Cattle Trails and the End of
the Open Range
1867-1890
How did it begin?
• Cows were brought to the New World by
the Spanish.
– Used ropes and horses to round up stray
cattle
– Raised cattle on the open range
– Cows were put into corrals and marked with
the brand of the ranch
Anglo-American Ranchers
• Used English cattle raising techniques
• Worked with much smaller herds that
were fenced in (barbed wire)
• Worked on foot instead of horseback
• Used both Spanish and English methods to
develop their own style of ranching
Chisholm Trail
• Chisholm Trail- first of the great trails
opened by Jesse Chisholm in 1867. The
trail started in different places in South TX
and went north to the railroads in Abilene
and Ellsworth, Kansas.
Jesse Chisholm
Western Trail
• Trail started by John Lytle in 1874 that
started in South TX near Brownsville and
went north into Dodge City, Kansas.
Goodnight-Loving Trail
• Trail started by Oliver Loving and Charles
Goodnight that went up the Pecos River
into New Mexico and up into Wyoming.
Charles Goodnight also established the
first cattle ranch in the Panhandle.
Charles Goodnight & Oliver Loving
Life on the Trail
• Drives began with a roundup
– Unbranded cattle were marked to prove ownership
• Cows then separated into herds
• Owners hired agents to drive their hers to market
– Paid $1 per head delivered to market
• Scouts rode in front of the herd to select the best route
– Herd always traveled north
– Alerted trail boss to dangers
• Bad weather, Indian tribes, and outlaws
• Trail boss had complete authority over the drive
• Cowhands
– Pointers (highly skilled cowhands) rode at the side of the lead
cattle to direct the herd
– Flankers: rode beside the herd, kept cattle from straying too far
– Other cowhands rode in the rear (drag position) to keep cattle
from straying behind
– Wranglers: took care of the extra horses
– Men would switch horses a few times a day to keep the horses
from tiring
• Camp cook rose early to prepare breakfast
– Coffee, biscuits, beef, and beans
– Cook would then ride ahead in the chuck
wagon to the next campsite
• Would have dinner ready when they arrived
• Cowhands gathered around the campfire
at night and sang songs
Cattle Ranches
• King Ranch- founded by Richard King and
his partner Mifflin Kennedy in Kingsville,
TX covered more than 1 million acres of
land.
Kingsville, TX
JA Ranch
• Established by Charles Goodnight and his
partner John Adair in 1876 in the Palo
Duro Canyon (the Panhandle of TX,
southeast of Amarillo). The ranch
included more than 1 million acres and
100,000 head of cattle and was the first
cattle ranch in the Panhandle.
JA Ranch southeast of Amarillo in
Palo Duro Canyon
Matador Ranch
• Founded by investors
A.M. Britton and H. H.
Campbell on a
homestead in Motley
County in 1878. A
Scottish company
purchased it in 1882
and acquired land in
several states and
Canada.
XIT Ranch
• The largest ranch in TX that was located in the
Panhandle, along the New Mexico border. It
covered more than 3 million acres near Lubbock
up north to the Oklahoma border. The land for
the ranch was provided by the TX government in
exchange for the construction of a new capitol.
The contractor who built the capitol turned the
land over to a group of Chicago and British
investors.
XIT Ranch
Cattle and Sheep Ranching Origins
• Both cattle and sheep were originally
brought to TX by Spanish explorers and
settlers. Ranches in TX were not only
cattle ranches but many started sheep
ranches for their wool and goat ranches
for their hair. For a time during the
ranching boom, TX was the leading woolproducing state in the nation.
Longhorn and Sheep
The end of the open range
• In 1873 Joseph F. Glidden created barbed
wire to help ranchers with their problem of
keeping their cattle separated from each
other. It would also help farmers so that
the cattle could not eat their crops.
Barbed Wire
Problems with barbed wire
• Cowboys and other people in TX were against
•
barbed wire because it was bringing an end to
the open range. In the 1870s and 1880s fence
cutting became a problem by cattle rustlers and
others who did not want the open range to end.
The state of TX passed laws to stop fence
cutting.
Rustler- A cattle thief. These people were the
biggest problem faced by cattle ranchers in the
late 1800s.
Windmills
• The windmill made it possible for cattle
owners to fence in their cattle. They were
able to pump water from underground
sources especially in dry West TX.
Ranchers did not have to depend on
sources of surface water and let their
cattle roam to find them.
Windmills Then and Now
• Windmills were first created to pump
water from underground sources. As time
has passed, scientists have found that by
harnessing the wind, they could produce
electricity. Wind is a renewable resource
and windmills today are still used to pump
water and also create electricity.
Windmill on XIT Ranch
Windmill
Windmill Farm