The making of America: cattle business and cow towns. Flashcards
cattle industry.
where did the cattle come from?
spain to texas.
why did the cattle business develop after the civil war?
had railroads to help transport.
cowboys organised regular drives to north cities.
cattlemen had to drive cattle as far as towns on railroads.
charles goodnight and oliver loving made $24,000 selling 2,000 cattle in 1866.
why did cow towns appear and what were they like?
1867: josepth McCoy set up towns of abilene kansas. brought land, built stock pens and advertised as the ideal place to bring cattle for transport.
first one were often violent and riotous.
could buy clean clothes, have photo taken.
many drank a lot of whiskey, gambled and spent money on prostitutes.
1870’s gun law introduced to keep order.
why did cattle ranches then develop?
were these better for cattle ranchers and cowboys?
railroads grew, gave somewhere to stop and get new clothes.
ranchers driving cattle long distances from southern texas to cow towns, less efficient than rearing cattle on the plains.
what did cattle ranchers mean for native american tribes?
traditional hunting grounds disrupted and some native american tribes faced threat of starvation.
violent clashes, ranchers and indigenous people, cheyenne and Comanche.
how did cattle ranching impact the environment?
led to scarcity of water and grass for buffalos.
hunting grounds disrupted.
moving out people who lived there.
developing N trails: during the civil war who did the texan ranchers fight for and what did it bring an end to?
confederacy.
cattle trails.
developing N trails: when did ranchers return and what did they notice?
- cattle had increased hugely in numbers.
developing N trails: what did the returning cattlemen know of?
huge demand for cattle in industrial cities of north and a lot could be made developing northern cattle trails.
developing N trails: who did ranchers hire, what did they organise and how did they take advantage of the railroad?
cowboys. organised regular drives to northern cities.
crossed northern plains- cattle men only had to take cattle as far as towns on railroads.
developing N trails: how did a few make a fortune by doing cow drives?
sold to us forts, Indian reservations, miners, railroad builders.
developing N trails: what did goodnight and loving do in 1866?
hired 18 cowboys to drive 2000 cattle to plains market and sold them for $24,000.
ranches: what did some cattlemen see driving cattle long distances from texas to cow towns as?
less efficient than rearing cattle on the plains.
ranches: who was john iliff, what did he do and when?
when was this a common sight on the plains?
failed gold prospector from pike’s peak.
1866- brought cattle from goodnight and migrants travelling Oregon trail, kept them on the plains to be closer to the towns.
1870’s.
ranches: what were they classed as and what did that mean?
open ranges. owners didn’t fence in their land and relied on cowboys to stop herds going to far.
