1. The END OF THE OPEN RANGE.
What do you think this means?
RANGE: An open region where animals may roam and feed

2. Addition of barbed wire
What were the problems that led to the invention of barbed wire?
How did the use of barbed wire impact the frontier?
BARBED WIRE
CAUSE
Addition of barbed wire
EFFECT
Complete the
cause and effect diagram above.
Explain Fence Cutting
and the impact it had on the frontier.
Write a BOSS summary about each factor that contributed to the end of the open range.
barbed wire
windmills
END OF THE OPEN RANGE
railroads
Who benefited the most,
farmers or ranchers? Justify your answer.

3. The End of the Open Range: What is to BLAME?
What was the problem? How was it impacting the settlement of Texas?
Illustrate how the windmill works and what it is used for.
WINDMILL
irrigation
windmill
How did the use
of windmills impact the frontier?
Compare and contrast
water solutions of the past and present.
What influenced the building of the railroads in Texas in the late 1800s?
How important were the railroads to the growth of Texas? Explain.
RAILROAD
Growth
of the Railroads 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Draw a mural of the
effects of the growth of the railroads.
Complete the graphic with the
effects of the growth of the railroads?

4. Railroads
Transportation in early Texas was not dependable. Roads were poor or non-existent. Rivers were shallow and only allowed supplies to be shipped from the coast for about 50 miles inland. These factors caused most of the population of Texas to live along the coast because of the easy access to the Gulf of Mexico and the location of most cities. Following the Civil War, the railroads were mostly non-existent in Texas. They were all over the North but stopped in Kansas. As the cattle industry began to grow, ranchers were using cattle drives to get their cattle to the railroads in Kansas. This was a costly and time-consuming journey!
As the growth of the cattle industry began to restore Texas’ hurt economy from the war, they started having the funds to be able to build railroads. The addition of railroads drastically changed Texas forever. Now that the railroads were providing Texans with a way to get to areas that were previously too far to get to, cities began popping up along the rail lines. This meant more jobs, businesses and growth! The population of Texas was now expanding westward! Another effect of the growth of the railroads, was the elimination of the need for cattle drives. Ranchers no longer needed to spend months herding their cattle to Kansas. Farming was also impacted as farmers had a way to transport large amounts of products to other cities, making it easier for them to sell their crops instead of just farming for their families.

5. Windmills
Before the introduction of windmills to Texas, livable land was limited to areas where a constant water supply was available. Most of the population of Texas was in the Coastal Plains region because that is where the majority of the rivers were located. Those that did live in the western part of Texas were farther away from the rivers so they chose to ranch instead of farming, as it took less water resources.
How it works… A well was drilled in the ground and the windmill was used to pump the water from underground. As the wind blew the “arms” around, it created energy for the water to be pumped up. The water would end up in a storage tank to use for animals or pumped to ditches near the crops. This new way to get water to dry land allowed cattle, sheep, goats, and crops to be watered even if they were not near a river.
Now that it was possible to pump water from beneath the ground, whole new areas of the state were opened up to settlers. Settlers started moving westward and living in areas that were previously unlivable. More cities were built, creating more jobs and businesses. The farming industry also grew now that there were more available water resources. As the windmill was the answer of the past, it led to the increased development of irrigation, which is today’s water solution for delivering water to dry and arid land. Irrigation is typically an underground process that uses a motor to pump the water up and evenly distributes it through sprinkler systems like shown below.

6. Windmills

7. Barbed Wire
As the cattle industry grew, more and more cattle were traveling across Texas headed north. Although there were many positive effects of the industry growth, there were also negative effects. Settlers that had farms and crops were getting frustrated because their crops were being trampled by the passing cattle. When they weren’t trampling the crops, the cattle was grazing on them and eating them. They tried building wooden fences but they were costly and lumber was difficult to get because there few trees that grew in the plains. They also did not stand up well to stampeding cattle.
Once barbed wire was invented, the use of it by settlers spread quickly. Farms and ranches were fenced off and as this happened, the open range started to close off. The farmers were happy because there crops were safe but the cowboys were not. The closed off land made it very difficult to herd their cattle north.
Many of those that were unhappy with the barbed wire and the problems it caused them, took matters into their own hands. They began going around and cutting the barbed wire fences and threatened the owners to not rebuild. This obviously angered the property owners and they started retaliating with violence. This led to gun fights and range wars between the farmers and ranchers. Eventually fence cutting was outlawed and made illegal, but it didn’t always stop them.

8. Railroads
Transportation in early Texas was not dependable. Roads were poor or non-existent. Rivers were shallow and only allowed supplies to be shipped from the coast for about 50 miles inland. These factors caused most of the population of Texas to live along the coast because of the easy access to the Gulf of Mexico and the location of most cities. Following the Civil War, the railroads were mostly non-existent in Texas. They were all over the North but stopped in Kansas. As the cattle industry began to grow, ranchers were using cattle drives to get their cattle to the railroads in Kansas. This was a costly and time-consuming journey!

9. Railroads
As the growth of the cattle industry began to restore Texas’ hurt economy from the war, they started having the funds to be able to build railroads. The addition of railroads drastically changed Texas forever. Now that the railroads were providing Texans with a way to get to areas that were previously too far to get to, cities began popping up along the rail lines. This meant more jobs, businesses and growth! The population of Texas was now expanding westward! Another effect of the growth of the railroads, was the elimination of the need for cattle drives. Ranchers no longer needed to spend months herding their cattle to Kansas. Farming was also impacted as farmers had a way to transport large amounts of products to other cities, making it easier for them to sell their crops instead of just farming for their families.

10. Windmills
Before the introduction of windmills to Texas, livable land was limited to areas where a constant water supply was available. Most of the population of Texas was in the Coastal Plains region because that is where the majority of the rivers were located. Those that did live in the western part of Texas were farther away from the rivers so they chose to ranch instead of farming, as it took less water resources.
How it works… A well was drilled in the ground and the windmill was used to pump the water from underground. As the wind blew the “arms” around, it created energy for the water to be pumped up. This new way to get water to dry land allowed cattle, sheep, goats, and crops to be watered even if they were not near a river.

11. Windmills
Now that it was possible to pump water from beneath the ground, whole new areas of the state were opened up to settlers. Settlers started moving westward and living in areas that were previously unlivable. More cities were built, creating more jobs and businesses. The farming industry also grew now that there were more available water resources. As the windmill was the answer of the past, it led to the increased development of irrigation, which is today’s water solution for delivering water to dry and arid land.

12. Barbed Wire
As the cattle industry grew, more and more cattle were traveling across Texas headed north. Although there were many positive effects of the industry growth, there were also negative effects. Settlers that had farms and crops were getting frustrated because their crops were being trampled by the passing cattle. When they weren’t trampling the crops, the cattle was grazing on them and eating them. They tried building wooden fences but they were costly and lumber was difficult to get because there few trees that grew in the plains. They also did not stand up well to stampeding cattle.

13. Barbed Wire
Once barbed wire was invented, the use of it by settlers spread quickly. Farms and ranches were fenced off and as this happened, the open range started to close off. The farmers were happy because there crops were safe but the cowboys were not. The closed off land made it very difficult to herd their cattle north.
Many of those that were unhappy with the barbed wire and the problems it caused them, took matters into their own hands. They began going around and cutting the barbed wire fences and threatened the owners to not rebuild. This obviously angered the property owners and they started retaliating with violence. This led to gun fights and range wars between the farmers and ranchers. Eventually fence cutting was outlawed and made illegal, but it didn’t always stop them.

14. Urbanization.