I. The growth of the cattle industry• A. The cattle industry becomes big

business– Spanish explorers introduce horses and cattle

into the SW in the 1700s (Mexico)• Longhorns• Large, healthier

– Many aspects of cowboy culture – food, clothing, vocabulary, are borrowed from Spanish ranchers in Mexico

– Mexican ranchers taught Americans in the early 1800s.

Growth of Cattle Industry

– Destruction of the buffalo and removal of Native Americans opened the West

– Boom in cattle population after Civil War led to ample supply (over 5 million roaming Texas)

– Demand for a healthier source of meat!– Pork becoming less popular = “Beef Binge”– Cattle that sold for only $3-$6 a head in

Texas, at war’s end now sold for $40-$60 a head

• The growth of the railroad provides a market for a booming cattle industry

• Refrigerated railcars 1870s • Destruction of the buffalo and removal of Native

Americans opened the West

• 1840 – 25 million buffalo on Plains

• 1889 – 1,100 remained

• Booming “cow towns” sprang along the railroads such as Abilene, KN

• Cheyenne, WY

• In Kansas – Dodge City, Wichita, and Ellsworth

• Much of the stereotypes of the “wild west” and the cowboy come from towns such as these.

• Dodge City – “Cowboy Capital of the World”

• B. The truth about cowboys– The ordinary cowboy’s life differed greatly

from the popular conception of it.– Cattle herds were rounded up in the spring in

Southern Texas and were driven many miles to railroad shipping centers.

• Long Drive (pg 271-272)• Page 272 (chart on Texas cattle drive North)

• Blog – Myths vs. Stereotypes

The End of the Frontier1. Overgrazing combined with a series of

natural disasters brings an end to the cattle frontier.

2. The invention of barbed wire transforms the open plains into fenced in ranches and farms

3. Cattle Barons created huge business operations – by 1885 reigned in more than 20 million acres of range land

4. Overgrazing, price declines, cold winters, dry summers, and cattle fever drove many into bankruptcy.

5. Homesteaders taking up land

• Feuds and Conflict between “free grazers” and “Cattle Barons” common!

• Blog assignment

• Cattle industry only boomed for 2 decades • 1867-1887 – as many as 8 million Texas cattle

were rounded up and shipped East.

Mining in the West

• D. Mining: some struck it rich – most struck out.– In the second half of the 19th century, the

possibility of finding gold draws many to the American West

– Few succeeded in this dangerous pursuit of wealth

II. Settling on the Great Plains

• A. Settlers flock westward to farm– Transcontinental railroads open up the west

for settlement• Pacific Railroad Act

- The government encourages settlement by offering free land

- Homestead Act- In response to the rapid disappearance of

open land, the government sets aside some public land to preserve wilderness

• B. Settlers meet the challenges of the Plains.– The settlers first task – provide shelter for

themselves on the tireless prairies. Soddies– Pioneer women do much of the work –

feeding, clothing, and sustaining their families– New technology and farming methods help

tame the prairie.• Morrill Land Grant Acts- Many farmers go into debt investing in technology

and transporting their grain to markets.- Bonanza farms