As the buffalo were killed off of the great open grasslands and the Indians were driven to reservations, cattlemen were never long in filling the vacuum. The cattle industry, as it flourished in the West, could trace its roots to Spanish stock brought over for beef by the conquistadores.

As the Spanish padres founded missions in Mexican Texas, they brought cattle to feed their Indian converts. Through neglect, abandonment and occasionally Indian destruction of the missions, many cattle strayed. Wild herds spread in the brushlands and across the Rio Grande plain. These evolved into the Texas longhorns which were the foundation for the early cattle kingdoms.

After the Civil War, plentiful beef was worth next to nothing in Texas although demand was strong in the East and the North. Daring cattle-poor stockmen drove a quarter of a million head to Missouri in the spring and summer of 1866, searching for a market. These cattle are being brought to the mining towns of Montana for sale and consumption.

This Frank McCarthy limited edition print is # 583 of 1000

This Greenwich limited edition print has been personally approved and signed by the artist. Image Size: 29 1/2"w x 16"h.
Published: June 1981