Life+of+a+Long+Horn+Cattle+Rancher

During the Civil War, some Texas cattle were used to feed the Confederate troops. However, due to isolation of Texas, the number was small. By the end of the Civil War there was approximately five million longhorn in Texas. These Texas cattle had long legs, lanky bodies, with legs and feet build of speed, It took a good horse with a good rider to outrun a Texas Longhorn. The bull's horns measure up to eight feet from tip-to-tip. When two bulls met they fought to the DEATH, only a well armed cowboy had a chance against a Longhorn bull.

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The migration of the Texas Longhorn cattle from south Texas to northern Kansas followed decades after the War Between the States. It was the largest movement of animals under the control of man in history of the world. Around nine million head of cattle were moved up the trails. The cattle drivers for the late 1800's are legendary. Alot of people from everywhere were drawn to Texas and the Territories west of the Mississippi to witness and profit from the new frontier rife with opportunity and danger.

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After the Civil War the Sedalia trail in Missouri presented some problems because people moving west and starting establishing farm communities and planting crops. Joseph McCoy came up with idea of extending the railroad into Abilene, Kansas to ship cattle to Chicago. Other trails sprang up like the Great Western, which led to towns like Dodge City, Kansas. Charles Goodnight and partner Olivia Loving trailed cattle along the Texas and New Mexicao trail which bears their name in late 1860's. Some herds went all the way from Texas to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Most of cowboys worked for 25 dollars a month. The era of the drives to Kansas and northern ranges only lasted about 25 years. But the life of a cowboy isn't what the movies portray, they were often dull and monotonous. The cowboys included Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. For three months men herded thousands of heads of longhorn cattle moving less then 15 miles a day. The cook of the chuck wagon was the most important man on the drive and usually got paid more than other men. The trail bosses rode on the flank (side) and drag (back) of the herd. Younger cowboys were given the job of horse wrangler, their job was to care for the horses they used for the drive. All of them shared the job of watching the herd at night, so the herd didn't become spooked and start running. On the trail, the cowboys encountered boredom and dangers, such as rattlesnakes, stampedes, and Indians. They ran into unpredictable weather, and while crossing rivers some cattle and cowboys drown. When they reached the end of the trail they celebrated in grand styles. The railroad, expansion, and barbed wire fences help end cattle drives. The invention of the refrigerated car of Gustavus Swift also aided the decline of the long drives. By the 1880's the cowboys started moving into their own ranches and they used the skills they learned from the long drives to help round up their own cattle.

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