1. Cowboys and their place in American History

2.   After the Civil War and with the spread of railroads, the Ranching Industry began to develop in the “Great Plains”.  Ranching- The raising of livestock to later sell for profit  Growing cities in the East needed food.  Cattle would be bred and raised on ranches in Texas  In order to be sold for profit, cattle had to be taken to the railroad so they could be shipped to the East.  Cattle were worth 10X more in the East than in Texas Creation of an Industry: Ranching

3.   Cowboys were needed to drive herds of cattle across the “open range”, from Texas to the railroads in Kansas  Young men from many backgrounds answered the call to become “Cowboys”  Many were poor Southerners looking for work  Many were former slaves looking for a fresh start  Many were Mexican immigrants and former “vaqueros”  Vaqueros = Mexican cattle ranchers  All came seeking the freedom and adventure that the Cowboy lifestyle would provide. The need for “Cowboys”

4.   Cowboys worked on ranches throughout the year, but their most important and vital job was the cattle drive.  Cattle Drives took large herds of cattle from Texas, across the open range, to the railroads in Kansas.  Cowboys usually worked in teams of ~10 men  Cowboys could drive as many as 2500 cattle at a time  Cattle drives covered ~1000 miles and could take as long as 3 months  Cowboys on cattle drives faced long days filled with hard work, and numerous hardships along the way. The work of a Cowboy

5.   Cowboys were paid to tend and protect the herd  Less healthy cows to sell in Kansas = less money for the cowboys  Cowboys averaged ~ $1 per day  The herd had to be tended 24 hours a day, which meant cowboys often got very little sleep  Cowboys had to live on the open range for months at a time  They lived in tents and ate basic meals prepared on the “chuck wagon”  Cowboys faced bad weather, storms, and had to drive cattle across rough terrain.  Cowboy work was long, difficult, and often extremely boring The work of a Cowboy

6.   The myth of the “Wild West” – a lawless place filled with violence and rowdy behavior – was created in Kansas “cow towns”  At the end of a cattle drive, Cowboys would arrive in a “cow town”, get paid, and want to have fun and blow off steam  Cowboys would spend money, party, dance, gamble, and usually drink heavily  Laws were often hard to enforce, and bad behavior was common  Cow Towns like Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas became infamous parts of the “Wild West” legend The “Wild West”

7.   Cow towns had wanted Cowboys to have fun and spend money, but did not want things to get out of hand.  Cow Towns often had many people, from many backgrounds all partying heavily in the same area  Rowdy, drunken behavior was common  Cowboys did carry guns on cattle drives in order to protect the herd from animals or rustlers.  Rustlers = cattle or horse thieves  Lots of drunken Cowboys carrying guns in a small area created a fear that violence could break out at any moment  Surprisingly, gun violence was not common in the “Wild West”  Gunfights or “Showdowns” did happen, but were very rare The “Wild West”

8.   By 1890, the era of the “Wild West” and the true “Cowboy” was over.  Barbed Wire had been invented, and made it possible for settlers and farmers to fence off the “open range”  Railroads had spread across the United States and eliminated the need for Cattle Drives  Small towns had grown into larger, more civilized cities and had become much less “wild”.  The golden age of the American Cowboy only lasted ~ 25 years  ~1865 - 1890 The end of the “Wild West” and the era of the “Cowboy”

9.   After the golden age of the Cowboy, many stories were written about the time period.  People in the East wanted to read about the “Heroic Cowboy”  Books, Comics, and later Movies were made that glorified the Cowboy lifestyle  Many stories were greatly exaggerated or made up all together  Stories of Cowboys, Sheriffs, and Outlaws became famous and popular, and a few have remained legendary parts of American History to this day. The Myth and Legend of the Cowboy