Cotton, Cattle, & Railroads

In this unit you will learn about the conflicts between Native Americans and Texans, the impact of railroads & westward expansion on the Texas environment, and how cotton farming and cattle ranching would transform the Texas economy.

Do new ideas and innovations improve the lives of people?

Conflicts With Native Americans

From April of 2016 to February of 2017 Native Americans protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline broadcasted their story live online to show the world “the truth” about the controversial construction project. The Natives argued that the oil pipeline would cause great damage to their ancestral reservation land, slowly poisoning the earth. Unfortunately, they lost their fight and the pipeline was built despite their protests.

European Colonization

Once Europeans began to colonize the Americas, wars with American Indians were common.

Many of these conflicts, which continued into the 1870s, took place along the Texas frontier.

1860-1900

Texas society is influenced by Cattle Drives, population increases and wars with American Indians.

Comancheria

Under the presidency of Sam Houston Texas almost came to a peace agreement with the highly aggressive Comanche Indians.

However, the Texas legislature rejected this deal, for by that time white settlers were pushing into the Comancheria, the homeland of the Comanche.

After the Civil War Texas settlers would continue to try to move in to Comancheria, leading to fights between the Natives and Anglo Texans.

Quanah Parker

Son of Cynthia Ann Parker (an American woman captured by the Comanches) and a Comanche chief.
Quanah was the last chief of the Comanches.
His tribe roamed West Texas looking for a new home after American Settlers pushed them off of the land they had lived on for generations.
Quanah eventually assimilated [joined] into American culture and would influence other American Indians to assimilate as well.

Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek

After the Civil War tensions between Native Americans and Anglo-Americans started to turn violent.

In 1867, Plains Indians leaders met with American officials and signed the Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek. [A treaty is an agreement between two nations.]

The Indians agreed to stop raiding settlements and move to reservations in Oklahoma in return for food and supplies.

Even so, some Comanches and Kiowas wanted to stay in their traditional homelands and refused to sign the treaty.

Salt Creek Massacre

Led by Quanah Parker [Comanche chief] and Satanta [Kiowa chief], American Indians continued to resist American expansion by attacking settlements.

Anglo Texans appealed to the federal government to use force against the Indians. In response, the U.S. Army was sent in to deal with the issue.

In 1871, Satanta led a raid that became known known as the Salt Creek Massacre. Seven Anglos were killed in the raid.

The event caused the army to adopt a new policy – to push all American Indians onto reservations.

The Buffalo

U.S. Army Strategy

Fighting on the Texas frontier grew more fierce as the Native Americans refused to let Anglos move to their land.
In order to force all remaining Native Americans onto Reservations the U.S. Army came up with a two-part strategy that would leave them no choice but to leave:

1) Find the Native American villages and destroy them, forcing the Indians to move to reservations.

2) KILL ALL OF THE BUFFALO.

Native Americans depended on the buffalo for food, clothes, weapons, EVERYTHING.
It was an integral part of their survival, lifestyle, & culture. Getting rid of the Buffalo would leave absolutely nothing left for the Native Americans in Texas.
The Buffalo were hunted to near extinction and their body parts were burned so none of the Native Americans could use them.

How Native Americans Used The Buffalo:

How the United States Eliminated The Buffalo:

Battles in the Panhandle

At the Battle of Adobe Walls, Quanah Parker led several hundred Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa warriors in an attack on a group of buffalo hunters. The hunters held off the Indian warriors for five days before help arrived.

Then at the Palo Duro Canyon U.S. troops battled Cheyenne and Comanche warriors. The American soldiers managed to capture the Indian’s horses and their entire winter food supply. Without horses, few Indians were able to escape.

Battles in South Texas

In 1877, the U.S. Army forced southern Apaches onto reservations in Arizona. Conditions there were poor, and many left.

A few warriors, led by an Apache war chief named Victorio, continued to raid Texas settlements in South Texas until they were forced into Mexico.

The Buffalo Soldiers

The 10^th Cavalry and other units chasing Victorio were primarily African American troops. They were African American frontier soldiers who scouted, mapped, built roads, and patrolled the frontier.
The Indians called these men “Buffalo Soldiers” – a title of great respect. These soldiers were among the most effective Indian fighters. They would hunt buffalo and fight off Native American attacks on Texas Settlements.

The End of an Era

Native Americans being forced onto reservations in Oklahoma - 1880’s. This path would come to be known as the “Trail of Tears”.

