Cattle Kingdom: This Rise and Fall of the Cattle Industry in Texas

2/27/2012

VocabularyOpen Range- large area flooded with roaming

Cattle and Wild Mustangs.Hollywood Cowboys- typically White males

who are strong, and always rides off into the sunset at the end.

Cowgirls- there were many females who had this job, but it was mainly a male dominated job.

Barbed Wire- Closed the Open Range

How it all beganCattle Ranching can be traced back to the

time when Spain controlled Texas.By the 1690s the Spanish had brought in over

25,000 Cattle into Texas.Mexican-Americans known as Vaqueros were

the first known Cowboys in Texas.The Spanish established Ranches all along

the Rio Grande.

King RanchThe Open Range made it easier to roundup

roaming Cattle and bring them into someone’s personal Ranch.

Nicknamed the “birthplace of American Ranching,” King Ranch became the largest ranch in SW Texas, with more than 15,000 acres of land for Cattle.

Southern Ranchers soon began to realize that Northern States would pay double for the beef they were selling down south.

CowboysCowhands or Cowboys were hired to drive the

Cattle up North.Life for the Cowboys was not easy, they spent

majority of their time on the road, and was paid based on the herds they brought in.

Unlike “Hollywood Cowboys," Real Cowboys were mostly single, poor and many were either Black or Mexican.

The introduction of the Texas Longhorn made the price of Beef skyrocket in the North from 4$ a head to 40$ a head.

Famous Cattle DrivesChisholm Trail- the

most famous Cattle Drive stretched from SW Texas to Kansas.

Great Western Trail- stretched from Kerrville, Texas to Nebraska.

Goodnight Trail- Stretched from Mid-Texas to Wyoming.

Decline of RanchesBarbed Wire leads to the closing of the

frontier.Over population of Cattle led to overgrazing

which ruined many of the ranches.Windmills and the extension of the railroad

also ruin many of the ranches. Blizzards helped to bankrupt many Ranchers

in Texas, and they were forced to sell off their ranches.

Real Longhorns

Real Longhorns cont.

Real Cowboys or Mythical Cowboys and Similarities

Real or Mythical?

Real or Mythical

Real or Mythical?

Buffalo Bill Cody, Real or Mythical?

Real or Mythical? Just Joking!!