Who & what were
cattlemen and cowboys?
Cattlemen owned large herds of cattle, they employed cowboys to look after and
manage their herds.
Cattlemen bred cattle in the Southern states like Texas. The cattle roamed free
on the Open Range (land without fences where cattle could eat freely).
The
cowboys drove the herds north to sell at markets. After the railroads arrived at
Cowtowns (like Abilene, Dodge City, Kansas City) the cattle could be transported
to the cities and sold for a higher price.
Cowboys
were young men, often former soldier or slaves who were out for a life of
adventure. Mainly they guarded the herds of cattle.
The
Indians made life hard for Cattlemen and Cowboys, often stealing cattle and
ambushing the droves north to market. As a result cattlemen started to build
ranches, meaning shorter trails to the railroads or to markets. The cattlemen
settled to breed their herds. Later difficulties became about ownership of land
and cattle made life tedious.
By 1887
the price of beef in the cities was falling due to lots of supply of cattle.
Several years of hard winters forced cattlemen to go bankrupt.
The Open Range was fenced off and
smaller ranches took their place. Cowboys then worked repairing fences and
feeding cattle.
