Texas Cattle Ranches
Texas cattle ranches derive their name from tejas, an Indian word that means friendly. Ancient language is no longer heard tejas survives in today's Texas, a land of many wonders. From rich central prairies and cattle empires, to beaches and mile-high mountains. Texas is a land of diversity. After the Civil War about 5 million longhorn cattle roamed freely across South Texas. In the 1880s ranchers and investors began to start huge ranches in West Texas and the Texas Panhandle to gain prime grazing land and water. Cowboys used the skills they had mastered on the long drives north. By the 1890s they probably worked on a ranch following rules and rounding up cattle set up by new cattlemen’s associations. By the early 20th century, some of the largest ranches in Texas started to sell off their lands. Railroads were given large chunks of Texas lands to build rails across the state serving Texas cattle ranches.
