Section 4: Impact of the Cattle Industry

From cowboys to rendering plant laborers, enslaved Black workers were actively involved in all aspects of the growing Texas cattle industry prior to the Civil War. Texas cattle were slaughtered for

hides, cut for beef and rendered for tallow. Black cowboys drove cattle up the trail to markets before, during and after the Civil War. By the 1880s, railroads had reached Texas ranching towns and the new market was the local livestock auction. Slaughterhouses were constructed near the sale barns and the processed beef was shipped to major cities in refrigerated train cars called “reefer cars.” Black cowboys still drove cattle from ranches to markets, often over 50 miles in Texas, well into the 1900s.

Panel images captions follow: 

Caption: Soloman Saloman painted a scene of stockyards in San Antonio for George Saunders, a cattleman who helped to establish the Union Stockyards in 1889.

Creditline: Soloman Saloman, The Stockyards, n.d., Witte Museum

Collection.

Caption: After cattle were driven up the trails to Kansas, they were

transported by train to Chicago, where their meat was processed. In 1870, the Union Stock Yards in Chicago processed two million animals each year.

Creditline: U.S. National Park Service, Gateway Arch National Park.

Caption: Refrigerated railcars, like this one used on the Santa Fe Fruit and Refrigerator Line in 1893, changed the way beef and other perishable products were shipped around the country.

Creditline: The British Library.

Caption: Image of cattle. 

Creditline: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library.