The End of the Cattle Drives

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The End of the Cattle Drives
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How the Railroads Ended the Cattle Drives
The coming of the railroads caused a revolution
in the cattle industry. As the rails stretched
across the plains, the reason for cattle drives
to get the cattle to distant railheads for
shipment faded away. The passing of the cattle
drive was beneficial to the better breeds of
cattle that were being introduced into the Texas
herds, because they were not as suited to the
long drives as were the longhorns.
A trail drive on the Matador Range of Texas,
around 1910. Even long after the era of the great
cattle drives, short drives like this one to the
railhead at Lubbock, Texas, remained a part of
cowboy life. Photographed by Irwin E. Smith.
Looking down from a high point on Matador
longhorns grazing. Shoe Bar Ranch, Texas, 1912
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The height of the Cattle Drive Era in Texas was
from about 1867 to 1884.
Compare the maps of Railroads in the United
States. Using these maps, what conclusions can
you come up with to explain one of the major
causes of the end of Cattle Drives? What cities
in Texas would ranchers in South Texas and the
Panhandle be driving their cattle to in the 1890
map?
1890
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The Coming of Barbed Wire
Barbed came into widespread use during the late
1870s. With the use of barbed wire came the end
of driving cattle through Texas and the Midwest.
Throughout history, people have used available
materials to build fences. In the west the most
common building materials were stone or wood.
One example of the rail fences used before barbed
wire was invented. These fences were not widely
used in the Plains where the vast expanse of land
and the lack of trees made the rail fence less
than practical.
Smooth wire fences were used in the 1870s but
they didnt stop the cattle.
Barbed wire fences could be laid much easier
across broader areas of land. They also use a lot
less wood than the rail fences.
Rock fence popular in the Hill Country
Joseph Glidden was an Illinois farmer first
credited with the invention of barbed wire. He
first patented the devils rope in November of
1874 to keep stray dogs out of his wifes flower
garden.
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The Fence Wars
The cattlemen who were determined to improve the
quality of their herds soon strung miles of
barbed wire. In fact, they often fenced not only
land that they owned or leased, but also public
land that was supposed to be open to all. In
their desperate grab for range land, some cattle
raisers even fenced off small farms and ranches
belonging to others. In some places, fences
blocked public roads. Farmers fenced their land
to keep the cattle out of their crops and away
from their precious water sources. Meanwhile,
ranchers who still believed in free grasslands
were infuriated to find fences blocking their
access to pasturage and water for their animals.
Fence-cutting became common, in some areas
reaching the dimensions of a full-scale war. In
1883, in land stretching across three Texas
counties, 75 miles of fence was destroyed in a
single night. In some areas, tempers ran so hot
that gunfire erupted and lives were lost. Texas
politicians tried to ignore the problem, but
finally in January 1884, Gov. John Ireland and
the Texas Legislature made fence-cutting a felony
punishable by one to five years in prison. Fences
across public lands were ordered removed within
six months. The Fence Wars had ended.
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Windmills and Water
Improvement of beef herds began in earnest when
windmills came to West Central Texas. The
transcontinental railroads first brought
windmills to the Texas plains to provide water
for their engines and crews in the early 1870s.
When ranchers were able to fence and cross-fence
their lands into different pastures, they were
able to control breeding, the first requirement
for improving herd quality. With a well and a
windmill in each pasture, they no longer needed
direct access to a stream to provide water for
their cattle. Ranchers could have separate summer
and winter pastures, bull pastures, and pastures
restricted to blooded stock. With the protection
of the land with wire and exploitation of the
underground water supply with windmills, more
high-quality animals were imported. By the 1890s,
shorthorns and Herefords were dominant.
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How Windmills Work
Many people see windmills spinning in the
distance, but how do they work? The windmill head
is a gear box that strokes a rod in the well to
pump water with a windmill cylinder. Each time
the wheel turns, the gears move the rod up and
down to pump the water from the bottom of the
well to the surface where the livestock can
benefit from it. The tail on the windmill keeps
the wheel positioned into the wind so that it
gets the proper power to pump water. The water
is then poured into a cistern (holding tank) that
makes the water available for use.
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Credits

• Most of the information in this presentation was
  taken from the article listed below
• Ramos, Mary G. Selections from Railroads,
  Windmills and Barbed Wire. Texas Almanac.
• http//www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/ra
  ilroads/.
• (These selections are part of one chapter of a
  larger history of West Central Texas published in
  the 19901991 Texas Almanac. It explains how the
  convergence of railroads, windmills, and barbed
  wire in that region in the late 1800s forever
  changed the face of the Texas prairies and
  plains, as well as the complexion of the West
  Texas cattle industry.)