jan 1, 1865 - Long Drive of Texas longhorns begins

Description:

-South Texas

-5 mil longhorn
-Missouri Pacific Railroad was accessible to Texas. It went to Sedalia, Missouri, where they could sell Longhorn for a lot of money.
-Long Drive: Cowboys herded cattle along rail lines
-soon extended into Kansas
-Traveled in spring (graze on fresh grass)
-Cowboys stopped in saloons-> Wild West stories
-Most cowboys were African Americans and Latinos (most of them did not enjoy being farmhands on horseback who worked long, harsh hours for low pay).

related info about cattle boom:
-many animals grazed in the plains, but then in 1886 there was cold weather. Then drought the next summer. Many cattle died on the way to be sold. The cattle boom collapsed. It survived and became part of the national economy. The Long Drive was abandoned. Barbed wire (wood was expensive) let ppl fence in their land, making it easier for northern cattlemen to fence small areas and feed animals hay. Stockyards appeared along the railroad tracks. Cattle were transported to slaughterhouses (Chicago) for cheep beef in the east.

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