Stephanie Bearce - Top Secret Files: The Wild West

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bearce, Stephanie, author.

Top secret files : the wild west / by Stephanie Bearce.

1 online resource.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN 978-1-61821-462-1 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-61821-463-8 (PDF)

ISBN 978-1-61821-512-3 (ePub)

1. West (U.S.)--History--Juvenile literature. 2. Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.)--Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Title: Wild west.

F591

978--dc23

2015032979

Copyright 2016 Prufrock Press Inc.

Edited by Lacy Compton

Cover and layout design by Raquel Trevino

ISBN-13: 978-1-61821-512-3

No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

At the time of this books publication, all facts and figures cited are the most current available. All telephone numbers, addresses, and website URLs are accurate and active. All publications, organizations, websites, and other resources exist as described in the book, and all have been verified. The author and Prufrock Press Inc. make no warranty or guarantee concerning the information and materials given out by organizations or content found at websites, and we are not responsible for any changes that occur after this books publication. If you find an error, please contact Prufrock Press Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VAQUEROS TO COWBOYS

Imagine looking out across the Texas prairie and seeing hundreds of longhorn cattle roaming the plainsall free for the taking. Hundreds, thousands of cattle just wandering the grasslands, getting nice and fat on nutritious green grass. If a person could figure out how to round them up and get them to market, they would be worth a fortune.

Spanish settlers brought thousands of head of cattle to New Mexico in 1598. The cattle roamed the open range and because there were no fences, some of the cattle eventually wandered off from the larger herds. Over the next 400 years, the cows had calves and the numbers of wild cattle increased into the thousands.

Vaqueros were hired by wealthy Mexican caballeros (gentlemen) to round up the cattle and herd them hundreds of miles from the ranges of Texas and New Mexico to the market in Mexico City.

The vaqueros had to be skilled horsemen. They knew how to ride fast to race down a wandering steer. They swung braided rope lariats in the air and caught wandering cattle in their noose. With their wide-brimmed sombreros, leather chaps, and jangling spurs, to be a vaquero was a respected profession. It required skill and training. It also required physical strength and agility, brains, and common sense.

In 1821, the first Anglo settlers arrived in Texas. It must have seemed like winning the lottery to these peoplethey came to settle the land and found it populated with thousands of cattle free for the taking. The English-speaking men quickly learned from the vaqueros. Some of the Texas ranchers hired the vaqueros to help round up cattle. The Texans called their cattle handlers cowboys. They wore the same wide sombreros and leather chaps. They learned to rope, tie, and wrestle the cattle just like the vaqueros.

By the time the Civil War started in 1861, there was a flourishing cattle trade supplying meat to other parts of the United States. But just as the Civil War tore the country apart, it also hurt the cattle ranches. Cowboys rode off to join the war and the cattle roamed untended for the next 4 years.

At the end of the Civil War, the Texas cowboys and ranchers came home to find their prairies once again overpopulated with longhorn cattle. Cattle in Texas sold for only $2 per head. But in the eastern and northern United States there was a shortage of meat. In the North, one cow was worth $30!

Ranchers hired cowboys to round up the cattle and drive them north from Texas to the railroad towns in Kansas. They put the cattle in livestock cars and shipped them to the meat-hungry people in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other Eastern states. Even with the cost of paying the cowboys and railcars, the ranchers still made huge profits. From 1865 through the 1880s, more than 10 million cattle were herded by cowboys to the Kansas rails. It was the same thing the Vaqueros had done years before, except the cattle were driven north instead of south.

One of the most popular routes was the Chisholm Trail that went from San Antonio, TX, to Abilene, KS. Other rail towns were Ellsworth, Junction City, Newton, and Wichita, KS. Other routes like the Goodnight-Loving Trail ended in Colorado, where ranchers sold cattle to miners and the military.

A typical cattle drive had 3,000 head of cattle and was managed by 11 cowboys. Most of the cowboys were between the ages of 12 and 18. These teenagers learned the skills of herding and roping on the job and were paid about $30 a month.

Trail bosses were cowboys who had experience, but they were also young men. Most of them were just in their twenties. Trail bosses had to manage all of the younger cowboys, or waddies as the trail bosses called them. Trail bosses were also expected to locate water and good grass for the cattle on the trail, handle the money, purchase supplies, pay tolls, and keep an eye out for predators. A trail boss was often paid $100 a month. The average worker earned $15 per month in 1866. Cooks were almost as important as the trail bosses. They earned $75 per month for keeping the cowboys riding on a full stomach.

Riding the trail was sometimes just plain boring. The cattle walked in a line munching grass as they walked. The cowboys didnt hurry them, because the more they ate, the more weight they gained and cattle were sold by the pound. Most cattle gained weight eating their way to market. It could take anywhere from 25 to 100 days to herd the cattle to town.

The idea of cowboys galloping along shooting guns is actually just a myth shown in movies and on television. The young cowboys were not allowed to carry guns while they were on the trail. Firearms were kept under the watchful eye of the cook and stored in the chuck wagon. The trail boss carried a gun to protect the cattle against wild animals and very rarely to warn off rustlers.

Once the cowboys reached the rail yards and the cattle were loaded, they received their pay. The temptation to spend their money in town was huge. There were saloons, gambling, and pretty girls to squander their money on. Smart cowboys saved most of their pay. They knew they wouldnt get paid again until they had ridden home and then done another trail ride. It was a seasonal job because they couldnt move the cattle in bad weather. Many young cowboys finished the trail ride and went back home to work on the family farm or attend school. For some, it was the adventure of a lifetime. For others, it was the start of their career as a cowboy.