Cattle Drives and Round-ups
The famed cattle drives and round-ups following the Civil
War have been romanticized in song and literature. Although the actual years of
the cattle kingdom were short-lived, the story about this time in the Wild West
grabbed the imagination of the world. The cowboys were young, capable and
adventurous. Only the young could handle sleeping on the ground for days at a
time and endure the grueling work a drive required.
Beginning with the round-up of the long horns in Texas, the cowboys faced danger nearly every day of the drive north. Whether it was crossing swollen rivers in the spring created by torrential rains, or dried up streams and dusty trails at other times, every day could be difficult. Cattle might stampede because of the innocuous howl of a coyote. At times like these, cowboys’ horses were invaluable. Each hand had several horses provided by the trail boss or owner, and their horses’ training saved many a cowboy’s life. Hundreds of cow hands and thousands of cattle made their way north to the railheads in Kansas as Easterners desires’ for more beef increased.
The following sites might be useful for further research:
http://www.forttumbleweed.net/cattledrives.html
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/wy-johnsoncountywar.html
http://www.equitours.com/.../article/cattle-drives-and-roundups-then-and-now
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