Who drove the Longhorns to the railroad lines?
Cattle drives were an integral part of western expansion. Cowboys worked long hours in the saddle, driving hardy longhorns to railroad towns that could ship the meat back east. Between 1865 and 1885, as many as forty thousand cowboys roamed the Great Plains, hoping to work for local ranchers.
Where did cattle go before the cattle trails?
Before famous cattle trails existed, Spanish ranchers drove cattle from south Texas overland to distant markets. In the late 1770s, Texas cattle were driven, or trailed, to places below the Rio Grande River and east to New Orleans. In 1821, American colonists began arriving in Texas. Many of these pioneers took up ranching.
Why did the railroads bring cattle to the west?
Railroads created the market for ranching, and because for the few years after the war that railroads connected eastern markets with important market hubs such as Chicago, but had yet to reach Texas ranchlands, ranchers began driving cattle north, out of the Lone Star state, to major railroad terminuses in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
What was life like for a cowboy in the west?
But it was tough work. Cowboys received low wages, long hours, and uneven work, they faced extremes of heat, cold, and sometimes bouts of intense blowing dust, and they subsisted on limited diets with irregular supplies. Fluctuations in the cattle market made employment insecure and wages were almost always abysmally low.
Where did the transcontinental railroad cross the west?
The transcontinental railroad crossed western plains and mountains and linked the West Coast with the rail networks of the eastern United States. Constructed from the west by the Central Pacific and from the east by the Union Pacific, the two roads were linked in Utah in 1869 to great national fanfare.
Before famous cattle trails existed, Spanish ranchers drove cattle from south Texas overland to distant markets. In the late 1770s, Texas cattle were driven, or trailed, to places below the Rio Grande River and east to New Orleans. In 1821, American colonists began arriving in Texas. Many of these pioneers took up ranching.
Railroads created the market for ranching, and because for the few years after the war that railroads connected eastern markets with important market hubs such as Chicago, but had yet to reach Texas ranchlands, ranchers began driving cattle north, out of the Lone Star state, to major railroad terminuses in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Why did cattle drives end in the late 1800s?
Cattle drives in the western United States largely ended in the late 1800s due primarily to a combination of barbed-wire fences and the new convenience of the railroad.
Where did cattle move on the Goodnight Loving Trail?
Other major cattle trails, moving successively westward, were established. In 1867 the Goodnight-Loving Trail opened up New Mexico and Colorado to Texas cattle. By the tens of thousands cattle were soon driven into Arizona. In Texas itself cattle raising expanded rapidly as American tastes shifted from pork to beef.