| The Golden Age of the American cowboy was short lived. |
| It began in the 1860s with the great cattle drives from Texas north to Kansas. |
| By 1890, when railroads had reached remote areas, |
| there was no more need for large-scale cattle drives. |
| Of course, cowboys have a history before 1860. |
| In fact, there were Mexican cowboys long before that. |
| The Spanish conqueror of Mexico, Hernan Cortes, brought cattle with him in 1521. |
| Cortes also branded his cattle with a three cross design. |
| The Spanish sharp-horned cattle roamed the deserts and prairies freely. |
| Eventually, they found their way to Texas. |
| American settlers in Texas interbred their animals with the Spanish breed, |
| the Texas longhorn cow was the result! |
| It was famous for its bad temper and aggressiveness. |
| The Longhorn was a dangerous animal, |
| with each of its horns measuring up to three and one-half feet long. |
| After the American Civil War ended in 1865, |
| disbanded soldiers, who were former black slaves, and young men seeking adventure headed west. |
| At that time, there were about five million cattle in Texas. |
| Back in the East, there was a big demand for beef. |
| By this time, railways from the east extended as far west as Kansas. |
| It was still more than 600 miles from South Texas to the railway. |
| Between the two places there were rivers to cross, |
| Indian tribes, badlands and other problems. |
| A fur trader named Jesse Chisholm had driven his wagon north in 1865. |
| Cowboys and cattle followed the Chisholm Trail north to Abilene, Kansas. |
| This cattle trail became the most famous route for driving cattle, |
| until it was barred with barbed wire in 1884. |
| In 1867, cattle dealer Joseph G. McCoy built pens for 3,000 cattle in the little town of Abilene. |
| Soon Abilene was the most dangerous town in America. |
| After the long cattle drive, cowboys who had just been paid went wild. |
| Sheriff “Wild Bill” Hickok tamed Abilene in 1871 |
| by forcing cowboys to turn over their guns when they arrived in town. |
| Other towns replaced Abilene as the wildest town in the West |
| Newton, Wichita, Ellsworth and Dodge City. |
| In Kansas a herd of 3,000 Texas longhorns might sell for $100,000 making the rancher rich. |
| The cowboys might get $200 in wages, which often disappeared on drink, women and gambling. |
| Getting cattle to Kansas was far from easy. |
| One of the biggest difficulties was getting the herd across rivers, especially when the river was high. |
| There were no bridges. |
| In 1871, 350 cowboys driving 60,000 cattle waited two weeks for the water level in the Red River to go down. |
| Food for men and animals was also difficult to find at times. |
| An early cattleman developed the chuck wagon, |
| which were both a supply wagon and a portable kitchen. |
| In the 1870s, there were probably 40,000 cowboys in the West. |
| After the prairies were fenced in, there was less work. |
| Large ranches still employ cowboys to round up the cattle for branding or for sale. |
| Even today, about 20,000 cowboys still work in North America. |
