Page 94 - February Sun Rays

Blood,
Sweat &
Steers

150 years ago in
the west, cattle
drives were a
major source of
income.

By Edna Heard Sun City Texas resident Ace Wright rode over 1,600 miles on horseback as part of
a 28-man crew transporting a herd of 264 steer.
Though enterprising ranchers had
long driven small groups of live- night. No one cared if the cowboys arrived ways expanded and packing plants were
stock to regional markets, the lean (which they often did), as long as the built closer to ranching centers, so cattle
large-scale movement of enormous herds cattle did not. only needed to be herded to the nearest
for months at a time was practically un- railway depot. The final blow to the tra-
heard of. Who in their right mind would During this time, cattle drives were a ma- ditional cattle drive was the invention of
want to navigate thousands of slow-mov- jor source of income and helped shape the cattle trucks, which allowed cowhands to
ing steer night and day, in all kinds of development of the land they traversed. load the cattle at the ranch and truck them
weather, over deserts, rivers, windswept Cattle towns rose up around shipping to the railway which carried them to their
prairies and vast acres of Indian Terri- points, offering cattle owners opportuni- destination. Less than 100 years after
tory? ties for trade and enterprise and providing they began, cross-country cattle drives
cowboys with hot meals, soft beds and a were dead.
Quite a few people, as it turned out. variety of ways – some less respectable
than others - to spend their hard-earned Since then, Hollywood has elaborately
From 1866 to 1886, 20 million head of wages. romanticized the art of the cattle drive.
cattle were herded from Texas to north- Many of us can recall spending our Sat-
ern shipping points. Sold by weight, the Around 1880, it all began to change. Rail- urday afternoons at the movies, watching
journey was slow, with plenty of time for
grazing along the way. Journeying 25 ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
miles in a day was exceptional – five to
ten were closer to average.

A typical drive back then consisted of
about 2,000 to 3,000 head of cattle, at least
ten cowboys and a remuda of horses. A
chuck wagon manned by a cook/doctor
also accompanied the crew, as well as a
wrangler for the horses. For 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, cowboys – who
were usually very young – worked in
shifts, watching over their cattle day and

92 | SUNRAYS FEBRUARY 2017