After 1881, fighting between American Indians and Anglos in Texas came to an end. The U.S. Army strategy had been brutal, but effective, and the Native Americans knew they could not win against the United States.
Forced from their homes, Indians had to live on reservations where the land could not grow many crops, they had little opportunities to make money, and there was no easy way to travel around. This left many Natives stuck on the Reservation and many tribes lost their traditional way of life.
A few Indians, like Quanah Parker [who became a successful cattle rancher], adapted to American culture and lived successful lives.
Unfortunately, most Indians found life on the reservations to be very difficult. Many died of poverty or disease and a large number of Natives would turn to alcohol or drugs to cope with life on the reservation.

Westward Expansion

As Native Americans were forced onto Reservations, Anglo settlers moved westward in Texas, causing the state’s population to grow rapidly.

Cotton

Farmers used the new railroad lines in Texas to join the booming cotton industry, creating entire towns and communities dedicated to cotton growing.

Cattle

Cattle ranchers got rich by putting millions of longhorns out in the plains of West Texas.

Railroads

Railroad companies promoted the settlement of West Texas by building Railroad Lines through the region.

Manifest Destiny

Around the 1800’s many Americans (including Texans) greatly encouraged the idea of westward expansion. This concept, called MANIFEST DESTINY, was the belief that the U.S. would eventually spread to the Pacific Ocean.

Now that Reconstruction was over the United States focused on finally completing Manifest Destiny.

However, the areas that Americans wanted to settle in already had people living there...the Native Americans….which meant that America had to decide once and for all what to do with the Native Americans.

The Texas Rangers & the Frontier

In 1835, the Texas Rangers were formed by Sam Houston to protect the frontier. Over time, they have also served as a special police force and as a military unit.

The Texas Rangers fought in the Texas Revolution, Mexican-American War, and were called upon the Confederacy to fight in the Civil War.

However, while the Texas Rangers were off fighting in the Civil War the Texas frontier was left defenseless...the Native Americans would use this opportunity to take back land taken by the Anglos and strengthened their presence in Texas.

During the Civil War outlaws robbed banks and rustlers stole cattle. Indians raided settlements on the frontier. Mexican bandits attacked Texas border towns.

After the Civil War the Texas Rangers were called on once again to provide law and order to a violent frontier area.

It was at these times that many of the Rangers' myths were born, such as their success in capturing or killing notorious criminals(including bank robber Sam Bass and gunfighter John Wesley Hardin) and their important role in the defeat of the Comanche, the Kiowa and the Apache peoples.

Closing the Frontier

By the late 1800s, as Anglo settlers spread across the state, the frontier in West Texas had disappeared forever.

This clip is taken from the movie "Dances With Wolves". In it, a Civil War Union soldier develops a relationship with a band of Lakota Indians. Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to be with them before the frontier closed forever. Tragedy results when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the land and he must see the end of the free frontier.

Cattle

Cattle were originally brought to Texas by Spanish explorers in the 1500s as a source of food on their journey. The climate in Texas was perfect for the cattle to spread and multiply. The two breeds of cattle brought by the Spanish and by Anglos in the 1820s and 1830s mixed to produce the Texas longhorn.

When the Civil War ended, there was high demand for Texas cattle. Prices for beef were high in the East. The expansion of railroads across the Mississippi River offered ranchers a profitable way to get their cattle to the eastern markets [mostly in St. Louis and Chicago].

Life on the Trail

Texas ranchers began to use cowboys and Cattle Drives to bring their beef to market. Selling cattle helped revive the economy of Texas.

Cattle Drives involved about 11 to 18 cowboys driving about 3,000 cattle 10 to 15 miles a day. They drove the herds north to towns on the Great Plains that had rail stations.

Despite popular ideals, cowboy life on the trail was difficult and dangerous.

The Great Cattle Trails

The Chisholm Trail, Goodnight-Loving Trail, Sedalia Trail, and the Great Western Cattle Trail were famous cattle trails which started in Texas and ended in Kansas.

Since people in the Northeast were eating more beef, Texas ranchers needed a way to transport their cattle from Texas to northern markets.

Texas didn't have any railroads at this time, so people had to take the cattle to railheads in Kansas. A railhead is an end point for a railroad.

Cattle sold at higher prices in the Northeast, so farmers took their cattle on cattle drives to the railheads and then shipped the cattle to the North and Northeast in order to make more money.

Cattle Ranches

Raising cattle began on the Open Range [public land that could be used by anyone].

