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End of the Open Range in Texas . Success of the cattle industry = the decline of the cattle industry. The ranch areas were overcrowded! Ranchers needed a new way to keep their herds separated from farms. Joseph Glidden – 1873, invented barbed wire Inexpensive and effective
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End of the Open Range in Texas • Successof the cattle industry = the declineof the cattle industry. • The ranch areas were overcrowded! • Ranchers needed a new way to keep their herdsseparatedfrom farms. • Joseph Glidden – • 1873, invented barbed wire • Inexpensive and effective • Used to fence off individual farms and ranches • XIT Ranch used 6,000 miles! • Fence cutting was a new crime. • State legislature outlawed fence cutting and made it a major crime • Cattle drives were now a thing of the past. Why? • a. Barbed wire stood in their way! I. Barbed Wire
End of the Open Range in Texas • Barbed wire helped ranchers to fence in their property • West Texas was dry with few areas of water • Windmills bring water from underground to the surface • Cattledid not have to roam to find water anymore • Result = ranchers could contain their cattle in one area II. Windmills
End of the Open Range in Texas • Too many cattle to feed = • Depleted food supply • Droughts • Severe winters • Corporations bought ranches in West TX • Owners did not live on the ranches • Relied on others to carry out the jobs • By 1890, the old cattle kingdom of TX was gone • The cattle industry continued but it was a business, not a way of life. III. Industry Problems
