In this video we take you through the fascinating history of the Texas Cattle Drive, from it's birth just after the civil war to it's decline in the 1880's.
Really enjoyed the video!!! I grew up in the panhandle, northeast of Borger near the Canadian River. Worked on different ranches and was on a ranch near Sweetwater Texas for quiet awhile. Much oblige for the video on some old stomping grounds!! God Bless Always 👍
I’d like to thank the lockdown and my husband playing the Rawhide theme every morning to get our herd of Boston terriers outside for getting me interested in this aspect of History as well as Binge watching Rawhide to stay away from the news. That’s what I get for marrying a Texan. Thank You the video is very informative definitely would love to see more on this part of our history, which is factually overlooked mostly and romanticized.
I recently started watching reruns of those old 'Raw Hide' shows, so here I am suddenly interested in Cattle drives. Good video. People nowadays would like a return to a simple life, just as long as they can bring their smartphones with them.
I totally agree with ya! Thanks so much for the comment. Check out our new Substack at Texasgrit.Substack.com where we publish texas themed news, commentary, and short stories. It’s free and we’d love to have ya as a reader. We’ll start adding new videos here soon as well.
Very good and concise history of the relatively short trail drive era. It really took men with grit and determination to get from start to their ever changing destination. It would be an interesting follow-up to highlight the westward rail terminus of the era.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback! Checkout texasgrit.substack.com if ya get a chance. We post texas themed stories there every couple weeks.
I live in Bandera and am a part of Cowboys on Main, which does gun fight reenactments and shares a lot of history of the Western cattle trail with many of the tourists that come to the area year-round. Would be interested in connecting with you if you share the same interests and would like to connect, let me know by responding to this post. I enjoy the video.
Do you happen to have any information regarding the Three D aka Waggoner ranch during this time period (1870s-1900)? My 2nd Great Grandfather, Jimmy Roberts was a foreman for the Waggoners and had been an on again off again hand for them. I know he arrived at age 17 at the Waggoner headquarters in 1870 and was hired on as a peeler. The last account Im aware of Jimmy working for Waggoner is a news paper article dated 1895 when Jimmy was the trail boss taking 120,000 cattle up into north west Oklahoma, just east of the Oklahoma panhandle. I'm always surprised at where new information about him will pop up so thats why Im asking . Great video by the way! Keep them coming.
Jason - thanks for the question and comment. We don’t currently have any other info on the three D ranch but now you’ve got us interested in digging in on this and perhaps doing a video on it. Thanks for the info and insight on this.
Sun Set That sun still sets in the west But that old trail is asphalt now Baked by the sun hot and dry The sounds of hoofs have passed Herds of buffalo graze no more Barbwire strung along The fence post passed like a picket fence As the truck tires whine on The sweetgrass has all but gone The mesquite is tall and thick Prickly Pear covers the prairie The Longhorns have gone A saddle all covered in dust The moth-riddled blanket flaps Riding quirt amiss Old spurs hung on a wall On a post hangs a leather belt With a holster cracked and rotting That old hogleg turned brown Brass all green The lassoing cowboy is no more That broad hat tipped back His shirt sleeves rolled high Jeans rolled double His hair thinned and gray High cheekbones darken Bull hide tough Hand scars a many With eyes squinting A straw chair leaned back Daydreaming No more round ups That last ride was long ago With a rolled cigarette on his lip His words in a low key That sun still sets in the west Barry 4/3/2023
Folks usually focus on the Texas overland trails and don’t even show the other half dozen historic trails or the actual destination points. Let alone the receiving of the cattle or market dynamics.
amazing trails followed in Spain by Spanish cowboys (and cowgirls) moving cattle: ancient Roman roads 2000 years old: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5XxSFNl4jC0.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YBM-p0uNxk0.html
Thanks for the comment. We did have a few narration errors we need to fix. Great point on dodge city - we’ve been looking at doing another video diving deeper into cowboy life in specific towns etc.
Our American cultural "Western Frontier" image has been badly distorted by Hollywood's over representation of the post-Civil War "Cowboy Era". Cowboys and cattle drives came near the end of the Western Frontier, after 1866, and were not all that significant in frontier settlement to be perfectly candid. Far more important to frontier settlement were the trail blazing Fur Trappers / Mountain Men, who established the main routes, and the gold / silver prospectors adding branches off the earlier routes in a relentless pursuit of the next "Big Bonanza". These routes and trails were followed by wagon trains, freight wagons and stage routes, as mining camps and towns sprang up around the "Bonanza Strikes". Cow Towns such as Dodge City, Ellsworth and Abilene were not 1/10th as dangerous or violent as mining camps in Nevada Territory, Montana Territory, or Dakota Territory. Mining camps and towns such as Alder Gulch, Virginia City, Deadwood, Placerville(Hangtown), and Tombstone. The typical frontiersman 1803-1849 would have been the Mountain Man, from 1849-1879 the gold prospector, and 1879-1900 the homesteaders. Thrown into that mix, 1849-1900 would have been wagon trains, freight haulers, stage coach men, and merchants as towns were established. Post-Civil War would have added the railroad men and builders, buffalo hunters, scouts and cowboys. The cowboys were part of the Western Frontier, but the Western Frontier was a HELL of a lot more interesting than just "cowboys", and it is high time everyone and Hollywood realize that.
Thanks for your comments and your historical perspective regarding those other trailblazers who weren’t “cowboys.” Perhaps you should start a channel about the amazing fur trappers and homesteaders. It will be awesome and we’d love to see it. Here, we’ll continue to celebrate the great state of texas and the history and legends that make this such a special place to be.
@@texasgrit9288 I like Texas, and travel thru quite often. Will be semi-retiring early next year. One of my first fun trips will be to base at Van Horn; then hit Big Bend NP for a few days, followed by Guadalupe Mtns NP! Greetings from Tennessee, near Limestone, where Davy Crockett was born. Grew up in the Clinch Mountains of Virginia. Just North of there is Wytheville, Virginia where Steven Austin was born, and Hillsville, Virginia where Sam Houston was born. A strong "family" connection to Texas. I often get asked, "What part of Texas are you from"? Get a lot of surprised looks when I say "Virginia, not Texas, but you know Texas was settled by Virginians and Tennesseans, so they ought to sound like us!". Best wishes and I hope to soon have time to create some history videos.
That’s awesome! We love our Tennessee brethren - Sam Houston immediately jumps to mind. Enjoy your retirement and we’d love to see ya in texas - let’s grab a cold beer when ya get here!
@@texasgrit9288 That would be nice. I really like the way you've put this video together, and I've got a big learning curve ahead of me learning to produce and edit videos. If I managed to achieve 1/10th the polish and professionalism you demonstrate on this video, I'd be happy! Best wishes, and keep up the good work.
Hello, and help me out. Why were cattle raised in southern Texas and why weren't there local ranches to supply the product. Seems like months of travel would make those cattle pretty tough.
Great question Bryan. As I understand it from the 1860’s until the early 1890’s we had a massive amount of supply of longhorn beef and the rest of the country wanted access to that beef. It wasn’t until the 1890’s where large cattle ranches in Kansas began to crop up which helped to kill the texas cattle drives. There’s a great paper on this subject called “raising beef in the 1890’s” at jstor.com.
