The Wild West Cowboys & Cattle drives

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. Mavericks: Cattle left behind from ranchers before the civil war

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

End of the Open Range The Open Range came to a halt when the bubble on cattle prices fell and bad weather conditions, 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 Bison During the 1840s to 1880s the bison were hunted to almost extinction with as few as 1,100 left in 1889. 2 million + before the Whiteman 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.

Cowboys Cowboys were most significant in American history during the time from the end of the American Civil War through the 1890s. They were used when other forms of transportation were scarce in the western and southwestern U.S. Cattle had to be driven to shipping points over long distances, and the cowboy needed lots of strength and endurance to complete the journeys. Because there wasn’t good law enforcement, his duties also included providing security for his ranch and its stock.

Minority Cowboys 20% of cowboys were black or Mexican Black and white cowboys coexisted. Though racial discrimination still existed, the black cowboys of Texas were treated much better on the range than anywhere else. Skills mattered to the ranch bosses, and the black cowboys proved their value on the ranch. They also showed off their skills in local rodeos by riding bulls and bucking broncos. Bill Pickett is one of the most famous black cowboys of all time.

Black and white cowboys worked, ate, and slept together Black and white cowboys worked, ate, and slept together. Though racial discrimination still existed, the black cowboys of Texas were treated much better on the range than anywhere else.

Cowboys usually wore a cotton button down shirt with a leather vest over it. They also wore blue jeans with brown chaps over the pants to protect their legs when riding horses. They wore bandanas over their mouth and/or over their neck to keep it from getting sunburned. Cowboy Clothing

Cowboy Clothing They wore wide rimmed hats to keep the sun out of their eyes and to also keep them from getting sunburn. On their feet they wore boots that were either pointy on the toe or round. On the shoes they wore spurs so that they can kick the horse and make them go faster.

Myth vs. Reality Myth Reality Cowboys were romantic, self-sufficient, and virtuous All were white Ideal, garden of Eden Could make a fortune in the west Western towns were lawless Reality Cowboys were young, poorly paid, and did hard labor 20% were black or Mexican Harmonious race relations on the trail Harsh conditions Most made little, if any money There were police forces and order in the West

The ‘Old West’ The "Old West" was a post-Civil War phenomenon. It lasted a very brief time, roughly from about 1865 to about 1890. The most recognizable and popular period in US history Gave Americans that “cowboy” image throughout the world Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Roughriders of the World brought the stories and lifestyles to audiences all over the world. The dime novels and the film industry would play the most important role in keeping the legends and myths alive. Also, during these years, three major empires grew Mining Cattle Ranching Farming