Before the american civil war cattle in texas had been driven on longdrives by cowboys across the south to be sold
The civil war meant that cowboys and ranchers left to fight which in the mean time left cows rapidly reproducing
By 1866 the surviving cowboys came back to enormous herds there were so many that the cattle could only be sold for $5 meanwhile a cow could be sold for $40 in the south eg chicago
Number of people in the city meant need for beef was high
