Ranching & Farming, A New Century Texas History, Chapters 18 and 20

Spanish Introduce Cattle The first cattle brought to America arrived on the ships of Spanish explorers in the 1500s.

Spanish Bring Horses Mustangs: Small, hardy horses descended from horses brought by the Spanish

Early Ranchers Vaqueros, or cowhands, herded and drove cattle Mexican American vaqueros were found on South Texas ranches

Early Ranchers Open Range: public land that could be used by anyone Before the Civil War, most cattle lived on the open range and were slaughtered for their hides

King Ranch Richard King bought the Santa Gertrudis, old Spanish land grant on the southern Gulf Coast King Ranch became one of the largest in Texas

Trail Drives Cattle were driven, or moved, in large herds to railroad towns to find better markets

Trail Drives Livestock were kept at stockyards, or holding pens, in major railroad towns of Chicago and St. Louis

Major Cattle Trails Sedalia Trail ran between Texas and Sedalia, Missouri Missouri farmers complained that cattle destroyed their crops; farmers blocked trails by building fences and barricades

Major Cattle Trails Joseph McCoy persuaded railroads and cattle drovers to meet further west to avoid Missouri

Major Cattle Trails Drovers used the Chisolm Trail through Austin, Waco and Fort Worth to avoid Missouri Chisolm Trail was named after Jesse Chisolm, a Native American trader

Major Cattle Trails Goodnight-Loving Trail was used to move cattle west to the ranges of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana

Life Along the Trail Wrangler’s job was to take care of the horses

Life Along the Trail Cowhands took turns “riding herd” at night, standing guard to prevent stampedes or raids by Native Americans or rustlers

Life Along the Trail Few battles with Native Americans: drovers had to pay tolls to cross the Indian territory

Big Ranches After the buffalo were wiped out and Native Americans were removed from the Plains, West Texas and the Panhandle became open to ranchers

Big Ranches Thomas Bugbee founded the Shoe Bar Ranch, one of the most famous of the large ranches The invention of barbed wire ended the open range

Big Ranches Ranchers began enclosing their lands, cutting off the water supply to other ranchers’ herds Windmills pumped water from wells, making fenced pastures possible.

Big Ranches Cattle were branded to show ownership Ranchers often branded their cattle with their initials Ex: JA ranch in Palo Duro Canyon belonged to John Adair

Decline of Ranching Severe blizzards and long droughts in the 1880s led to a decline in cattle ranching Too many cattle meant rangelands were overgrazed and cattle prices fell

Sheep Industry After the Civil War, a growing demand for wool brought even more sheep ranchers to Texas

Cultures Meet in Ranch Country Mexican American vaqueros were found on South Texas ranches Most shepherds were Mexican Americans

Cultures Meet in Ranch Country African Americans were cowhands and trail bosses Women also settled the frontier and built ranches

A New Century By 1900, Dallas had emerged as the major city in central Texas.

Texas Gold The discovery of a major oil deposit changed the economy of Texas and the U.S. Gusher at Spindletop began the oil boom in Texas

Spindletop 1901: oil field near Beaumont produced four times as much oil as had been produced by ALL Texas oil wells the previous year

Boomtowns Populations of Beaumont and Humble grew practically overnight Humble Oil Company later became the multinational corporation known as Exxon-Mobil

Good Luck on Your Test!