Joseph McCoy

• Before the civil war 


  Texan cowboys would herd Texan longhorns to Missouri where they would be transported by train to other parts of the US

  However - Texas Cattle Fever - meant that Missouri no longer allowed access to the cows in its state - this meant that cattle ranchers were looking for new ways to get north when the civil war broke out
• 1867


  railroad reached Abilene - Joseph McCoy realised he could make a transit point (where you change the type of transport) for cattle drivers - the cattle would be put on trucks at Abilene and sent across America - less walking so cows would be fatter
• It would be easier for the cowboys to drive the cattle to Abilene as there was grassland on the way which the cattle could eat - there was a route Chisolm trail
• therefore - McCoy purchased 450 acres ($5 per acre) and built a stockyard for the cattle in Abilene - he built a hotel for the cowboys - he spent $5000 marketing his idea and word of mouth was used to say how safe the Chisolm Trail was
• McCoy's plan worked - 35000 cattle used the trail by 1867 and 3 million between 1867 - 1872 - McCoy became very rich and Abilene became the first 'cow town'
• At the same time as all of this - the Goodnight-Loving Trail was set up by Goodnight and Loving - they realised that money was made by selling the cattle to the new west territory - they sent 18 cowboys and 2000 cattle to the west - they sold 800 cattle to Indigenous Peoples for $12000 (4x as much as the would have gotten in Texas) - the Indigenous Peoples were starving
• Goodnight and Loving continued to drive the cattle to the mining towns

  1867 - Goodnight was so successful his ranch expanded to one million acres - therefore Wyoming developed its own cow town