The Cattle Industry Flashcards
what state was the major centre for cattle ranching in the 1850’s?
texas
what happened when ranchers left their herds for 5 years during the civil war?
the cattle grew dramatically so ranchers had to find ways of selling them
by 1865 how many cattle were there in texas?
5 million
how much was cattle worth in the east compared to texas?
$40 compared to $5
what did the texan cattle carry?
texas longhorn fever
what was the problem with driving cattle north?
homesteaders would complain that the cattle was spreading texas fever to their own cattle
what did McCoy create in 1867?
abilene
what was abilene?
a cow town
what did John Illiff develop?
open range ranching by realising cattle could survive harsh winter on plains
what did Goodnight and Loving create in 1866?
the goodnight loving trail
what was the population of abilene in 1867?
7000
how did the development of railroads help the cattle industry?
beef could get to new markets quicker
some cow towns were actually built along the railroads
what were the problems for cattlemen?
long journeys to east
conflict with homesteaders
disease
what was open range ranching?
unfenced land that was used to graze cattle
cattle roamed freely but was branded
land was not owned
why was open range successful?
buffalo was gone
if cattle were kept on plains during winter it would kill their disease
why did open range comet to an end?
winters of 1886 and 1887 caused deaths of 1000s of cattle - great die up
overcrowding
cost of cattle increased so profit decreased
what were the 3 causes of the Johnson county war?
beef prices falling
homesteaders and small ranchers were settling in wyoming leading to disputes over land
cattle rustling was becoming a problem - ranchers lost cattle and blamed homesteaders
what happened to Jim Averill and Ella Watson in 1889?
they were lynched outside their cabin by cattle barons as they were living on their land
what did the cattle barons plan in 1892?
a full scale invasion of johnson county
what did the cattle barons create?
a death list
what was the plan?
the capture the town of buffalo, kill the sheriff and the rest of the men on the list
how did the invaders cut johnson county off from the rest of the world?
cut telephone wires
who stopped the invaders?
nate champion
what did nate champion do?
held the invaders off all day until he was burned out of his cabin and shot
what happened the next day when the invaders approached buffalo?
they retreated when they herd that news had already spread and the locals were armed and ready
where were the invaders taken?
into protective custody
why were the cattle barons never convicted for the invasion?
they were rich so hired the best lawyers - however they never had the same power again
