The Cattle Boom

The earliest ranchers in the American West

were Spaniards who imported cattle from
Spain in the 1500s.
Cattle Ranching
By the 1850s, Texans had interbred English cattle
with Spanish cattle to produce a new breed the
Texas longhorn.
These cattle could travel long distances on little water,
and were immune to Texas fever (a cattle disease).
Cattle Ranching
The growth of eastern cities led to an
increase in the demand for beef.
Cattle ranching in Texas grew rapidly,
especially after overhunting caused the
buffalo to die out.
Sheep Ranching
The Spanish also introduced sheep ranching.
American Indians raised sheep in New Mexico
and Arizona.
During the California gold rush, sheep were
herded into California to feed the miners.
Ranching Conflicts
Cowboys hated sheep, believing that they ate
the roots of the grass and ruined it for cattle.
Clashes between shepherds and cowboys
often became violent.
Angry cowboys
even drove herds
of sheep off of cliffs.
The Cattle Industry
The workers who took care of a ranchers
cattle were known as cowboys.
The life of a cowboy was difficult.
They worked hard in all kinds of weather and were
paid little.
The Cowboys
Many cowboys were Confederate veterans of
the Civil War.
African American, Mexican, and Mexican
American cowboys made up about one-third
of the 35,000 cowboys in the West.
African American cowboys escaped most of the
discrimination in the postwar era.
Mexican ranch hands were known as vaqueros.
They also often encountered discrimination.
Life on the Trail
Moving cattle from Texas to the rail lines in
Missouri and Kansas posed a major problem
for cattle ranchers.

Life on the Trail
To reach the rail lines, cowboys herded as
many as 3,000 cattle on long drives.
They covered hundreds of miles and lasted several
months.
Over the years, cowboys herded about 4 million
cattle from Texas to Kansas.
Dangers
Managing the herd on a drive was a tough
job.
River crossings were dangerous.
The worst danger was a stampede. Any
unexpected sound could panic the cattle.
Cattle Towns
Every long drive ended at a railhead a town
located along a railroad where brokers
bought cattle to ship east on railroad cars.
These towns became known as cattle towns.
Cattle Towns
Kansas towns of Abilene, Dodge City, and
Wichita were among the best-known railhead
stops.
Farther north and west, long drives ended in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Ogallala, Nebraska
Cattle Towns
Originally consisted of little more than a
general store, a hotel or boardinghouse, a
railroad depot, and a stockyard.
Cattle Towns
Prosperous cattle towns attracted
businesspeople, doctors, lawyers, and their
families.
The towns then built schools and established
police forces.
Cowboys in Cattle Towns
Cowboys were paid at the end of the drive,
and they often bought new clothes, other
goods and visited gambling halls and saloons
to spend their money.

Ranching
As the U.S. government converted more
American Indian territory into public land, cattle
ranching spread west.
The government allowed cattle ranching to use
public land as open range, or free grazing land.
This access to free land helped to make ranching
profitable.
The introduction of higher-grade cattle breeds from
East Coast and Europe led to even larger profit
Ranch Profits
It was mainly large investment companies
that took advantage of the free land.
Financed by eastern and European investors,
these companies created huge ranches.
Ranch Profits
Most ranchers did not own much of this land.
Instead they bought ranch rights or water
rights to ponds and rivers.
Gave ranchers the access to scarce water as well
as ownership around it.
Stop farmers and other ranchers from coming
onto their private property using the water.
Ranch Life
Demanded hard labor from ranch families
Women did housework, cooked for al hired
cowboys, and helped with fence-mending,
herding, and other chores.
Ranches were far apart and loneliness took its
toll.
Ranch Life
During the spring and fall, ranch life centered
on the roundup.
The cattle were driven from the open range
to a central location where they were
separated by each ranchers brand. They
were then taken on the drives to the railheads.
The End of the Cattle Boom
The cattle boom lasted
about 20 years.


Several factors led to
its end.
Factors to the Fall
1) Ranchers eager for profits crowded the open
range with too many cattle.
Prices crashed in 1885 as supply far exceeded
demand.
1882 cattle had brought $35 a head
1885 sold for only $8 a head
Factors for the Fall
2) Ranchers faced increased competition for
use of the open range.
In 1874 Joseph Glidden patented barbed wire for
fencing.
By 1880s miles of barbed wire across the open
range to control access to land and water.
Factors for the Fall
Some farmers and small ranchers responded
by cutting the fences and moving onto the
land or stealing cattle, leading to range wars.
The end of the open range meant that
ranchers had to buy their own land, and some
large ranching corporations went broke.
Factors of the Fall
3) Bad weather was the final blow to the open
range.
On the southern Plains in 1885-1886 there was a
severe winter followed by a drought
The following year, terrible blizzards hammered
the northern Plains.
Some ranchers lost up to
90% of their herds to starvation
and the freezing temperatures.
The End of the Cattle Boom
Some ranchers learned from their
experiences.
Invested more money into ranching operations.
Raised hay to feed their cattle during harsh
winters.
Sheep could survive on the weeds that
replaced the native grasses destroyed by over
grazing
Sheep grazing expanded during this period.