Texas Cattle Industry

American ranchers taught Mexican cowboys (vaqueros) how to care for herds of cattle.

• True
• False

Ranchers branded their cows to identify them.

• True
• False

___________ drove cattle from ranches to the railheads.

• Cowboys
• Explorers
• Railroad officials
• Meat dealers

What role did railroads play in Texas’ economy?

• Railroads brought very few people to Texas.
• The trains were made to transport people only.
• The railroads made it harder to transport goods to the East.
• A way to transport good to market

Which culture started the tradition of the cowboy?

• Spanish/Mexicans

• Anglos

• French

• Chinese

What invention signaled the end or 'closing' of the frontier? (Clue: it led to many fights and arguments among farmers and ranchers.)

• The Windmill

• The barbed wire

• The cotton gin

• The telegraph

Barbed wire was able to keep cattle off the fences but usually ended up hurting the animals.

• True

• False

What is a stockyard?

• A yard that is filed with grass.

• Spanish word for "remount"; referred to the fresh horses that cowboys kept in reserve during a cattle drive.

• A place where livestock are penned before they are slaughtered or shipped elsewhere.

• A vast area of grassland owned by the government where ranchers could graze their herds for free.

What product helped the Texas economy boom after the Civil War?

• Guns and Ammunition

• Cotton

• Cattle

• Textiles

What two inventions change the way cattle ranching was done in Texas?

• Barbed Wire and Windmills

• Barbed Wire and Branding

• Windmills and Branding

• Barbed Wire and Saddles