The Cattle Industry Flashcards
what state was the major centre for cattle ranching in the 1850’s?
texas
what happened when ranchers left their herds for 5 years during the civil war?
the cattle grew dramatically so ranchers had to find ways of selling them
by 1865 how many cattle were there in texas?
5 million
how much was cattle worth in the east compared to texas?
$40 compared to $5
what did the texan cattle carry?
texas longhorn fever
what was the problem with driving cattle north?
homesteaders would complain that the cattle was spreading texas fever to their own cattle
what did McCoy create in 1867?
abilene
what was abilene?
a cow town
what did John Illiff develop?
open range ranching by realising cattle could survive harsh winter on plains
what did Goodnight and Loving create in 1866?
the goodnight loving trail
what was the population of abilene in 1867?
7000
how did the development of railroads help the cattle industry?
beef could get to new markets quicker
some cow towns were actually built along the railroads
what were the problems for cattlemen?
long journeys to east
conflict with homesteaders
disease
what was open range ranching?
unfenced land that was used to graze cattle
cattle roamed freely but was branded
land was not owned
why was open range successful?
buffalo was gone
if cattle were kept on plains during winter it would kill their disease
