Cattle in the 1800s

At first there was no need for cattle breeding because of the buffalo. Like the Indians, many settlers started to hunt buffalos. Many of the buffalos were killed, in order to feed the railroad construction crew or because of their hides. By 1874, 15 millions buffalos were killed. Cattle and sometimes sheep started to replace the buffalo. By 1845, nearly 300,000 cattle were gazing in wild loose herds. Some were left by Mexicans and some were wild descendents of the Spanish criollos. In the 1850's Texas Rangers started to market the Texas Longhorn, a mixture between corillo and English Shorthorn. Because of the glutted Texas meat marked, the profit minimized. The only way to survive was to sell the cattle on a northern market. In 1866, Charles Goodnight started the first trail to the north, together with 18 cowboys and 2,000 cattle. Reaching the northern market, they made much more profit than expected. It didn't take long that other rangers did the same with their herds - a new industry was born.