1. Chapter 13, Section 3 Cattle Kingdoms p. 464-468
An extensive cattle industry develops in the West to provide meat for the nation.

2. The Rise of the Cattle Industry
Main Idea: Railroads give ranchers a way to get cattle to distant markets.
Hearty longhorn cattle graze on the open range
unfenced lands
Demand for fresh meat cause cattle trails to connect to railroad routes
Cattle drives move herds of longhorn over 1000s of miles to railroad junctions
the herding and moving of cattle over long distances
Texas Longhorn

3. Cattle Trails in the West
Describe a cowboy’s life on a cattle drive.

4. Life on the Trail Cattle drives are very dangerous
Main Idea: Cowhands, working long hours for low pay, learn skills developed earlier by Spanish and Mexican vaqueros.
Cattle drives are very dangerous
Lightning strikes cause stampedes
Grass fires, swamps, & Cattle thieves (“rustlers”)
The “cowboy” gets its roots from Mexico & Spain
Spanish Roots: vaqueros tended cattle in Mexico, California, and the Southwest
Spanish word for cowhand or cowboy
American cowboys borrow MUCH from Mexican Vaqueros:
sombrero (hat), lazo (lasso), spurs, chaps, saddles…
How to ride, rope and brand
The 1st Cowboys: Los Vaqueros

5. The Wild West Cow town - settlement at the end of a cattle trail
Main Idea: The West gains an exaggerated reputation for lawlessness and violence.
Cow town - settlement at the end of a cattle trail
Cowboys spend pay at cow towns
Dance halls, saloons, hotels, restaurants, stores….
Cowboys wanted “a bath, a good meal, a soft bed & some fun”
The myths of the West begins…
Much interest in the “Wild West”
William ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody: western showman
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
Annie Oakley: female sharp-shooter
Sitting Bull gave Oakley the Lakota name, "Watanya Cicilla“
“Little Sure Shot”
Buffalo Bill
Annie Oakley

6. Advertisement for Buffalo Bill’s travelling Wild West show

7. Boom & Bust in the Cattle Kingdom
Main Idea: Overstocking and a spell of bad weather eventually put an end to the cattle boom.
Cattle Kingdom - region dominated by cattle industry and its ranches, trails & cow towns
Cattle Boom: Calf sell at $5 each & a mature steer at $60 each
Cattle Drives are expensive but extremely profitable
Extreme Weather: Heat & Cold kill millions of cattle in 1886 & 1887
Sheep-herding brings competition to the open range
Barbed wire closes the open range
New railroad lines make cattle drives unnecessary
- Cattle boom is over.
The Cowboy rides into sunset of history and becomes a legend