Cattle Ranching on the Plains (OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)): Revision Note

Summary

Rather than driving cattle for thousands of miles from Texas, people began to realise that cattle could be raised on the plains themselves. Soon, millions of cattle were left to roam free to eat the grass of the plains before being rounded up and put on trains.

But there was not enough grass and water on the plains to sustain both the millions of cattle in the 'open range' and the great herds of bison.

The reduction in bison numbers led to starvation for Indigenous groups who relied on bison to survive. This caused violent clashes between Indigenous groups, the ranchers and eventually the US Army.

The growth of cattle ranching on the plains

• In 1859, a man named John W. Iliff, who had failed to find gold during the Pike's Peak gold rush (opens in a new tab), set up a general store on the Oregon Trail

  • Illiff discovered that cattle could survive the harsh winter on the plains and started buying animals

  • The cattle ate the grass on the plains, which was free

  • They were already very close to the railroads to transport them to markets

  • Soon, Illiff had 35,000 cattle living on the plains and was very rich

• Others began to copy Iliff and fill the plains with their cattle

  • Rather than being driven thousands of miles, cattle were branded with their owner's mark and left to roam free on the plains

  • They were then rounded up once a year and driven the short distance to the railroads

• Wealthy and powerful investors began to purchase enormous numbers of cattle and put them on the plains

  • This method of raising cattle became known as the 'open range'

  • The people who purchased thousands of cattle and put them on the plains became known as cattle barons

Environmental damage

• By 1880, 4.5 million cattle were living on the plains

  • They ate the same grass, or pasture, as the native bison

  • Watering holes were drained dry by the cattle

  • Soon there was not enough food or water to sustain the vast bison herds that roamed the plains

Conflict: Cattle ranchers and Indigenous Peoples

• Many Indigenous tribes had moved onto the plains after losing their lands in the east

  • Using horses and guns, they had developed nomadic lifestyles that depended entirely on hunting large numbers of bison

• The arrival of millions of cattle on the plains caused the number of bison to dramatically decline

  • This meant that some tribes faced starvation

  • This led to violent clashes between people, such as the Cheyenne and the Comanche and the cattle ranchers

  • When the ranchers called upon the government for help, it led to terrible events such as the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864

    • A massacre of the Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army

    • Sources estimate that between 150 and 300 people were killed by the soldiers