It made it 100 times easier to transport meat and other cattle products to areas of america that they wouldn't of been able to earlier. Because they didn't have to walk the cattle across the plains it made cattle available year round and delivered a better quality of meat. The railroad spiked the economy in regards to the cattle industry.
Moving cattle from range land to the shipping railroad heads, before highways and trailer trucks were available.
Free range originally meant unfenced cattle grazing lands.
Free range originally meant unfenced cattle grazing lands.
The open range and the cattle industry contributed to the development of the western US enormously. The infrastructure including rail road was improved and people got job opportunities to work in the cattle industry.
The first railroads built in Texas were used to transport cattle from the open range to the Chicago markets. With their completion the age of cattle drives and cowboys came to an end.
Cattle drives soon ended in the late 1800's to the early 1900's because of fierce winter storms, barbed wire, drought, overgrazing, and the near extinction of the population of Longhorns originating from Spain and developed in the wilds of southwestern America.
cattle ranching
Cattle ranching
The ending of the cattle kingdom was primarily driven by overgrazing, severe winters, and the expansion of barbed wire fencing, which restricted cattle movement and access to grazing lands. Additionally, the rise of the railroad made it easier to transport beef from farms in the Midwest, diminishing the reliance on cattle drives. Economic factors, such as fluctuating beef prices and the impact of drought, further contributed to the decline of the cattle industry. These elements combined led to the transition from open-range ranching to more controlled and sustainable agricultural practices.
Copper Range Railroad was created in 1899.
Copper Range Railroad ended in 1972.
Barbed wire was a way to stop other ranchers' livestock from getting mixed up with another rancher's livestock. It also was a way to stop squatters from making a homestead on land that wasn't theirs. There were a few free-range cattle drovers back then that didn't own land but grazed their cattle wherever necessary. Barbed wire prevented that as well, and created a kind of necessary ownership of the land.