Cattle Trails & Transcontinental RR (DA Review)

What was the MAIN purpose of many nineteenth-century cattle trails such as the Chisholm Trail?

• to help settlers farm new lands

• to provide food (beef) to eastern cities

• to clear wildlife from crowded areas

• to supply western ranches with livestock

The "Black Cowboys" of nineteenth-century Texas are MOST associated with

• clearing and developing the Chisholm Trail for cattle.

• cattle drives from Texas and across the Great Plains.

• the founding of trading posts along the US-Mexican border.

• the relocation of American Indians in the American Southwest.

To whom in the American West did the term "cowboy" originally refer?

• men who raised cattle on plantations in the American South

• men who sold cattle to merchants at ports along the Texas coast

• men who sailed cattle up the Mississippi to communities in the north

• men who drove cattle from Texas to Kansas along the Chisholm Trail

How did the market for beef encourage ranchers to make cattle drives?

• Beef was expensive in Texas, but cheap everywhere else.

• There was nowhere to buy beef in Texas.

• Beef was cheap in Texas but expensive everywhere else.

• There were many places in the US to buy beef.

"The Chisholm Trail" and the "Great Western Trail" are two important examples of what kind of route?

• cattle trails leading out of Texas

• patterns of migration of American bison

• foot trails that became the roads traveled by settlers

• the railroad lines that stretched into the American West

What happened to the price of cattle in TEXAS when ranchers returned home after the war?

• The price of cattle increased because there were so many cows.

• The price of cattle decreased because there were so many cows.

• The price of cattle increased because most of the cows had been eaten.

• Nothing happened to the price of cows.

Describe the purpose of the cattle trails.

• To feed the people in Texas.

• To transport cattle from Kansas and Oklahoma to Texas.

• To help increase the population of cattle in the United States.

• To move cattle from the ranches in Texas to the rail-heads in Kansas and Oklahoma.

After the Civil War, thousands of African-Americans migrated west in search of work as cowboys. In addition to the availability of steady work, what drew many of these newly freed ex-slaves to the west?

• There were laws in place that prevented them from moving to northern cities.

• They moved west because of better educational opportunities for their children.

• There was less discrimination in the west compared to northern or southern states.

• They were lured by the chance to earn extra money working on the newly built Indian reservations.

How did the development of barbed wire in the 1870s change the cattle ranching industry?

• It allowed ranches to use public lands to their advantage.

• It helped create cattle trails to stop the construction of railway lines.

• It increased cattle injuries and tensions among people in the ranching community.

• It allowed owners of large ranches to enclose their territory, eliminating competition for resources

Which statement BEST describes the life of the "Black Cowboys" of Texas?

• They were not allowed to carry guns.

• They were not allowed to own their own farms.

• Many were bosses over large numbers of cowboys.

• Most worked as cattle hands and "horsebreakers."