1. The Economics of Cattle Trails
All images used in this PowerPoint presentation are Microsoft Office clip art or taken from The Portal to Texas History ( “The contents of The Portal to Texas History (digital content including images, text, and sound and video recordings) are made publicly available by the collection-holding partners for use in research, teaching, and private study.”
SS5E1 The student will use the basic economic concepts of trade, opportunity cost, specialization, voluntary exchange, productivity, and price incentives to illustrate historical events.
b. Explain how price incentives affect people’s behavior and choices (such as decisions to participate in cattle trails because of increased beef prices).

2. The land and climate in Texas were perfect for raising cattle!
Cattle Grazing near a Large Wooden Windmill, Photograph, n.d.; digital image, ( : accessed June 06, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

3. Since it was easy to raise cattle in Texas, ranchers raised lots and lots of them.
Answer: Prices dropped drastically, the price of cattle in the Southwest was only about $4 a head following the Civil War
Photo Citation: Mitchell, J. D.. Jam-up in close quarters, Photograph, June 22, 1910; digital image, ( : accessed June 07, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Victoria College/ University of Houston-Victoria Library, Victoria, Texas.
What do you think happened to the prices of cattle in Texas since there were so many of them?

4. What happened to the price of cattle when the supply was very high?
Take a look at the double line graph found on page 239 in your Social Studies book.
Answer: The price was very low when the supply was very high.
Graph is taken from page 239 in Houghton Mifflin Social Studies: United States History. Teacher may also wish to read the section on page 239 titled “Demand and Supply for Cattle” with the class when analyzing this graph. Ask students to discuss the other trends they notice in the data.
What happened to the price of cattle when the supply was very high?

5. When the supply of cattle was very high, the price of the cattle was low. What might ranchers decide to do in this situation?
Possible Answers:
Stop raising so many cattle
Raise other animals or grow other crops instead
Find new places to sell the cattle
Photograph Citation: Rancher Watching Over Cattle, Photograph, n.d.; digital image, ( : accessed June 07, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

6. Many ranchers began looking for new markets for the cattle.
A market is a place where buyers and sellers exchange goods or services.

7. Since it was difficult for people to raise cattle in other parts of the country, they had to get the cattle from ranchers in the Southwest They were willing to pay a lot more for cattle—about $40 a head!

8. An incentive is a reward that motivates people to do something.
This money was a big incentive for ranchers to take their cattle to other parts of the country.
An incentive is a reward that motivates people to do something.
Photograph Citation: Cowboys Cooking in Plains Next to Mountain, Photograph, n.d.; digital image, ( : accessed June 07, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

9. Of course it wasn’t easy to move thousands of cattle across 3 or 4 states!
Photograph Citation: Harvey Patteson & Son Photographers. [Field of Longhorn Cattle], Photograph, n.d.; digital image, ( : accessed June 07, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.
Ranchers chose to send their cattle on cattle drives because they could make a lot of money selling them in other places.

10. Choose one of the tasks below to demonstrate your understanding of the economics of cattle trails.
Imagine that you are a stockyard boss in Abilene, Kansas. Write a letter to a Texas rancher explaining why he will make a lot of money if he drives the cattle to Abilene.
Create a song that cowboys might sing on the trail about why they are making this long journey.
Pantomime the reasons why ranchers chose to drive their cattle to railheads in other states. After you show your pantomime to the class, you should explain the meaning of what you did.
Design a pamphlet encouraging ranchers to drive their cattle to a railhead. Make your pamphlet visually appealing but also make it clear why ranchers should make this choice.