A cattle drive is the process of moving a herd of
cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s on
horses.
Europe
In medieval central Europe, annual cattle drives brought
Hungarian Grey cattle across the Danube River to the beef markets of Western Europe. In the 16th century the Swiss operated cattle drives over the
St. Gotthard Pass
german: Gotthardpass
, photo = File:Gotthardpass 2008.jpg
, photo_caption = The area of the Gotthard Pass from the west
, elevation_m = 2106
, elevation_ref =
, traversed = National Road 2 Old paved road ( Tremola) Gotthard Rail Tunnel Go ...
to the markets in
Bellinzona and
Lugano and into
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
in northern Italy. The drives had ended by 1700 when sedentary dairy farming proved more profitable. In the eighteenth century up to 80,000 cattle were driven South from Scotland each year. From 1850 cattle trains were established from Aberdeen to London.
Australia
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
is noted for long drives.
Patsy Durack
Patrick Durack (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in Western Australia.
His family were struggling tenant farmers from Magherareagh near Scarriff in County Clare, Ireland, who moved from Ireland to New South Wales in 1853. ...
, for instance, left
Queensland for
the Kimberley in
Western Australia in 1885 with 8,000 cattle, arriving with only half that number some two years and two months later, completing a drive of some 3,000 miles. Indeed, long cattle drives continued well into the latter half of the twentieth century.
On March 26, 1883 two Scottish/Australian families, the MacDonalds and the McKenzies, began a huge cattle drive from Clifford's Creek near
Goulburn, New South Wales to the Kimberley, where they established "Fossil Downs" station.
The journey of over 6,000 km lasted more than three years and involved Charles ('Charlie') MacDonald (1851–1903) and William Neil
('Willie') MacDonald (1860–1910), sons of Donald MacDonald from Broadford on the Isle of Skye (who had sailed from Scotland in the
1830s). The family moved to Clifford's Creek, Laggan, and the brothers had become expert bushmen.
The cattle drive was undertaken after Donald MacDonald heard glowing reports of the Kimberley from Scots/Australian explorer
Alexander Forrest in 1879. The MacDonalds and the McKenzies formed a joint venture to obtain leases in the Kimberley and to stock them by overlanding the cattle.
The brothers were joined by their cousins Alexander and Donald MacKenzie, Peter Thomson, James McGeorge and Jasper Pickles. They set out with 670 cattle, 32 bullocks yoked to two wagons and 86 horses. All foodstuffs and equipment for the long journey were carried in the wagons. Drought conditions delayed progress and most of the original party, apart from Charlie and Willie MacDonald, withdrew long before Cooper's Creek was reached. Stock losses were replaced, only to be reduced again by the continued drought. Despite a grueling journey through crocodile- and mosquito-infested territory in the top end with frequent Aboriginal attacks, the cattle eventually arrived at the junction of the Margaret and Fitzroy Rivers in July 1886 and "Fossil Downs" station was established.
It is the longest cattle drive in history.
[McDonald, Nan. ''Burn To Billabong'', Portofino Design Group Pty Ltd, (1988), pp87-90, ]
United States
Cattle drives involved
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s on
horseback
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
moving
herd
A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called ''herding''. These animals are known as gregarious animals.
The term ''herd'' is ...
s of
cattle long distances to market. Cattle drives were at one time a major economic activity in the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, particularly between the years 1866-1895, when 10 million cattle were herded from
Texas to
railheads in
Kansas for shipments to
stockyards in
Chicago and points east. Drives usually took place in Texas on the
Goodnight-Loving Trail (1866), Potter-Bacon trail (1883), Western trail (1874),
Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and rancher, and his friend Jesse Chisholm, a Cheroke ...
(1867) and
Shawnee Trail (1840s).
Due to the extensive treatment of cattle drives in fiction and film, the cowboy tending to a herd of cattle has become the worldwide iconic image of the American West.
See also
*
Droving
*
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
*
Gaucho
*
Ranch
*
Drover (Australian)
*
Station (Australian agriculture)
In Australia, a station is a large landholding used for producing livestock, predominantly cattle or sheep, that needs an extensive range of grazing land. The owner of a station is called a pastoralism, pastoralist or a wikt:grazier, grazie ...
References
External links
Cattle Drives Documentary produced by
Oregon Field Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattle Drive
Drives
Transhumance