Curated OER
Rise of Ranching
Fourth graders explore the history of ranching in the southwest. In this social studies lesson, 4th graders discuss the history of ranching. They view a video about ranching and discuss cattle drives. Students read about the Chisholm...
Curated OER
Get the Point!
First graders, after reading about cattle drives, measure the width of the horns on drawings of longhorn cattle and then convert the measurements from inches to centimeters and from inches to feet. Ranching and the American cattle...
Other
Epcc Libraries: Borderlands: Black Cowboys Rode the Trails, Too 21 (2002)
Faculty-edited college student articles on the US-Mexico border giving insight to what life was like for black cowboys in the late 1800s. The article explains how many were ex-slaves that became cowboys after Emancipation, what their job...
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: High Falutin' Beef
This is an impressive history of the introduction of beef to the Great Plains region complete with videos, photos, and lesson plans.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: School Publishers: Join a Cattle Drive
At this site take a look at maps of cattle drives from the ranches and ranges of Texas to the market places in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.
Other
Southwest Collection: The Texas Ranching Frontier
Discusses the cattle drive era that occurred in the late 1800s. It gives details about the drives from Texas to the north.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Ways of the Cowboy
The cowboys were the background of the cattle boom in the 19th century. Read about their life, and their demise.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: Texas Almanac: Cattle Drives After Civil War
Read the story of the birth and demise of the cattle drives in Texas after the Civil War as the country expanded westward.
Other
Ellis County Museum: Texas Cattle Trails
This article surveys the cattle kingdom and cattle boom in Ellis County, Texas that started in the 1840s.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Cowboys of the Old West
Interesting facts and an overview of the life of the cowboys of the Old West between 1865 and 1885.
Other
The History of the Cattle Trail Chuck Wagon
Ever wonder what it was like to be a cowboy on the range? What did they eat? Who cooked it? This site provides a nicely done background on cowboy cooking, chuck wagon etiquette, and links to recipes.