Cattle drives were a major economic activity in the 19th and early 20th century American West, particularly between 1850s and 1910s. In this period, 27 million cattle were driven from Texas to railhea
A modern small-scale cattle drive in New Mexico.
Cattle herd and cowboy, circa 1902
The Texas longhorn was originally driven overland to the railheads in Kansas; they were replaced with shorter-horned breeds after 1900.
The Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico opened a year after the railroad established it as a key railhead for the cattle drives.
Chisholm Trail
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The Chisholm Trail was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and northward t
Cattle drives in the United States
…towns" across the frontier. According to the Kraisingers, "...four Texas-based cattle trails - the Shawnee Trail System, the Goodnight Trail System, the Eastern/Chisholm Trail System, and The Western Trail System - were used to drive cattle north during the forty-year period between 1846 and 1886." Due to the extensive treatment of…
Chisholm Trail crossing through modern-day Duncan, Oklahoma
Chisholm Trail historical marker in Kingfisher, Oklahoma