1. Big Ranches

2. Big Ranches
By the 1800s, huge ranches spread throughout South Texas and into the northern portion of the state.
XIT Ranch

3. Railroads and refrigeration
1880s – railroads extended into Texas
Ship cattle from a point closer to home
no refrigeration in Texas – had to send cattle to slaughterhouses
Meat would spoil, otherwise
Refrigeration in Texas – introduction of slaughterhouses
Could ship meat across country
RR’s and Refrigeration helped boost the cattle industry – supported each other

4. The great spreads Ranches
King Ranch – founded by Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy in 1852; South Texas (expanded to more than 1 million acres) one of the first to fence land
JA Ranch – established by Charles Goodnight and John Adair in 1876; Palo Duro Canyon (more than 1 million acres, 100,000 cattle)
Matador Ranch – founded by investors, A.M. Britton and H.H. Campbell in 1878; Matador land and Cattle Co. bought and expanded
XIT Ranch – largest; located in Panhandle (3 million acres); XIT “ten in Texas” because it covered 10 counties

5. King Ranch, Kingsville, TX

6. JA Ranch
Goodnight, TX

7. XIT Ranch

8. Mustangs Descended from Spanish horses; formed wild herds over time
Used on ranches - Ideal for rounding up cattle
Roundups and closing of open range reduced number of mustangs
Wild mustangs no longer exist in Texas

9. Sheep and goat ranching
Sheep Ranching – brought over with Spanish
George Wilkins Kendall – 1850s; est. sheep ranch near Boerne, TX
Raised for wool
By 1880; over 1 million head of sheep in Texas
Leading wool-producing state in nation for a time
Concentration in Edwards Plateau

10. Barbed wire Barbed-wire fencing invented in late 1800s
Decline of open range grazing
Quick and cheap to install
Cut off water supply; fence cutting became a problem
Became a felony in 1884

11. Windmills
Windmills – West Texas was dry; windmills pumped water from underground aquifers; water cattle

12. cowhand
Movies, books and Wild West shows; exaggerated the life of a cowboy
Overlooked the different kinds of people; African Americans, Tejanos, women
Misrepresented the role of Native Americans – left out how they were provoked

13. Range of cultures
African Americans suffered less discrimination on Texas ranches than other places during this time
Daniel Webster “80 John” Wallace – former slave – served as a trail boss on several cattle drives and later owned his own ranch