Vic Kovacs - A Cowboys Life

Cowboys played a key role in the cattle trade, which was important to the growth of many cities in the United States.

The Rise of the Cattle Industry

T he cattle industry in America has a long history, dating all the way back to the late 1400s. The first Europeans to come to America brought along herds of longhorn cattle. These early herds were added to over the next two hundred years, first by Spanish settlers, then by Portuguese traders, and finally in large numbers by English immigrants. Cattle herds first began to move west with Spanish missionaries, who settled in western North America and built their missions. The westward spread of cattle really took off after the American Revolution, when more Americans began moving further and further west in North America. Until the mid-nineteenth century, North American cattle were bred mostly for their milk and their hides. They were not generally raised for beef because wild game was plentiful.

Fact Check TRUTH OR MYTH?

MYTH: Cowboys rode alone.

TRUTH OR MYTH? This is a myth. On the trail cowboys worked together as a crew. One reason is that the sheer number of cattle they were driving would have been impossible for just one cowboy to control. Another is that the trail was full of dangers, such as cattle rustlers, and a single cowboy would have been very easily outnumbered in a fight.

By the time Texas became independent from Mexico in 1836, cattle ranches were common all across the west. In Texas, the departing Mexicans often left their herds, which American farmers were quick to claim. By the end of the Civil War in 1865, beef was beginning to become more popular, and as a result cattle prices were on the rise, especially in the Northern states. This helped Southern states to rebuild their shattered postwar economy, but there was still one problem: how to get the cattle from the southernmost parts of the country to the northernmost. This is how cattle drives in the Wild West began.

Joseph McCoy and the Chisolm Trail