McCoy Led the Post-Civil War Cattle Boom
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There once was a man named Joe McCoy who played a major role in the cattle ranching business that started to spread from Texas across the Midwest as far north as Chicago. By luring livestock to Chicago, that put his business much closer to the northeast and the profitable New York market. He had to battle many of the homesteaders who lived in the Kansas area and objected to the cattle ranchers moving their cattle across state lines since it was believed that they carried a tick that killed many of the other animals in the area. Cattle ranchers didn't like taking their cattle through Kansas because of the hostile reactions they received and the fierce opposition to their presence.
McCoy was smart enough to see that the railroads that were sprouting up throughout the country could much more easily transport the cattle the east coast and that was vital, especially once the Kansas/Pacific Railroad went straight through several of the Midwestern frontier villages. McCoy built a hotel, a stockyard, and office, and a bank in the small town of Abilene, Texas, which just happened to be one of the first true cow towns. The plan was for the cattle to be taken from the Midwest pastures to Abilene, then on to New York via the train route.
After the Civil War was ended, McCoy spent an unheard-of $5,000 on advertising and riders. He promised high prices for cattle sold in Abilene and he was able to keep his word. He once sold 6,000 cows for $5,400 and sold them in Abilene for almost $17,000. Between 1867 and 1881, McCoy spent more than 2 million cattle from Abilene to Chicago where they were later moved to the northeast.
The cattle trade reached its peak in the 1880s and a lot of it is due to McCoy and his genius. People trusted him and the advancement of the railroads made things easy for McCoy to accomplish his goals and make his fortune. It also led to the removal of much of the Native American population that had lived on the land for centuries.
In the late 1800s, the cattle industry virtually collapsed as the farmers began to experiment with different breeds of cattle that could not live on the open range. There was less grass available for grazing and in 1883, there was a drought that ruined the little remaining grass that was still in the heartland.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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