1. Post Civil War Texas The Frontier Cotton, Cattle & Railroads
1. Westward Expansion & the Natives
2. Postwar Changes in Texas Farming
3. Cotton – King of Texas Crops
4. Cattle
5. Railroads lead to Commercial Farming
6. Other advancements (technology)

2. Texas Frontier Line
How were settlers and settlements protected from Indian attacks?

3. Stock your chuck wagon

5. SHARECROPPING

6. CHANGES IN FARMING COMMERCIAL COTTON-FARMING BOOM
EFFECTS:
Greatly increased the production and value of Texas farm goods
Created an oversupply of cotton and led to a steep drop in cotton prices
Led to hardships for Texas cotton farmers
Increased the number of tenant farmers and sharecroppers

7. LEADING INDUSTRIES LATE 1800s
Flour milling
Lumber/Timber
Cottonseed Oil
Meatpacking
Mining

8. Railroads develop the Frontier
Played a major role in opening up the frontier to farming
Businesses came to the area
Population of West Texas boomed

9. Effects of the Rail Boom
New cities were born and new areas were settled
Texas became more connected to the rest of the country
New residents were attracted to Texas
Towns bypassed by rail lines often lost population – Example: Jefferson lost population
Gov. Hogg & TX Legislature created the Texas Railroad Commission in response to corruption

10. Texas Railroads, 1900

11. Comparing Railroads to other forms of Transportation
Railroads were faster!
Example: A 35 mile trip by horse took a day and a half; by train it took 2 hours
Railroads were cheaper!
Transporting goods by train = ½ the cost of transporting goods by wagon

12. NEW FARMING TECHNOLOGY
New technology, such as threshers, made farming faster and easier
Windmills and dry farming techniques helped to adapt to growing crops in drier climates
threshers – machines that separate grain or seeds from plants and made harvesting crops faster and easier

13. RAILROADS TECHNOLOGY 1. Move goods to market cheaper
1. Windmills – pump water
2. move goods to market faster
2. Cotton gin – separated cotton from seeds
Cleaned and baled cotton
3. encouraged westward expansion – farmers bought land for commercial farming
3. Steel plow – stronger & longer lasting than iron plow
4. increased local business – farmers bought goods (seed, fertilizer, farm equipment)
4. Railroads – fast & inexpensive transport