King Ranch – Established by Richard King, had more than 600,000 acres of land in South Texas.

JA Ranch – Set up in the Palo Duro Canyon by Charles Goodnight and John Adair in 1876, with 1 million acres.

Shoe Bar Ranch – 450,000 acres of cattle ranching in the Texas Panhandle.

XIT Ranch – Financed by British investors (in exchange for building a new state capitol in Austin) had more than 3 million acres of ranchland in the TX Panhandle.

Mustangers and Sheep Farming

Mustangers worked at catching and training mustangs (wild horses), then selling them to the U.S. Army or to ranchers.

George Wilkins Kendall, a newspaper reporter, set up a 5,000-acre sheep ranch in Texas – he had problems (drought, disease, and Native Americans), but he encouraged others to come to Texas for sheep-raising.

Barbed Wire Ends the Open Range

J.F. Glidden was the most successful inventor of barbed wire – small barbs that were twisted on wire fencing.

During the 1880s, barbed wire fences were put up all over Texas by cattle and sheep ranchers – sometimes enclosing the land (or water supply) of others. This barbed wire would close off the Open Range for ranchers who needed the land for their herds of cattle.

Fence-cutting wars [also known as “RANGE WARS”] soon followed, between farmers and ranchers. Ranchers would cut the barbed wire fences that the farmers put up and their cattle would trample all of the farmers’ crops.

Fence-cutting became a serious crime (or felony), and the Texas Rangers were sent in to protect the fences and restore order.

Railroads

Old railroad track with a view of the Dallas skyline.

Before the Civil War, Texas had few railroads and most served one small area – Houston.

After the Native Americans had been forced to move to Reservations there was an availability of land in West Texas. Railroad companies took advantage of this free land slowly built tracks all across Texas.

Railroads had an immediate effect on farming in Texas. Farmers who grew more than their families could eat now had an easy way to move their crops to buyers – by train. Many farmers began to take up commercial agriculture [growing crops to sell to make a profit].

Railroads Grow

In 1852, railroad companies began receiving land grants, or blocks of public land, from Texas in exchange for every mile of track they built.

In 1873, the rail lines in Texas became connected to the rest of the U.S. for the first time.

By 1882, railroad companies had received more than 30 million acres of land and by 1900 there were more than 10,000 miles of railroad tracks in Texas.

Railroads Affect Texas

Railroads had an effect on the economy as a whole. The railroad companies bought lumber to put up buildings and bridges. This helped create more jobs. Some areas of Texas began to mine coal to run the trains. The railroads brought more workers to Texas. These workers bought food produced by Texas farmers.

Railroads affected the political, economic, and social development of Texas. The work of building the railroads brought different groups of people (like Irish and Chinese immigrants) to the state.

Cities, such as Dallas, grew where the railroad lines crossed and became important centers of trade.

The Effects of Railroads

The railroads helped the state’s economy grow. They brought new settlers to Texas. New towns were built along rail lines, and some existing towns and cities grew larger. Railroads made it easier to travel in Texas.

However, the railroads also brought problems. Many Texans felt that the people who ran the railroads were greedy. They felt that ordinary Texans suffered as a result.

The Meaning of the Railroad

The AMC show “Hell On Wheels” is set in the period after the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Civil War might be in the past, but former Confederate and Union soldiers Cullen Bohannon can't put it behind him. \This Western show tells the story of how Americans, Freedmen, Native Americans, and immigrants came together during the construction of the Union Pacific's first transcontinental railroad.

In the following video the actors and directors of the show explain how they used the real history of the railroads in America to create their show. You can see how much the railroad system impacted Texas and American history.

Farming In Texas

In 1870, life on Texas farms was similar to what it had been before the Civil War.
Farmers grew corn to feed their families and their livestock. They grew cotton to sell for cash [“Cash Crop”].

Most work on the farm was done by hand. These people were practicing Subsistence Agriculture, meaning that they were growing little more than what the family needed to survive.

Starting in the 1870s, large numbers of people came to Texas and bought land to grow cotton.

There was high demand for cotton and it could easily be shipped to markets using the new railroads built in Texas.

Water

West Texas, aided by the expanding railroads, the removal of the Native Americans, and protected by barbed wire fences, seemed like the perfect had to start a farm.

However, West Texas had very little water. Crops quickly died and Texas farmers had to quickly come up with a solution to their problem.

Windmills

Windmills were used to pump water up from underground sources in a process called “irrigation”.
Farmers could then use this water for their crops.

