What was the purpose of a cattle drive or long drive?

Answer 1

It was how the cattle was taken from the open ranges in cattle regions like Texas to the cow towns like Abilene where the drives would meet the railroads. From there the cattle would be loaded on rolling frieght and shipped to either the markets in the cities, or after the invention of the refrigerated rail car, shipped to meatpacking plants in Chicago or Green Bay, where they were butchered.

with the advent of barbed wire and the opening of the Great Plains to farming cattle drives became less common. These factors combined with a glut (too many cows = falling prices) on the cattle market led to the end of the "open range cattle drives"

Answer 2

Before the arrival of the railways, cattle reared in one part of America had to be driven to a distant market. As the cities sprawled ever outwards, and the population grew, so the demand for beef also grew.