When the Spanish settled Mexico and Texas, they brought a tough breed of cattle with them. Called longhorns because of their prominent horns, these cattle gradually spread across Texas. At this time, much of Texas was open range, not fenced or divided into lots. Huge ranches covered other areas of the state. Ranchers added to their own herds by rounding up wild cattle. The ranchers burned a brand, or symbol, into the animals’ hides to show who owned the cattle.

Although Texas ranchers had plenty of cattle, the markets for beef were in the North and the East. In 1866 the Missouri Pacific Railroad reached Missouri, and Texas cattle suddenly increased in value. The cattle could be loaded onto trains in Missouri for shipment north and east. Some Texans drove their combined herds, sometimes 260,000 head of cattle, north to Sedalia, Missouri, the nearest rail point. Longhorns that had formerly been worth $3 each quickly rose in value to $40. Cattle drives to cow towns. towns located near railroads to market and ship cattle, turned into a yearly event. Over the next decade, cow towns such as Abilene, Wichita, Ellsworth, and Dodge City in Kansas, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, became important rail stations.

The sudden increase in the longhorns’ value set off what became known as the Long Drive, the herding of cattle 1,000 miles or more to meet the railroads. The drives left Texas in the spring, when there was enough grass along the way to feed the cattle. The longhorns had to remain well fed because underweight cattle could not be sold. In 1867, Joseph McCoy used a path known as Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene, Kansas. Named after trade Jesse Chisholm, the trail went north from central Texas north through Wichita to Abilene, a stop on the Kansas Pacific Railroad founded by McCoy. The Texas cowboys drove the cattle the entire distance, 1500 miles. Along the way, the cattle enjoyed all the grass they wanted, at no cost to the ranchers. At Abilene, and other railhead towns such as Dodge City and Ellsworth, the cattle would be sold, and the cowboys would return to Texas.

The Goodnight-Loving Trail, named for ranchers Charlie Goodnight and Oliver Loving, swung west through the New Mexico Territory and then turned north. During the heyday of the “Cattle Kingdom,” from the late 1860s to the mid-1880s, the trails carried more than five million cattle north.

The cattle drives and the cowhands who worked on them captured the imagination of the nation. Cattle driving, however, was hard work. Cowhands rode in the saddle up to 15 hours every day, in driving rain, dust storms, and blazing sun. Life on the trial was lonely too. Cowhands saw few outsiders. Many cowhands were veterans of the Confederate army. Some were African Americans who moved west in search of a better life after the Civil War. Others were Hispanics. In fact, the traditions of cattle herding began with Hispanic ranch hands in the Spanish Southwest. These vaqueros developed many of the skills, such as riding, roping, and branding, that cowhands used on the drives. Much of the language of the rancher today is derived from Spanish words used by vaqueros for centuries.

The cowhand’s equipment was based on the vaquero’s equipment too. Cowhands wore wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun and leather leggings, called chaps, to shield their legs from brush and mishaps with cattle. They used ropes called lariats to lasso cattle that strayed from the herd. During the months on the trail the cowhands faced violent storms, “rustlers” who tried to steal cattle, and many other dangers. They had to drive the herds across swift flowing rivers, where cattle could be lost. One of the greatest dangers on the trail was the stampede, when thousands of cattle ran in panic. Any sudden sound—a roar of thunder or the crack of a gunshot—could set off the cattle. The cowhands had to race on horseback with the stampeding cattle and bring them under control.

African American, Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo cowhands all met and worked together. Yet, discrimination existed in the West just as it did elsewhere in the nation. Members of minorities rarely became trail bosses and often received less pay for their work. Some towns discriminated against Hispanics, segregated African Americans, and excluded Chinese cowhands altogether. After many tiring weeks on the trail, the cowhands delivered their cattle and enjoyed some time off in cow towns. Cowhands drank and gambled and got involved in fistfights and gunplay. Some towns, such as Dodge City and Abilene, were rowdy, lawless, and often violent. Eventually, though, they grew into settled, businesslike communities.

As profits from cattle increased, cattle ranching spread north from Texas. On the northern Plains, ranchers crossbred the longhorns with fatter Hereford and Angus cattle to produce hardy and plumper new breeds. On the northern Plains, ranching began to replace the Long Drive. The sturdy crossbred cattle multiplied on open-range ranches. When cattle prices “boomed” in the early 1880s, ranchers became rich. The boom, however, was soon followed by a bust.

Overgrazing depleted the grasslands. In addition, too many cattle glutted the beef market and prices fell. The bitterly cold winters of 1885 and 1886 killed large numbers of cattle. The price collapse of the mid-1880s marked the end of the “Cattle Kingdom.” Ranchers built fences and grew hay to feed their cattle during the harsh winters. Another type of life would rise on the Plains—farming.