Words of Wisdom from SharLeigh
CATTLE DRIVES USHER IN
A NEW AMERICAN ERA
The end of the American Civil War ushered in the era of the Wild West cowboys. After the war there was a great demand for beef. Since the supply of eastern beef had been depleted, the nation looked towards the southwest for beef. An estimated 5 million longhorn cattle were roaming wild in Texas, but there was no railhead there to transport them. To overcome this problem, Joseph G. McCoy built stockyards at the railhead in Abilene, Kansas, and then encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to them. The ranchers began hiring young boys to round up the longhorns, brand them, and get them ready for the long cattle drive. These young boys, who were on average 14 to 18 years old, became the famous cowboys of the Wild West. The cowboys worked from sunup to sundown and only stopped to change horses. After a bland dinner of beans, biscuits and black coffee, most of them went to sleep, using their saddle as a pillow. The rest of the cowboys took turns watching the herd. There was nothing romantic about the cowboys – their life on the trail was filled with broken bones, snake bites and stampedes, not to mention bad weather, dangerous river crossings, saddle sores and poor pay! The herd was spread out over 2 miles and moved about 10 miles a day along the Chisholm Trail. The trail started in Southern Texas (south of San Antonio) and made its way north to Abilene, Kansas. The journey took about 100 days. At the end of the trail, the cowboys would get their pay and hit Abilene for a few days of wicked diversion. After that, they made the 1,000 mile ride back to Texas for the next drive. The first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail took place in 1867 – the last one was in 1887. The era of the cowboy was short lived, but the legend and lore of the American Wild West still lives on today!