Changes in cowboys, Ranchers vs homesteaders

Question 1

Who were cowboys?

Answer 1

mostly young single men from different races

Many were former soldiers or drifters

some were criminals on the run

Question 2

what were cowboys like

Answer 2

tough, hard-working and often hard-drinking

Question 3

How long did cowboys ride for on long trials

Answer 3

between 12 and 24 hours a day in all weathers

Question 4

Why could life as a cowboy be lonely?

Answer 4

because they often worked miles apart

Question 5

ranches vs trails: work period

Answer 5

trails : work was seasonal, from spring round - up to the long drive in the autumn

Ranches: work was year- round and full- time, but fewer were needed

Question 6

what did cowboys on the trials do as their job?

Answer 6

• they rounded up, branded and drove cattle hundreds of miles.
• looked after sick and injured cattle

Question 7

what did cowboys on the ranches do as their job?

Answer 7

• rounded up, branded and drove to the market over much smaller distances
• checked ranch boundaries
• mended fences
• looked after sick and injured cattle

Question 8

What were the dangers of working on the trail? (7)

Answer 8

stampeding cattle,

wild animals,

crossing rivers

quicksand,

rustlers,

hostile Indians

extreme weather

Question 9

What were the dangers of working on the ranch?

Answer 9

rustlers, wild animals and Indian attacks were still threats even though there were fewer dangers than on the trails

Question 10

ranches vs trails: habitat

Answer 10

Trails: slept in the open air and cooked on campfires

Ranches: bunkhouses and use cookhouses

Question 11

How did trail cowboys spend their free time?

Answer 11

visited saloons and brothels in cow town

Question 12

How did ranch cowboys spend their free time?

Answer 12

drinking, gambling, guns and knives were banned. many struggled to adapt to this lifestyle.

Question 13

Explain ranchers reliance on public land

Answer 13

Ranching on the open range needed a lot of land (at least 2,000 acres) in order for cattle to roam around and have a lot to eat

Federal law said everyone could pasture livestock on public land for free

ranchers divided up the range between themselves

Question 14

What was the rancher’s problem with homesteaders?

Answer 14

Under the homestead act, people started filing claims to turn 160-acre plots of public land into homesteads which threatened ranching

Question 15

What were the tactics that the ranchers used to block homesteaders?

Answer 15

• Filing homestead claims themselves to all the parts of the range that homesteaders might be interested in
• Buying and fencing just enough land to block off access to other plots
• taking homesteaders to court over rights to the land, knowing that homesteader s were too poor to pay court fees
• threatening homesteaders with violence, damaging their crops and accused them of rustling cows from the ranch’s herd : this resulted in severe punishments

Question 16

What were the arguments between ranchers and homesteaders about fencing?

Answer 16

• Farmers said ranchers should fence their land to stop cattle roaming onto crops
• Ranchers said their cattle had a right to roam; that fencing was the farmer’s responsibility and they should not harm their cattle

Question 17

What did the arguments between ranchers and homesteaders about fencing result in?

Answer 17

• these arguments ended up in state court cases.

- tension between ranchers and homesteaders were common which sometimes turned into open conflict