How did the American cattle industry get started?
As a large-scale commercial operation, the beef cattle industry began in the years following the American Civil War (1861–65). In the 1860s, longhorn cattle, descended from cows and bulls left by early Spanish settlers, roamed the range in the West. Texas ranchers bred the longhorns with other breeds of cattle, such as Hereford and Angus, producing high-quality beef, which was in great demand in the Eastern states. Ranchers employed cowboys to round up, sort out, and drive herds of cattle to railroads in such towns as Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas, where the cattle were loaded live onto rail cars and shipped to butchers for slaughtering. These lawless, “cow towns” were full of saloons and brothels (house of prostitution), and after a long trail drive the cowboys were eager to waste their money on amusements. In 1890 cattle ranching changed…
