COWBOYS

CATTLE HERD AND DRIVE 1902

CATTLE DRIVE IN NEW MEXICO

The cattle barons made the money but the cowboys had to care for their wealth.

The cowboy was responsible for the well-being of the cattle all year round. They branded the calves, mend the fences, had to find the stray cattle and go to get them out of the rivers and bogs. They had to herd them together and take the young out. The herd had to go to the market. It was a life spends in the saddle as well as tedious, dangerous and dirty.

Definitely not the great life shown by Hollywood.

The real cowboys were mostly Mexicans, American Indian, Blacks or mixtures of all three. The language they spoke were more Spanish than English

The cowboys enjoyed herding the cattle to the rail-head. It could be anything up to three months. At the head of the trail rode the trail boss and he picked and chose to stop and where to camp. Next to the trail boss was the Chuck Wagon with the cook, food and equipment for the men. On either side of the herd, still at the front, were the leading point’s riders. The swing and flank riders were at the middle of the herd and kept it together. At the back, in all the dust, were the drag men. A wrangler's job was to look after the spare horses. It usually was a cowboy. Each cowboy had five or six horses because the work was tiring and they had to change often.

Trail driving was very dangerous. Since the weather was extremely hot, lightening and hailstorm appeared often. The danger was also in crossing the rivers and cattle were swept away. The cattle are a highly strung animal and therefore stampeding was quiet often. Then it took hours to round them up again. The wolves and other wild beasts were hoping for a good meal. The rustlers were only too happy to move in and cut some cattle out. The cowboys had troubles with settlers and Indian when cattle strayed onto their land. The cattle not only ate their crops but carried tick fever which could spread to their animals.

When the homesteader fenced their land and livestock in; a lot of trouble was saved.

In Texas the herds of Mexican Longhorn cattle which roamed there multiplied during the Civil War. In 1865 when the war ended they had about five million cattle. Of course, in Texas they would be worth anything but they herded north to the rail-heads. From there they were shipped east and sold ten times as much and with that the great 'beef bonanza' began.

Getting the cattle north was a hard job. A route had to found where there was plenty of grass, water and not to upset the local farmers. The men, who organised the operation from round to slaughterhouses, were the cattle barons. A famous cattle baron was Joseph McCoy, a Chicago livestock dealer. He made sure that the Kansas Pacific Railway was going through the frontier village of Abili. It was closed to the Civil War supply trail, know as the Chisholm Trail.

McCoy built a hotel, stockyard, office and a bank in Abilene. Later on branches went to the cow towns of Ellsworth and Dodge City. Other famous trails were the Goodnight-Loving to Cheyenne, the Western to Dodge and Ogallalla and the Shawnee to Kansas City.

The frontier moved move and more west and families headed for the new land. In 1850 when 55,000 settlers set off in wagon trains for the 'golden land in California. Another huge numbers of settlers went to the central plains to set up home on their own land. A Homestead Act was issued in 1862. This offered 65 hectares of land for $10 but they have to stay there for five years. Thousands of families went, first on wagon trails and later on the railways.

OREGON TRAIL 

The life on the trail was tough. Settlers travelled in Ox- or mule-drawn covered wagons. The wagon held the family and all its goods. When the convoy covered 20km, they called it a good day. However, they had to cross rivers, go around hills or had to mend wagons.

When they reached the promised land they realized that it wasn't great. They done the long journeys in summer and when they arrived winter came soon. They had to built shelter, mostly out of turf, dig wells, find food and clear the land for spring sowing. When the crop grew, they were faced with plagues of grasshopper and frequent fires.

However, they somehow managed to dig wells, fenced in land, built homes, churches, schools and slowly a community came together. They usual built near the railways or junction. Civilization got established again and the 'Wild West' got tamed. From 1900 it only existed in fictions.

The entire great main villain had a love for being photographed. One of the last great gangs 'The Wild Bunch' was pictured in 1901 with the Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy.

Buffalo Bill Cody who started the Wild West show began his career as a Pony Express rider. Later he became a buffalo hunter and an Indian scout in the Indian war. 1883 he started his show with a team of cowboys and Native Americans. He even brought his show to London and entertained Queen Victoria and family.

