 As Native Americans were pushed out of West Texas, ranchers moved in.  The 1 st West Texas ranchers generally owned little or no land.  Most of their livestock grazed on the open range. This was a vast area of undeveloped land held by the state government for future sale.

 In the 1870s there was so much public land in west Texas that most of the early ranchers found no need to buy any land.  Ranching on the open range worked fairly well in those days.  Not even thousands of cattle could crowd the vast west Texas.

 In the 1850s the Texas state government offered free public land to encourage internal improvements.  These changes would help increase the regions economy and population.  Texas offered public land near railroad lines for $1.50 per acre.  In a few years it was lowered to one $1.00 near the track an $0.50 per acre for all of the land.

 Many who had once shared land now felt they had to own land.  Some ranchers received financial partners who shared the profits.  Huge privately owned ranches soon developed including the J.A. ranch.  The growth of these privately owned ranches pushed out most of the open range ranches.

 As ranchers began fencing in their land in the 1880s, conflicts worsened.  Some fences cut off public roads and water supplies.  Angry farmers fought back by cutting fences.  By 1883 a “range war” had developed over the issues of fences and fence cutting.  People who fenced across public roads now had to provide gates and keep them in good repair.

 The expansion of the railroads in Texas also made the cattle drives unnecessary since most ranchers used the railroad to transport the animals to market.  Armed ranchers patrolled the cattle trails to prevent sick cattle carrying Texas fever from infecting their cattle.  Texas ranchers also had competition with superior breeds of stock for beef being raised in Montana and Wyoming.

 The end of the open range & cattle drives also meant the end for cowboys.  Fewer long trails existed for cowboys.  The cowboys who still had their jobs spent their time setting fence posts and stringing barbed wire.  In 1883, some Panhandle cowboys went on strike.  The Texas Rangers were called in to stop the cowboys and the strike failed.

 The final blow to the old way of ranching occurred in 1885 and  Ranchers built drift fences that went from New Mexico to Indian Territory.  These fences prevented cattle with Texas fever from going into another region and infecting healthy herds.  In 1885, a huge blizzard struck the plains.  This was called the Big Die-Up.

 The Big Die-Up marked the start of the modern ranching industry in Texas.  The cattlemen who still had jobs determined how much pasture each group of cattle required.