The Texas Cattle Kingdom

After the Civil War, the Texas ranching industry grew.

Vocabulary

• Open range: grassy plains• Brand: a design burned into the hide of a

cow• Line Rider: a cowhand who rides up and

down the borders of a ranch to watch the cattle

• Roundup: when cowhands from different ranches drive all the cattle they find into one area

• Vaquero: a cowboy

The Open Range

The Open Range

• Spanish explorers brought a lean type of cattle when they first came to Mexico back in the 1500s.

The Open Range

• During the 1820s, Anglo American settlers brought cattle into Texas.– The cattle weighed more

than the Spanish explorers‘ cattle.

The Open Range

• Vaqueros began to crossbreed the two types of cattle.

Lean cattle + Fatter cattle= Texas longhorn

+ =

The Open Range

• The new breed was known as the Texas longhorn.

The Open Range

• Longhorn cattle…– Are strong animals– Have long legs

The Open Range

• Longhorn cattle…– Have curved horns

• The tips of the horns are about six feet apart.

The Open Range

• Longhorn cattle…– Can travel many miles without water.

The Open Range

• A Texas symbol, The Texas Longhorns!– It symbolizes strength and the ability to

thrive in a dry, dangerous land.

The Open Range

• Before the 1880s, Texas ranchers did not build fences.

The Open Range

• So, these huge animals were free to roam the grassy plains, or the open range.

The Open Range

• By the time that the Civil War ended, there were about 5 million longhorn cattle in Texas.

The Open Range

• A few of the other cattle breeds in Texas:

Angus

Hereford

Red Angus

Shorthorn

The Open Range

• A few of the other cattle breeds in Texas:

Jersey

Holstein

Beefmaster

Braford

Quick Review

• What type of cattle is famous in Texas?

• Because there were no fences before the 1880s, the cattle roamed the ________.

• About how many longhorn cattle were there after the Civil War ended?

Ranching and Roundups

Ranching and Roundups

• After the Civil War, many cattle owners brought their herds into Texas.

Ranching and Roundups

• Some caught enough wild longhorns to form a herd.

Ranching and Roundups

• They soon began to crossbreed the Texas longhorn with other breeds of cattle.

Ranching and Roundups

• Large ranches began forming in Texas.– The cattle herds stayed on the ranches’

land.

Ranching and Roundups

• Well known ranchers owned and managed these large ranches.– Charles Goodnight

• JA Ranch• Known as “The Father of

the Panhandle”

Ranching and Roundups

• Well known ranchers owned and managed these large ranches.– Richard King

• Founded the King Ranch in 1853• Over 1,000,000 acres of land

Ranching and Roundups

• Well known ranchers owned and managed these large ranches.– Henrietta King

• Took over the King Ranch for forty years after her husband, Richard King, died.

Ranching and Roundups• The King Ranch still operates today.

– So well known, that Ford has some of its trucks named after the King Ranch.

Ranching and Roundups

• Challenges of Ranching…– How to tell which cattle belonged to

which ranch?

Ranching and Roundups

• Challenges of Ranching…– How to tell which cattle belonged to

which ranch?• So they had to brand their cattle.

Ranching and Roundups

• All cattle with the same brand belonged to one rancher.

Ranching and Roundups

• Ranchers hired cowhands to brand and tend their cattle.– Most cowhands were African American,

Hispanic, or Native American.

Ranching and Roundups

• Ranchers hired cowhands to brand and tend their cattle.– They could brand about 600 cattle in

one afternoon

Texas Brands in 1879• There were people who were brand

inspectors. They had to check and make sure that a ranch’s brand did not look like other ranches’ brands.

Texas Brands in 1879 p.268

Ranching and Roundups

• Line Riders– Rode up and down the borders of the

ranch to watch the cattle.– Often camped out alone at night.

Ranching and Roundups

• Even with the line riders and cowhands doing their jobs of watching the cattle, some cattle still got lost.

Ranching and Roundups

• So, every spring and fall, the ranchers held a roundup.– Cowhands from different ranches drove

all the cattle they found into one area.

Ranching and Roundups

• So, every spring and fall, the ranchers held a roundup.– Then everyone helped separate the

cattle by brands.

Ranching and Roundups

• So, every spring and fall, the ranchers held a roundup.– Some of the branded cattle had given

birth while on the open range.

Ranching and Roundups

• The cowhands had to brand the new calves.– They were easy to tell which calve

belonged to which ranch, because the claves stayed close to their branded mothers.

Roundup Video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU8Mwt2PrjY

Quick Review

• When did ranching begin in Texas?• Name 3 of the well known ranch

owners?• Why did ranchers have their cattle

branded?• What are two types of workers that

helped with ranching?• What was the purpose of a round up?

A Timeline of the Lesson

1800

Large Tejano ranches operated in South Texas.

1800 1900

1865

Five million longhorn cattle roamed wild in Texas.

1880

Several very large ranches opened in Texas.

1850

Activity

Quiz• You will have 15 minutes to write a

summary of the lesson.– Must be between 5 and 10 sentences.– Must include the main idea and important

details.– Must contain these vocabulary words:

• open range• brand• line rider• roundup

– No Notes Allowed.