SITTING BULL AND BUFFALO BILL 

There is a bit a myth about pretty Annie Oakley. She was an unbelievable good shot and a star performer in the Wild West Show. However, she came from the east coast and only came to the West with the showTop of FormBottom of For

WILD WEST

AMERICAN COWBOY 1888

Hollywood had a field day and made thousands of films about the American frontier. Hard bleak landscape, hard looking guys living by their guns and the inevitable famous shoot-outs. However, that was Hollywood.

In 1783 thirteen colonies of America became independent. Appalachian Mountains symbolized the western frontier. Land up to the Mississippi was given by the government to any citizen or new immigrant, even when it was not theirs to give. In the following century the western frontier was extended to the pacific.

The pioneer Daniel Boone found a pass through the Appalachian and the settlers followed.  They created farms in the woodland, built settlements and towns.  They were established by 1819 on all the land between Appalachian and the Mississippi. They joined the Union as a member state.

HOMESTEADER  1865

HOMESTEAD

GOLD PROSPECTOR

The pioneer Daniel Boone found a pass through the Appalachians and the settlers went through. They were creating farms in the woodlands, built settlements and towns. They were established by 1819 on all the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi and joined the Union as a member state.

During this time the US purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. This land reached from Mississippi to the Rockies and the country was twice as large. The earlier settlers had to row across the river to reach the land. When the steamboats came onto the river, it became a highway. Texas and California became part of the US when Mexico lost the war.

In 1848 the discovery of gold led to a huge influx of prospectors and settlers in California. The so called 'Forty-Niners' (1849) came from all over the world. Then came the completion of the railways from coast to coast. This resulted in a westward expansion.

The established ranchers had huge herds of cattle on the open range of the Great Plains. In retrospect they could have used these huge herds of buffalo which were there anyway and the ranchers could have lived peacefully with the Indians. Apparently the buffalo has far less fat and is therefore healthier. But that means living peacefully with the neighbours and that would never do. However, history shows that the settlers wouldn't even live peacefully amongst each other.

The herds were driven to rail depots and transported to the slaughter houses in the East. That was the time when the period of the 'Wild West' started and lasted about 20 years. 1890 farmers fenced their land in but the lawlessness lasted well into the 20th century.

The greed of the human being could not be stopped. There was land, gold and cattle in abundance and yet people killed each other for that little bit more. Railroad builders, stagecoach companies, stores, bankers, saloons, bars, prostitutes and most properly the most profitable the undertakers all lived in harsh conditions were disease and violent death were all the time.

Prospectors fought to keep or get more gold, settlers fought to get more land, cowboys fought settlers, settlers fought Indians, gamblers fought gamblers and on top of all they all fought over the few women who dared to venture into the West.

Now and then the settlers stopped fighting and formed a posse to wipe out a gang of criminals who rustled cattle, robbed banks, trains and stagecoaches. When they caught a villain or innocent person they didn't ask two questions but strung him up on the next tree.

The so-called Lawmen, local sheriffs and federal government marshals were criminals themselves. Either they practiced crime in office or they realized that it pays better. Two famous lawmen were Judge Bean who made up the Law as he went along. Wyatt Earp and his brothers became famous with the gunfight in OK Corral. Earp survived. All three were lawmen but most properly robber and murderer. Gunning down men who held evidence against them.

Apparently being quick with your guns wasn't enough. To keep cool and aim straight was much better to stay alive. Wyatt Earp, Assistant Marshal in Dodge City was also known for knocking them senseless with the pistol barrel.

Billi the Kid had a huge reward for to be captures. His real name was William Bonney and he killed a man at the age of 18. He supposed to have killed 21 people by the age of 21. His gang were successful cattle rustlers. The famous lawman Pat Garrett shot Billy dead at the age of 22.

Keeping the law in a notorious cattle town like Abilene, the West's wildest town takes one of the toughest. 'Wild Bill' Hickok was of that. He himself reckoned that he killed 100 men. This reputation kept him in office for eight month. 1876 he was shot, in the back, while playing poker.

John Wesley Hardin was an unattractive villain. He killed 44 men and apparently killed a man in Abilene because he snored too loud. He escaped arrest from Marshal Hickok because he jumped out of the window in his nightshirt. Later on he also was murdered.

The famous Pony Express ran relays of young men before the railroads and transcontinental telegraph came in action. The men rode fast ponies between Missouri and California in 10 days. The posting of the job read, 'Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.'

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