What were the effects of the Cattle Trails/Drives?
Western cattle trail drives provided beef to the growing urban population after the Civil War. It also provided a source of ready money for part of Texas, and for Indian tribes along the route who collected fees for use of their range. The towns at the end of the line as the railroads were extended west got a start as cattle buyers would buy the herds for transshipment. With the growth of Fort Worth after the railroad net to the Midwestern cities were completed, long drives were abandoned. Cattle drives were familiar in England and continued in the United States. “Watered stock” originated as a term covering cattle who were fed salt and watered in what is now Central Park so they would look fatter for the NYC butchers who bought them.
