The Trail Drive Company

The Trail Drive Company. . Commercial cattle-trailing companies delivered more than half of all Texas cattle driven to the Kansas railheads. Many large ranches did not want to spare their men for a trail drive lasting one or two months. Smaller ranches had to rely upon family members for day-to-day chores at the ranch. Professional drovers offered an economical alternative., Established in 1874, the Lytle, McDaniel, Schreiner, and Light Cattle Company became the most famous cattle-trailing company in Texas. They contracted with ranches to drive selected cattle to the railhead for a delivery fee of $1.00 to $2.00 per head. Trail companies also bought cattle on the range, speculating they would receive a higher price from buyers in Kansas. This company drove up to 90,000 head of cattle each year up the Western Cattle Trail to Dodge City, Kansas. Expenses often totaled only one third of the fee, leaving plenty of profit for the company., The Chuck Wagon , . Prior to the Civil War, drovers would carry extra food and supplies in sacks behind their saddles, on pack animals, or in small wagons. As the distance of the trail and the size of the crew increased, they began to rely on light- weight freight wagons driven by full-time cooks. In 1866 Texas rancher Charles Goodnight mounted a cupboard, or "chuck box," on the rear of a wagon. The hinged back panel of the box opened as a work table supported by wooden legs, creating the first chuck wagon., The shelves and drawers of the chuck boxes held condiments, tableware, medicine, and personal items. Large pans and cast iron cookware were stored in a "boot" underneath the chuck box. The cowboys' bedrolls and bulk supplies like coffee, flour, beans, dried fruit and canned goods were tossed into the wagon bed. These wagons served as the kitchen, office, and hotel for trail and roundup crews throughout the Plains., The Cow-Boy , . Young herders tending cattle in medieval Ireland were called "cow boys," a name that followed Irish indentured servants to the farms of colonial America. The name took on an outlaw image after "cow boys" scattered cattle herds during the Revolutionary War. The expression was popularized once more in the 1830s by Texas colonists who raided Mexican cattle along the border. Cattlemen of British heritage preferred to be called "drovers." They were also called "crackers" in the South because of their use of the stock whip., Before the Civil War, the Spanish term "vaquero" was the common term throughout the West for men who worked cattle on horseback. In the 1870s the word "cowpuncher" derived from the practice of using long poles to prod reluctant cattle into railroad cars. Kansas newspapers captured the imagination of the nation with colorful stories about half-wild "cow-boys" from Texas, forever branding these horsemen with an identity that blends myth and reality., The Roundup , . The Civil War disrupted most ranching activities in Texas. With few men left at home to care for the herds, the calves, cows, and bulls ranged free. When the war ended in 1865, men returned to family ranches and spent months on "cow hunts," attempting to claim and brand scattered or unbranded cattle. By this time most Texas cattlemen were calling unbranded cattle "mavericks," in a humorous reference to the wandering herd of Samuel A. Maverick which was left unattended in 1844., The Tally Law of 1866 allowed Texas cattle to be gathered, regardless of the brand, and driven to market with the proceeds distributed to the rightful owners when the drover returned. As new Texas ranches were established on the vast open range, ranchers often held cooperative roundups and divided livestock according to brands and ear markings.