Texas Cattle Drives Essay, Research Paper

Cattle drives are the stuff of legend. From 1866 to 1890, the heyday of cattle trails saw what was then an enormous amount of traffic. More than one and a half million Texas cattle were essentially “walked to market,” even after the railroads were built.

Drovers usually were hired contractors who would drive the herds along for about six weeks, grazing on available grassland along the way. The cowboys were as young as 12 and not much older than 18, who would ride ahead, alongside and trailing a herd of as many as 3,000 cattle.

Commanded by trail bosses and supported by cooks and horse wranglers, the group enjoyed very little in the way of glamour, but much in the way of hardship. Monthly wages would run about $40 for experienced cowboys, up to $75 for cooks, to more than $100 monthly for the trail bosses. (from The New Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. 1996)

By the late 1880’s, barbed wire fencing tamed much of the wide open West, blocking trails and eventually leading cattle to the train and stockyards. Modern feedyards of today care for cattle until they are ready for market — and today’s market is something no cowboy of a hundred years ago could have imagined. Take a look at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange which began 100 years ago, selling butter and eggs. For a view from the trading floor, learn how to read those mysterious hand signals used by traders.