What Are the Prospects By the mid 19th century the vast open Spaces of the North American West seemed ideal for raising cattle to feed the growing populations HOME ON THE RANGE Vast grasslands Ideal for buffalo and cattle The open range was the name given to the grasslands of the Midwest This extended from Wyoming and the Dakota Territory farther north into Canada and down south into Texas In the east tall grass covered the prairies In the west treeless plains of short grass were broken by rocky areas rivers and canyons The range was home to millions of buffalo and ranchers Above Cows could roam freely over the rich discovered it was also ideal for raising cattle grasslands of the open range Lee Cattle in Texas Small beginnings Spanish soldiers brought six cows to Mexico in 1521 By the time Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836 there were six cows for every Texan The herds on the open range kept growing In 1866 railroads reached the West Now beef could be transported by railroad to sell in markets in the East This made Texan cattle worth a lot more
Barons of the West Ranchers seize the open range Control huge areas After the American Civil War ended in 1865 ranchers began grazing their cattle on the Get range Some bought patches of land that were spaced out This helped them control large areas of the range The ranchers were men such as John W Iliff who built the first open range ranch in Wyoming in 1867 John Chisum opened the first ranch in New Mexico Future president Theodore Roosevelt built a ranch in North Dakota In Canada Montreal cattle baron Matthew Cochrane led the push west to claim land for ranching in Alberta Saskatchewan and British Columbia Above By 1885 35 cattle barons owned over 30 000 square miles 77 700 square kilometers of the range COWBOYS WANTED DID YOU KNOW Men needed to look after cattle herds and drive them to the railroads Are you strong self motivated and independent Are you a skilled horseman Are you willing to work hard for low pay really really low pay Until 1836 Temas and the Southwest belonged to Meadoo The first cowboys wene Medlen Many words associated with Cowboys come from Spanish wonds including champs anch lasso coal and sombrero IF THE ANSWER IS YES YOU COULD BE A COWBOY WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS 5
Meet the Folks Cowboys came from many backgrounds but they all had to be tough Most were also very young On average cowboys were just 24 years old THE FIRST TRAIL Ohisholm opens the way Crosses Indian Territory The Cherokee trader Jesse Chisholm used Native American tracks to open a trail through Indian Territory now Oklahoma In 1867 Joseph G McCoy opened stockyards on the railroad at Abilene Kansas Texas ranchers used Chisholm s 520 mile 837 km trail to drive cattle to Abilene to be taken east by train The demand for meat on the East Coast meant beef was worth ten times more out East than in Texas Left This 20th century mural in Fort Worth Texas remembers the Chisholm Trail Tough tuys MY WESTERN JOURNAL Bring a gun Imagine you are a It might be useful rancher Using evidence from Ehis spread write a job advertisement to recruit the ideal cowboy to work on your ranch Many cowboys were former soldiers from the Civil War Others had been criminals Ranchers preferred to hire cowboys who were good with guns so they could protect their herds from rustlers or wolves No wonder some people thought cowboys were like
WEARE ARE TO FROME wide mix of origins Everyone welcome Cowboys came from a range of backgrounds Some were Mexican vaqueros who lived in what had only recently become US territory They were joined by Native Americans who were skilled horsemen used to hunting buffalo About one fifth of cowboys were African Americans including former slaves from the South who wanted to start new lives in the West after the Civil War Some cowboys came from Europe They included the Mennonites These Russian Christians were used to the harsh conditions of the steppes Left Nat Love 1854 1921 was a famous African American cowboy and rodeo champion DID YOU KNOW Many cowboys found that its on the open mange was too demanding only a third of all Cowboys even Soder trail twoe Fon the othes once was more than enough Beware of Homesteaders Farmers fence their land Passage of cattle blocked As more people settled in the West ranchers and cowboys clashed with new homesteaders These farmers wanted to grow crops and raise animals They used barbed wire to fence off their land from the range The fences blocked cattle trails often in key locations where herds could find water MEET THE FOLKS 9
