Cattle Drive 1800s

A railhead is an end point for a railroad. The long distances covered the need for periodic rests by riders and animals and the establishment of railheads led to the.

The Wild West Was A Period In Cultural History That Began Just After The Civil War And From The 1800 S Just Up Until The Earl Black Cowboys Old West Wild West

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.

Cattle drive 1800s. Having little commercial value cattle were left to roam freely in the open range and by the early 1800s hundreds of thousands of wild longhorns populated the region. In fact the early cattle drives went far toward healing texas depressed postwar economy while supplying much needed beef to the indian reservations and gold camps up north and to the markets and homes of the nation s midwest and east. Trail drives were hard work and required tough men to work them.

This meant they needed a way to get the cattle from the ranches in texas. There he sold his herd. That was especially true in the early days of the trail drives before rancher and cattle baron charles goodnight realized that he could attract and keep his help if he took better care of them on the job.

Drives usually took place in texas on the goodnight. Texans could drive their cattle north to meet the railhead where they could be shipped to chicago and the eager demand of the american people. Cook trailed texas cattle in the 1870s and later established a ranch at agate springs nebraska.

The drives were conducted for only about 20 years becoming unnecessary with the advent of the railroads and refrigeration in the 1880s. Whereas before cowboys ate whatever they could carry with them dried. Cattle drives were also known in the newly established united states.

It was a process born of dire necessity which soon passed into legend coming to represent the cowboy. The diary of george duffield is invaluable as it paints a realistic picture of the extremely hard work and dangers of being a western cowboy on an 1800 s cattle drive. Cattle drives to northern and western markets and later to railroad loading facilities started in earnest in 1866 when an estimated 260 000 head of cattle crossed the red river.

Goodnight is often credited with the invention of the chuck wagon. By the time the cattle drive reached it s destination it had about 500 of the original 1 000 head. The open range was increasingly blocked by fences as sheep herders and cattle ranchers closed off their land to prevent encroachment from other cattle.

Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the 19th and early 20th century american west particularly between 1850s and 1910s in this period 27 million cattle were driven from texas to railheads in kansas for shipment to stockyards in louisiana and points east. Cattle drives were at one time a major economic activity in the american west particularly between the years 1866 1895 when 10 million cattle were herded from texas to railheads in kansas for shipments to stockyards in chicago and points east. Texas didn t have any railroads at this time so people had to take the cattle to railheads in kansas.

People in the eastern united states started eating more beef in the late 1800s. Cattle drives involved cowboys on horseback moving herds of cattle long distances to market.

A Cattle Drive In Kansas Old West Photos Cattle Drive American West