Who were the real cowboys? (Part 5)

Life on the cattle trail in the late 19th century was often monotonous and boring, however, there were also times that were quite exciting and dangerous. Chief among the many dangers that the cowboys had to face on a regular basis were Indians, thieves and stampedes.

Cowboys 'n' Indians

Indian raids were certainly among the most prominent concerns of the 19th century cowboy. The image portrayed to us by fictional westerns of Indians swooping down from nearby mesas and hill-tops, killing everyone in their path is only partially true in terms of devastation, although it was usually far less dramatic than portrayed by the movies. Some trails, such as the Chisholm trail, that ran from Texas to Kansas followed a route through Indian Territory, or the modern day Oklahoma. Cowboys who drove their cattle down these trails ran the great risk of Indian attack. Rather than always brutally attack the driving parties, Indians would also take to other tactics to try to dissuade cowboys from driving their cattle through their territory. Often times the Indians were the cause behind other such trail calamities such as stealing cattle or even worse: causing a stampede.

Different brand types

Of course the Indians were not the only cattle thieves on the trail. White, black and Mexican bandits were also responsible for cyphering cattle from herds being driven on any trail. Theft of cattle indeed was such a problem that the practice of branding the cattle became commonplace amongst cowboys and ranchers alike. The symbol branded on the cattle varied based on which ranch the cattle came from. Designs for symbols ranged from elegant to very simple — often times just the initials of the owner of the ranch the cattle were originally from. Branding the cattle also made it far easier to recover cattle who sometimes ran great distances during a stampede by allowing the cowboys to distinguish them from either wild cattle or another rancher’s cattle in the event that they should mix with other cattle.

A Stampeded Herd

Stampedes were another major concern of the cowboys. During a stampede, the cattle would run en masse, which not only made them difficult to round up again after the stampede had ended, but also presented a grave danger to the personal safety of the cowboys themselves. A stampede could easily be triggered by even the slightest thing. A single cow could step on a twig causing it to snap, the cow would panic and run, not knowing what made the noise. The other cows would quickly follow suit, assuming that if that cow had been frightened by something, they do not want to deal with it. A cowboy in the way of a stampeding herd was in terrible danger as the panicked herd would not stop or even bother to go around the cowboy — even if the cowboy was mounted on his horse. If all was well and no one had been maimed or killed by the stampede, the cowboys would then have to round up all of the cattle which could take several days.

As full of danger and excitement as the cattle drive might have been, it was indeed a short-lived phenomenon. By the 1890’s — only about 30 years after the first large drives began — most of the open range had all but disappeared and the cattle drive was suffocated by the quickly encroaching ranches. Ranchers began using barbed wire to mark their property and to prevent large herds from being driven through them. Another chapter of American history had closed.

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Who were the real cowboys? (Part 4)

In the late 19th century, the combination of high demand for beef in the eastern United States and the lack of railroads or really any kind of infrastructure in the west was the cause for a unique phenomenon west. The western ranchers in states such as Texas and Wyoming needed to find a way to bring their cattle to the eastern markets. The best way was the cattle drive.

The first large cattle drive took place in 1866. A rancher in Texas and a group of hired cowhands attempted to drive a large herd of cattle with several thousand head from the ranch in Texas to the nearest railroad point in Sedalia, Missouri. The goal was to then ship the cattle by railroad to meat packing plants in Chicago and other eastern cities, however, because Missouri was already “settled” state, the Missourians objected to the large herd being driven through their farms and towns. The drive was not successful. The rancher was forced to sell his cattle at a loss and return to Texas.

The next year saw a new railroad head open in Abilene, Kansas. Texas ranchers took the first drive as an example and chose to drive their cattle to Abilene instead. This time they were successful. A total of about 36,000 head of cattle were driven to Abilene in 1867 and the trail they took from Texas to Abilene would eventually come to be known as the Chisholm Trail. In following years the trail was expanded to reach another new railroad head in Dodge City, Kansas to accommodate the escalating number of cattle making their way to Abilene and Dodge City. In 1877, 500,000 head of cattle were driven to Abilene and Dodge City.

For cowboys, life on the cattle trail was often brutal. They had no shelter other than what their hats could provide and the food they had to eat was often marginal at best. A quote from James H. Cook sums up the cowboys’ life on the trail:

On the trail we were each allowed to take a pair of bed blankets and a sack containing a little extra clothing…We had no tents or shelter of any sort other than our blankets.

On a drive, cowboys would spend everyday for two months in the saddle and would often drive a herd of about 3,000 head of cattle as far as 15 to 20 miles a day. A drive team would generally consist of ten cowboys — one of which was usually the rancher and in charge, a cook with a chuckwagon and a horse wrangler, who looked after the remuda, or spare horses. Each cowboy would need at least three horses. The younger and less experienced cowboys were generally made to ride behind the herd where the most dust would be kicked up.

While on the trail, the cook was considered king. While he may not have been necessarily in charge, only the dumbest of cowboys would do anything to irritate him. As the title implies, the cook was in charge of the food and cooking, however, he generally also had a basic knowledge of medicine and was in charge of the chuckwagon. The chuckwagon hauled supplies for the cowboys such as food, an extra change of clothes, bedrolls, tools that could not be carried on the horse such as shovels, and anything else needed by the team. Chuckwagons were usually pulled by a team of oxen contradictory to how most are depicted today.

Life on the trail was often boring, but there were times it could also be quite exciting and even dangerous. Cowboys were constantly faced with many dangers on the trail that several didn’t survive.

Part 5

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