Special railroad cars kept the meat cold, so it would remain fresh until sold. As the meat industry grew, the demand for fresh meat increased. More and more cattle were needed.
ROBERT BOSTIC: There were millions of cattle in Texas, but no way to get them to the eastern markets. The closest point on the railroad was Sedalia, Missouri, more than one thousand kilometers away. Some cattlemen believed it might be possible to walk cattle to the railroad, letting them feed on the open grassland along the way.
Early in eighteen sixty-six, a group of Texas cattlemen decided to try this. They put together a huge herd of more than two hundred sixty-thousand cattle and set out for Sedalia.
LEO SCULLY: There were many problems on that first cattle drive. The country was rough; grass and water sometimes hard to find. Bandits and Indians followed the herd trying to steal cattle. Farmers had put up fences in some areas, blocking the way.
Most of the great herd was lost along the way. But the cattlemen believed they had proved that cattle could be walked long distances to the railroad. They believed a better way to the railroad could be found, with plenty of grass and water.
archives.govUnion Pacific Railroad officials have their picture taken in Nebraska Territory, 1866, during railway construction
ROBERT BOSTIC: The cattlemen got the Kansas Pacific Railroad to extend its line west to Abilene, Kansas. There was a good trail from Texas to Abilene. Cattlemen began moving their herds up this trail across the Oklahoma territory and into Kansas. At Abilene, the cattle were put on trains and carried to Chicago.
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2013-11-25
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