They were VERY necessary during that time period because no other means of moving cattle existed that time like much easier methods (by use of cattle liners) do today.
How did the cattle industry of the 1800s build on it's Spanish beginnings
Cattle ranching started in Texas in the 1800s.
Americans didn't think that cattle ranches were practical on the great plains because the cattle had a hard time surviving. The great plains were dry and there was not a lot of grazing land in the 1800s.
Hard. Very Hard. Unbelievably HARD.
In the late 1800s the Chisolm trail was used to drive cattle by cowboys. The cowboys originated in Texas and drove the cattle to Kansas to be sold.
Barbed Wire
Hard. Very Hard. Unbelievably HARD.
The famous Texas Longhorns of course!
Being able to brand your cows so that they could be identified and Fencing off land so cattle were not lost were two things that helped make cattle ranching so profitable in the late 1800s. Railroads helped cut the transportation costs.
12 million cubic Hunters.
No, the cattle drive of the 1800s did not originate in Kansas. It primarily began in Texas, where large herds of cattle were raised. Cowboys would drive these cattle north along trails such as the Chisholm Trail to railheads in Kansas, where they could be shipped to markets in the East. Kansas served as a key destination and endpoint for many of these drives, rather than their origin.
In the 1800s, railroads significantly transformed the cattle business by providing a faster and more efficient means of transporting cattle from ranches in the West to markets in the East. This expansion of rail networks allowed ranchers to reach larger markets, leading to increased profits and the growth of the cattle industry. Additionally, the ability to ship cattle over long distances helped establish the demand for beef in urban centers, further stimulating cattle ranching and contributing to the rise of large-scale cattle operations. Overall, railroads were crucial in linking supply with demand, revolutionizing the cattle trade.