The Cowboy Research Paper

Describe the origins, purposes, and practices of the "long drive" and the "open range" cattle industry. What ended this brief but colorful boom? What was the long-run nature of the cattle business?

Towards the end of the Civil War in America, there were seemingly endless numbers of cattle in the western region of the continent. The building of Transcontinental Railroad systems created a huge economic growth in the United States. The railroads created a faster, safer way to travel, since traveling in a carriage put you at high risk for indian attacks, disease, starvation and dehydration. The railroads now also made it possible to transport an array of different things to the west, everything from people, to goods and cattle. The ability to now be able to efficiently transport cattle to the eastern part of the United States for food had a tremendous positive outcome.

Immigrants from China arrived in the West looking for jobs in the building of railroads.

The great northern railroad for instance helped open up the grain, potato, oil, copper, lumber and sugar markets in Dakota, Montana and eastern Washington. Denver and Rio Grande was used to transport silver and later livestock whiles the Central pacific was used to cart goods to the Pacific coast from across America. The Pacific Coast was well noted for the transport of fur and fishing products which was later expanded to canning and shipping. Mining industries sprung up across California in search for gold and various ores and these gave rise to many large companies (The Resources Frontier-Lecture slides). There was a large cattle trail cut in Texas, New Orleans, Montana and Kansas, and this gave rise to meat packing firms and larger ranches mostly owned by the British (The Cattle Frontier- lecture slides). Farmers also benefitted greatly and many more moved to the West. Most of them took advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave 160-acres of land grant for small amount if the land was improved after 5yrs and this made it possible for many families and individuals to receive lands (The Farming Frontier-Lecture

Revolutionized the cattle business and sounded the death of knell for the open range. Mexicans and Americans without land but had cattle were put out of business, because without fencing they had to sell out for the best price they could get. |

Drovers, people who herd large groups of cattle, heading up the Chisholm Trail toward the railroads the final stop for any last-minute supplies was Fort Worth, Texas. Beyond that you’d cross the Red River and into Indian Territory. During the years of 1866 and 1890, drovers herded over four million head of cattle through Fort Worth. The city soon became known as “Cowtown.” As the railroad arrived in 1876, Fort Worth developed into a shipping port for livestock, so the city built up the Union Stockyards. Despite the Union Stockyards lacking the essential funding to buy enough cattle to attract local ranchers, President Mike C. Hurley welcomed wealth Boston capitalist Greenleif Simpson into Fort Worth hoping he would find interest and invest

The problem with this otherwise innocent fun, Western argues, is that the state began to believe the myth that the state was built by ranching (an actual small player in the state's economy throughout the majority of its history) and that Wyoming and its people embodied the mythic traits of the cowboy, most especially self-reliance. (One is reminded of John Ford's maxim in "The Man Who Shot Libery Valance" -- "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.")

They would at times purchase the meat instead of hunting for it. The Pueblo Indians would grow their corn in crops in the fields and would sell the corn to make money to buy their

There was a strong market in brazil for beef especially dried beef because there was no refrigeration system in those days. The cattle ranchers were called or known as Gougho.

The roots of rodeo trace back to the Spanish settling California and becoming cattle ranchers. The vaqueros skills were learned and passed down to the American cowboys who was keen on accomplishing the skills of the Spaniards. These abilities were passed down easily because the frontier territories were heavily expanding after the civil war. In the late 1800s, the

The cattle kingdom out west had hit its peak in the 1880 's. A steer could be purchased in Texas for eight dollars. They could be sold in the east for up to sixty dollars. In the 1880 's the open range is coming to an end. The farmers are fed up with the cattle tromping through his crops. The sheepherders also took away from the cattle kingdom. The sheep killed the grass when they ate it, unlike cows. The farmer and cowboy hated each other, and they were

Why are you interested in the RAM CAMP Program and how will this help you enhance your leadership experience?

The War on Drugs that the United States has been fighting since the 1880’s has taken a toll on our society like no other issue. It has affected us on all fronts of social issues; immigration, imprisonment, poverty and resource draining costs. The question is then is it still worth it to fight it or move on to a new strategy.

The conditions in which meat livestock live in is not exactly that of a large open green field in which they are free to roam and be merry. In the Economist article, Cows down: The beef business (2008) the effects of the ill conditions cows talks of how a

Have you ever wondered who the cowboys were; how they lived; or what they did? The American Cowboy's way of life was interesting and unique, and they contributed more to society than one might think. Besides looking after stock and driving cattle, they had to round up huge numbers of cattle for ranchers. This paper will examine the American cowboy's character, what they wore, the everyday things they did like driving cattle and branding calves and the lawlessness of the old west.