Cowboys Between 1870-1900

Each long drive lasted about three months and was a transport of cattle held each year. There were four main cattle trails traveled by the cowboys. First, the Chisholm Trail ran from San Antonio, TX to Abilene, KS. The Sedalia Trail ran also from San Antonio on to Sedalia, MO. The Goodnight-Loving Trail ran from San Angelo, TX to Cheyenne, WY and the Western Trail from Bandera, TX to Dodge City, KS. The cowboys who made the long drive rode on horses from Mexico. Hernán Cortés brought small horses in 1519 known as piebald pintos.

The law in the West has been characterized as “5 cartridges in the cylinder and 1 in the chamber.” The Gold Rush of ’49 brough

t many people to the frontier, a few of whom became very rich and many more who were extremely poor. Some believed they could take advantage of the newly rich, which led to increased crime. Train robbers and wagon holdups were common. The only solution was to hire mercenaries to “clean up” some crime-ridden cities. Although lawmen were essential to keep the peace, the marshals, sheriffs and deputies were often as corrupt as the outlaws. Wyatt Earp was marshal of Tombstone, AZ, but was a former horse thief, an embezzler, and a gambler. When Earp worked in Dodge City, he met another not-so-good guy, Doc Holiday. Although Holiday was an alcoholic and a cold-hearted killer, he and Earp became good friends. Other lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Judge Roy Bean were gamblers with a side career as a vigilante, a word which here means “a self-styled dispenser of justice.” One well-known lawman was Wild Bill Hickock of Homer, IL. Hickock never had a career as a cowboy; he performed in a play called “Scouts of the Prairie”. He was, although, a deadly man who was known to kill; he was marshal of Abilene until he accidentally killed one of his own men. He was shot and killed while holding 2 aces and 2 eights, still known as a “dead man’s hand.”

These fears were realized in 1883 when a severe drought led to prairie fires and no water. The streams and water holes dried up again 3 years later in another drough

Some topics in this essay:
Jesse James, Joseph Glidden, Gold Rush, IL Hickock, Chisholm Trail, Springfield IL, Hernán Cortés, Billie Kid, Roy Bean, Abilene KS, ran san, barbed wire, trail ran, trail ran san, ran san antonio, dodge city, wild bill, abilene ks, cowboys drive, billie kid, spent day, chisholm trail,