Farm to Table: Cattle Drives & Demographics in the 1870s/1880s

Fig. 1

One of the most well-known, and famous, professions of the 19th century that still proliferate American minds is that of the "cowboy." Composed hodgepodge of ethnic and national groups, many early cowboys stemmed from Hispanic communities along the border of modern-day Mexico. However, with the increase in profit margins due to established cattle trails, many European immigrants got in on the trade. In addition to those from Mexico, many German and Irish immigrants took to the prairies of the Midwest to find their fortunes. 

Within Fig. 1, the image depicts the populations of German-born immigrants during the 1880s (with higher densities displayed in a darker blue) and the counties in which they resided. Overlaid on the map are also the developed rail lines of the century (colored red) alongside existing cattle trails from 1870s-1880s. Each trail, represented by its own respective color with the Goodnight-Loving Trail in green, the Western Trail in orange, the Chisholm Trail in blue, and the Shawnee Trail in purple, all demonstrate some of the most lucrative routes used by the early cowboys.

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

Upon further investigation, one can easily see the ethnic German population concentrating within central Texas and along the final stages of the cattle trails. At the end of these cattle trails were usually economic centers, such as St. Louis and Kansas City. At the time, there was likely a connection between German-owned/German-populated businesses, especially in St. Louis, within these centers and connections to German-born cowboys. However, the same can be said for Irish-born immigrants as well, who also took up residence in these "cattle counties" and population centers at the ends of the famous trails. As displayed by Fig. 3, there is a potential link between the Irish populations within "cattle counties" in central Texas and the population centers at the ends of Western and Chisholm Trails.

Another important connection to note are the locations of the end of trails in relation to existing railroad routes of the era. All of the displayed trails siphon off along rail routes that led to major cities as cattle cars then transported the livestock to processing facilities, and later, major cities for distribution purposes. With the existence of higher densities of German and Irish born immigrants within these cities, it is likely there was an economic connection between them and the cowboys that shared their home country. However, this is hypothesized and can only be further confirmed by the usage of business ledgers and tracking transactions between the cattle drivers and the facilities at the ends of the famous trails. In addition to this, the maps do not effectively label what percentage of their populations, in relation to place-of-birth, were cattle drivers. However, this can easily, but tediously, fixed by examining professions within the 1870s/1880s census records.