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The Growth of the Cattle Industry

The Growth of the Cattle Industry. Chapter 13 Section 2. I The Cattle Industry Becomes Big Business A. The First Cowboys. Horses and cattle introduced by the Spanish Spanish settlers used horses for work & Longhorn for food

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The Growth of the Cattle Industry

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  1. The Growth of the Cattle Industry Chapter 13 Section 2

  2. I The Cattle Industry Becomes Big BusinessA. The First Cowboys • Horses and cattle introduced by the Spanish • Spanish settlers used horses for work & Longhorn for food • Longhorn flourished in Mexican plains  Spanish employing Aztec prisoners as vaqueros AKA cowboys • As herds grew  vaqueros learned to use horses to manage the herds • These first cowboys became expert riders and skilled at the use of la reata • La reata = the lariat (laso)

  3. Ranchers & vaqueros travel north to provide food for silver miners • Eventually teach Pueblo Indians how to ride & rope • Others cross the Rio Grande and settle in Texas & Great Plains • Over yrs. Cattle and horses escaped and flourished in US as they had in Mexico

  4. B. Influence of Mexican Culture • American cowboy culture stems directly from Spanish ranchers in Mexico • Amer. Learned how to manage herds on open range from their Mexican neighbors • American cowboy clothes, food, & vocab influence by Mexican Cowboys • Mexican vaquero first to use spurs • Chaparreras = leather overalls AKA Chaps • Charqui= dried strips of meat AKA Jerky • Caballo Bronco = “rough horse” AKA Bronco

  5. Amer. Cowboy adopts and adds to vaquero way of life • Bandanna such a staple that it was requested to be official flag of open range • Six-shooter = gun that could fire 6 shots w/o reloading • Came to symbolize cowboy & the entire Old West

  6. C. The Importance of the Railroad & City Dwellers Demand More Beef • Cowboys were not successful until the RR reached the west • Pre Civil War cowboys rarley left homesteads and sold to local markets • After civil war cities grew and so did demand for beef • Cowboys could ship their cattle on RR from Mizzou to the east  blockade from farmers • McCoy (Illinois) purchases land and build RR  ranchers hiring cowboys to drive their cattle to Albien (RR station)

  7. II The Truth about Cowboys • Cowboy owned his saddle but horse belonged to his boss • Prob never shot anyone as they as portrayed in movies to conduct “hold ups” • Cowboy season begins w/ roundup  rode in open range and round up as many longhorns as they could into a coral • Branded the longhorn that was theirs • Trail boss then chose a crew for the long drive • Drive to RR tracks in Abilene

  8. IV The End of the Cattle Frontier • Natural disasters contributed to the end of the cattle frontier • Overgrazing destroyed the plains • Drought caused land to dry up grasslands and turn it into a desert • Invention of barbed wire also contributed to the end of the cattle frontier • Ranchers turned to high-grade stock that yielded more meat than free grazing longhorn • Ranchers fenced in land w/ barbed wire to keep cattle from straying  the end of wide open west

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