Objective:
TLW identify how the cattle industry changed in the mid-to-late 1800s because of foreign investors and owners. TLW locate big ranches on a map, compare and contrast European owned versus American owned ranches.
Subject: Social Studies/Texas History
Grade Level: Seventh
Time: 30-45 min session
TEKS:
History 7.6; Geography 7.8, Geography 7.11 (A); Social Studies 7.21 (C), Social Studies 7.22
Materials:
Textbook
Pencil
Procedure:
Map Activity
1. Give each student a copy of the Texas Map.
2. Have them open their books up to the section on Big Ranches.
3. TLW mark and label the big ranches, such as the XIT Ranch, the JA Ranch, the Matador
Ranch and others on their map.
4. Instruct the learner to pick two colors-one to use when marking American owned ranches, and another to signify those run or financed by Europeans. TLW create a legend showing what each color represents.
5. To work on mapping skills have the learner begin by locating Austin on the map. Then instruct students to follow the Colorado River north almost to the end and label the Wallace
Ranch just below it. The next step is to find Fort Worth and the Brazos River. TLW go
Northwest beside the river into the Panhandle. They will mark the Matador and Bugbee ranches.
Continue using the rivers and major cities to guide the students as they indicate the locations of the big ranches.
6. Once they are finished, have them research one ranch from each category and to write a three to four page compare and contrast report.
7. In their reports, have the learner discuss the history of each ranch, how long they are/were in existence, what types of ranchers they were, and why they chose these specific ranches.
8. Have the learners also explain how the ranches are similar/dissimilar to one another: were they both successful/failures, what made them a success or failure, why do they think this occurred.
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Assessment:
1. Assessing the map activity will include determining how well they followed the directions on marking the different ranches and on how well they researched the compare and contrast paper.
2. Grade their papers on a rubric scale.
Extensions:
Past and Present !
Have the students create a second map that has the big ranches of West Texas today. Then discuss the similarities and differences between the maps and why this might be so.
Reading stories about/by British Travelers in the West:
1. Story taken from Dance Across Texas by Betty Casey. Austin: University of Texas Press,
1985. Pages 54-56: “Matador Ranch Valentine Dance.” http://www.dorisvolz.com/matadordance.htm
2. “The XIT Ranch: From Panhandle-Plains to Beef Production,” Barbara Levine. www.stevehardingdesign.com/images/projects/capitol47.pdf
3. “Granddaughter of British-Born Cowboy Follows Memoirs to JA,” David Bowser. http://www.livestockweekly.com/papers/03/04/03/whlja.asp
4. “Scottish Texans.” http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/publications/texansoneandall/scottish.htm
Visit the National Ranching Heritage Center to see structures from big business ranches
Websites
Look at PBS story on Charles Goodnight: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/goodnight.htm
Other possible websites to explore:
JA Ranch - http://www.ranches.org/JAranch.htm
and http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/JJ/apj1.html
XIT Ranch - http://www.xitmuseum.com/history.shtml
and http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/XX/apx1.html
Matador Ranch http://www.matadorranch.com/history.asp
and http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/apm2.html
King Ranch - http://www.king-ranch.com/index.html
and http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/KK/apk1.html
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