The cattle industry has been a mainstay of the Texas economy from the very beginning. The demand for beef grew along with the growth of the urban centers back east. On this map, the Range & Ranch Cattle Area reflects the area where cattle - from the time they are born until they are shipped to market - seek their own food, water and shelter as did the buffalo, deer and elk.
To meet this demand, Texas cattle were trailed to northern ranges and railheads. As settlers gradually moved onto the Great Plains and established farms, the route of the cattle trails moved to the west along with the frontier. The last of the great trails was the Western Trail, marked on this map as the Fort Griffin & Dodge City Trail…which connected the ranches of far South Texas with the railhead in Kansas and the ranges in Wyoming and Montana between 1876 and 1886. Over 200,000 head were moved north along this route in 1881.
As more of the Great Plains was fenced, and quality rail service in Texas grew - most notably the expansion of the Santa Fe Railroad in to the Texas Panhandle and the High Plains - the era of the great Trail Drives came to an end.
