Cattle Ranching and Beef

Question 1

How many Acres of land did Joseph McCoy buy for his cow town?

Answer 1

450 acres of land

Question 2

Who created the first ‘Cow town’ of Abilene and when?

Answer 2

Joseph McCoy, in 1867

Question 3

When did John Iliff buy an exausted, thinned out cattle herd after a long drive and for how much.

Answer 3

He bought them in 1861, for $500

Question 4

Why were Homesteaders upset about Cattle ranchers driving Texan cattle across their farmland?

Answer 4

Texas Longhorns carried a disease called Texas Longhorn Fever which killed other breeds of cattle, and therefore the homesteaders cattle

Question 5

Which city did John Iliff see an opportunity to sell beef in? And why selling beef here such a good idea?

Answer 5

Iliff spotted an opportunity to sell beef in a place called Denver city. Gold had been found In Colorado, the state Denver is in and because of this the city was developing rapidly. Because of this development there were lots of people to buy beef

Question 6

Why was Denver City, the city Iliff catered beef to, developing rapidly?

Answer 6

Gold was discovered in Colorado, the state Denver is located in. People rushed to Denver and the areas surrounding hoping to find their fortune

Question 7

How many Cattle were driven to Joseph McCoy’s cow town of Abilene between 1867 and 1872?

Answer 7

3 million cows were driven from Texas to Abilene via the Chisholm Trail

Question 8

Which trail leading from Texas to Abilene did Joseph McCoy spend $5,000 to advertise?

Answer 8

He spent $5,000 advertising the Chisholm Trail

Question 9

What is a Range? John Iliff used one of these to fatten up exausted cows he bought.

Answer 9

A range is a large area of land with no fences used to graze cows

Question 10

What is a rancher?

Answer 10

A rancher is someone who runs or owns a ranch, which is a cattle farm

Question 11

Who were starving in a reservation in Fort Summer due to bad government planning?

Answer 11

Navanjo Indians were starving there. This created a market for Cattle there which Charles Goodnight and Oliver loving took advantage of.

Question 12

Which trail did Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight create and why?

Answer 12

They created the Goodnight-Loving trail after noticing Navanjo Indians in a reservation in Fort summer needed food.

Question 13

What was Fort Summer an example of?

Answer 13

Fort Summer was a reservation, a place the government confined Plains Indians to.

Question 14

How did soil erosion occur on the plains as a result of the open range?

Answer 14

Overstocking meant that the soil on the plains eroded and this was a result of ranching on the open range

Question 15

In what year was beef in great demand after the Civil War? And how much was a cow worth at this time?

Answer 15

Beef was in great demand in 1865, after the Civil War. A cow was worth $40 in Chicago because of this

Question 16

Where was the demand of beef the highest after the civil war? North or south? And why

Answer 16

Beef was only in demand in the North. In the south the price of a cow was miniscule as the Texas Longhorns were left unmanaged during the war so they roamed freely. There were five millions cows in Texas.

The southern economy was also damaged because of the Civil War

Question 17

How many cows were in Texas after the civil war and how much was one worth?

Answer 17

There were five million cows in Texas after the civil war and one was only worth $5

Question 18

Why were Texans not able to complete their cattle drive to Sedalia via Kansas?

Answer 18

Homesteaders in Kansas were worried that the Texas Longhorns that were being driven would have Texas Longhorn Fever

Question 19

Why did Texan Ranchers desperately want to drive their cattle away from Texas to sell?

Answer 19

The Texas Longhorns were left unmanaged during the war and there was an outbreak of them. 5 million cows inhabited Texas at this time.

Question 20

When did the Civil War end?

Answer 20

1865, at this time cattle was in high demand in the north and low in the south, where the Texas Longhorns were left unmanaged