towns that developed were: Abilene (first started by Joseph McCoy), Dodge City, Laramie, Ellsworth, Sedalia and etc.

Cattle Kingdom Cow towns were rough and dangerous places which were controlled mostly by vigilante lynch mob justice. In Texas law enforcement was taken care of by the Texas Rangers. For most of the Plains region federal law enforcement was taken care of by U.S. Marshals. The frontier life of the “Wild” West created a national phenomenon of stories and myths of life in the West. (the West was only “Wild” for less than thirty years)

Wild West Fact vs. Myth The Western frontier created famous marshals such as Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok. Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down in Deadwood Colorado by Jack McCall while playing poker. (he was holding the deadman’s hand, pair of aces and eights, all black) Wyatt Earp was famous for jobs in Dodge City, and the shoot out at the OK Corral in Tombstone with Doc Holiday and his brothers against a group of Cowboys recognized by their red sashes.

Famous Marshals Wyatt Earp Wild Bill Hickok

Wild West Fact vs. Myth The West also created famous outlaws such as Calamity Jane, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Butch Cassidy. Calamity Jane was a gunfighter and companion of Wild Bill Hickok. Jesse James became famous for robbing trains and banks after the Civil War with the James-Younger Gang, he was killed by Robert Ford.

Famous Outlaws Calamity Jane Jesse James

Wild West Fact vs. Myth Billy the Kid (aka William H. Bonney) became famous during the well- known Lincoln County Wars (Range War) between Tuntsall/McSween (ranchers/regulators) and the Murphys (General store monopoly). –Billy the Kid was “shot” and “killed” by Pat Garrett. Robert LeRoy Parker (Butch Cassidy) was the leader of the famous bank/train robbing Wild Bunch Gang. –Butch Cassidy and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (Sundance Kid) were shot together in a standoff with police in Bolivia.

Famous Outlaws Billy the Kid The Wild Butch

Wild West Fact vs. Myth The myth of the wild west was spread by small books called dime novels that were widely read during the time. One was a famous series of novels wrote by Edward Wheeler about a fictional character called Deadwood Dick. (thought to be a black cowboy Nat Love) Another was the Western novel The Virginian by Owen Wister (father of western fiction) that romanticized the cowboy life. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody also expanded the idea of the Wild West through his Wild West Shows featuring fighting cowboys and Indians, Chief Sitting Bull, and cowgirl Annie Oakley.

Wild West Fact vs. Myth The Dime novels and the Wild West Shows developed the stereotype (exaggerated or oversimplified) story of the Western Frontier. In 1893 historian Frederick Jackson Turner introduced the Turner Thesis stating that the American Frontier life had shaped and modeled the character of American people, but excluded the effect of various ethnic groups and business involvement. He also said that the frontier acted as a safety valve for discontented city people as an opportunity for success and kept down uprisings in cities.

End of the Open Range The Open Range came to a halt when the bubble on cattle prices fell and bad weather conditions, but the biggest cause was the fencing off of the Plains by farmers due to the invention of barb wire by Joseph Gilden. The effect of the Cattle Kingdom was the increased mileage of railroads, the creation of towns to civilize the west for famers, but the biggest was the mass destruction of the wild Buffalo.

The “End” of the Buffalo During the 1840s to 1880s the Buffalo were hunted to almost extinction with as few as 1,100 left in The Buffalo were killed in huge numbers for their hide and tongues. Many buffalo were just shot by people from trains, just for sport. (the carcass was left to rot) The mass killing of the buffalo was also a direct cause of the Indian Wars during this period.