Advertisement used for recruiting farmers to The Grange.

Tenant Farming and “The Grange”

As people flocked to Texas for new job opportunities some of these immigrants became tenant farmers.

They rented land from a large landowner, paying for its use with a portion of their crop and hoped that someday they would make enough money to become a landowner themselves. It was hard to succeed at tenant farming, however. The farmers were always in debt.

Some farmers joined together in an organization called “The Grange”. Its goal was to help farmers by sharing knowledge and by setting up stores where prices were better for farmers.

Cotton

By 1880, Texas was producing more cotton than any other state in the U.S. In that decade, an inventor made improvements to the cotton gin, a machine that removed seeds from cotton.

For decades, cotton seeds had been a problem. Growers didn’t know what to do with them. In the 1870s, though, a new substitute for butter was invented. Called margarine, it used cottonseed oil. This created a new way for cotton farmers to make money – by selling the oil from their cotton seeds.

Corn

While cotton was considered the “Cash Crop” of Texas, corn was the second most important crop grown in Texas. By 1900, Texas had about 5 million acres of corn planted. It was used as food for people and feed for animals.

Politics & Urbanization

Throughout the 1800s, ideas about limiting the powers of the government were popular with most Texans. When Democrats returned to power in state government at the end of Reconstruction, they drafted a new constitution that reflected those ideas.

The Texas Constitution of 1876 placed limits on the powers of both the executive and legislative branches. Low spending and low taxes were also priorities for state leaders. Even so, the state was forced to borrow money to meet all its expenses.

The Constitution of 1876 is the one still used in Texas today.

Texans Fight For Reforms

In the late 1800s, railroads and banks helped the economy of Texas grow. However, railroads charged farmers high prices to ship goods.

Farmers also didn’t like the huge land grants that the state was giving to railroads [in exchange for the railroad tracks they built], and accused them of corruption.

Railroads refused to build tracks in some areas. Towns that did not get railroad tracks suffered and eventually became “ghost towns”.

Members of “The Grange” asked the state to regulate railroads and lower shipping rates. Eventually, democrats in the state government listened to their requests and agreed with them.

James S. Hogg

James “Jim” Stephen Hogg was one of the Texas Democrats that fought for reforms.

Hogg fought trusts – groups of companies in the same industry that work together instead of competing. The companies in a trust would establish a monopoly [complete control of the market], allowing them to charge higher prices for their services.

In 1889, the Texas legislature passed an anti-trust law that prohibited companies from joining together to fix prices or limit production.
As an attorney general, James S. Hogg had helped write the anti-trust law. When Hogg became governor of Texas in 1891, he worked to regulate the railroads [establishing the Texas Railroad Commission which would force railroads to charge fair prices] and to protect the public from monopolies in Texas.

Disney is an example of a Monopoly. They control a large portion of the entertainment market.

Population Growth and Urbanization

While these other changes were going on [a new constitution, expanding industries, and railroad regulation], some women in Texas began to push for their right to vote. They did not win this right until 1920.

By 1900, Texas was the sixth most populous state in the U.S. Increasingly, newcomers came to live in the state’s towns and cities, moving from the countryside to the city in a process known as “Urbanization”.

This population shift often lead to crowded and unhealthy conditions. Communities faced many challenges: water was not clean, cities didn’t have good sewage systems, and crime was on the rise.

However, Texas cities also offered some real benefits. They were centers of education, culture, and economic activity.

Example of Urbanization in Texas:

Rural Communities

In 1900, though, about 80 percent of Texans lived in rural areas. Many faced difficult lives.

Many farmers were in debt and lost their farms.

Many people became tenant farmers or sharecroppers, and went even deeper into debt.

Others moved to the cities to look for jobs.

The Changing Face of Texas

The era of Cotton, Cattle and Railroads in the late 19th century was a time of huge economic growth for Texas. Railroads brought rapid expansion of people, business, and cities across the state. Because railroads enabled farmers and ranchers to transport their products more efficiently, by the turn of the century Texas had become a leading producer of both cattle and cotton.

New technology and ideas transformed Texas from a mostly rural countryside to a bustling urban center. Immigrants from all over the world had settled in Texas, creating a rich and diverse culture that mixed with traditional Texas values.

However, despite all of the new changes, for African Americans, Latinos, and women, discrimination was widespread. As awareness of ethnic/class differences and poverty grew, many Texans would begin to push for change...

Does adopting new ideas and innovations have unintended consequences?

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