The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916 Page: 391
452 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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History of the Cattle Industry in the Southwest
Following the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway,
adventurers rushed Into the northern states. Young men from
the East, some of good families, who could command a, few thou-
sand dollars; Englishmen and Scotchmen with small and large
capital, and also with no capital, came into the field. Profits fre-
quently ran to fifty per cent per annum and adventurers paid two
and three per cent per month interest to eastern capitalists. The
year 1881-1882 was known as the cattle boom year.1 Such con-
ditions could not continue indefinitely, and the profits fell as
other forces, to be discussed later, limited the industry.
The interest of the United States government in cattle-raising
and other animal industries was manifested by the establishment
of a Bureau of Animal Industry, which began issuing reports in
1884. These reports dealt with many phases of this work, but
gradually narrowed down to the scientific phase.
III. TRANSPORTATION.
The consumer lived far from the ranches where the beeves were
produced. The success of the cattle industry depended upon the
solution of the problem of adequate transportation. The long
drive was the first method used. Although it was not generally
believed in 1860 that Texan cattle could be driven successfully in
herds, it was proved before 1870.
The proprietor of the ranch sometimes drove his cattle to
market, but usually the drover was a speculator who purchased
large herds and drove them to market. Ten or twelve cowboys
were required to drive a herd of two thousand cattle. Large
herds cost less per head to drive, but unless the trail was flanked
by excellent, broad pastures, the advance herd exhausted the food
supply and those in the rear went hungry.
After the ranchman had "rounded up" and "cut out" the ani-
mals to be sold, as a safeguard against arrest for theft he gave
the drover a bill of sale which identified the ranch brand and the
ear-marks of the animals. As a herd composed of cattle from
several ranches was restless, the drive was begun promptly after
all the cattle were brought in. The daily rate of travel was
twenty-five or thirty miles for the first three or four days. The
1Aldridge, Reginald, "Life on a Ranch," Nation, Vol. 39, p. 293.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916, periodical, 1916; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101067/m1/418/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.