OUTLINE

The Cattle Kingdom

I. The Spanish longhorm

A. brought to Texas by Spanish

B. the “Magic Diamond”

C. tools and methods of the cowboy

D. cattle multiply

E. exploiting the resource

II. The cattle drives, 1866-1885

A. Sedalia, Missourim 1866-1867

1. Indians

2. Ozarks

3. fever ticks

B. Abilene, Kansas, 1867-1871

1. Joseph G. McCoy

2. Jesse Chisholm & Chisholm Trail

C. the railhead moves westward

1. Wichita

2. Ellsworth

3. Dodge City

4. points further west

D. supply of cattle: constant

III. The closing of the open range, 1885-1890

A. farming frontier encroaches

1. Homestead Act of 1862

2. railroads bring settlers

3. barbed wire

4. windmills

B. weather

1. drought of 1885-1886

2. severe winter of 1886-1887

3. overstocking of range

C. disaster for smaller operators

1. cattle prices plummet

2. depopulation of west-central Texas

IV. The world of the cattle barons

A. the big ranches

1. King Ranch

2. JA

3. Matador

4. Spur

5. XIT

B. life on the big ranch

1. the cowboy

2. the social order

V. Cowboy values and the myth of the Old West??