Map of the Texas Cattle Trails

The 19th century cattle drives from Texas north to the railheads on the Great Plains are some of the most iconic images of the American frontier. At the railheads in Kansas, Texas longhorns and mavericks were worth twenty times the price they would bring in Texas. There were between three and six million cattle in Texas by 1860. From the mid-1860s until the early 1890s millions of Texas cattle were trailed north. The trip usually took about 6 weeks, covering 10 to 15 miles a day so the cattle could graze on their trek north to the railheads. The chuck wagon would go ahead of the drovers to set up a suitable campsite, and the easy, uneventful pace could be disrupted by stampedes, violent weather, treacherous river crossings and the rare Indian attack. As more settlers fenced in farms, the main trails were gradually pushed west. The Western Trail, also called the Dodge City Trail, started near the King Ranch and passed through the Texas Hill Country. In 1880 over 200,000 head of cattle were driven through just one pass west of Brady. Numerous trails merged into the main route before crossing the Red River and then north through the Indian Territory to Abilene and Dodge City in Kansas.