Studying the history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and Chisholm Trail is a fun and fascinating one. Cowboys, cattle drives and the Chisholm Trail all embody the spirit of a Texan.
Being born and raised in Texas, I grew up going to rodeos, knowing about cattle drives, and watching wide open spaces of grazing cattle as the norm.
As a native Texan too, my husband grew up with ranching and rodeoing in his life and family.
He comes from a family of cowboys.
I couldn’t wait to do a unit study focused on the history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and the Chisholm Trail.
History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
With fond memories, I recall the first time I heard the poem Cattle by Berta Hart Nance (1883-1958).
Other states were carved or born,
Texas grew from hide and horn.
Other states are long and wide,
Texas is a shaggy hide.
Dripping blood and crumpled hair;
Some fat giant flung it there,
Laid the head where valleys drain,
Stretched its rump along the plain.
Other soil is full of stones,
Texans plow up cattle-bones.
Herds are buried on the trail,
Underneath the powdered shale;
Herds that stiffened like the snow,
Where the icy northers go.
Other states have built their halls,
Humming tunes along the walls,
Texans watched the mortar stirred
While they kept the lowing herd.
Stamped on Texan wall and roof
Gleams the sharp and crescent hoof.
High above the hum and stir
Jingle bridle rein and spur.
Other states were carved or born,
Texas grew from hide and horn.
A lot of Texans view their state differently from how other states grew. After the American Civil War, it was cattle which helped to make Texas grow.
Also, ranching was a big part of Texas growth.
This study is about the grit, hardiness, and stubbornness early Texans embodied and how they passed it down to our generation.
So in this history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and Chisholm Trail, I’ve rounded up some helpful resources to teach your kids about Texas.
Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
I aimed at resources for elementary ages to about middle school, but as with all my resources you decide which ages to use them for.
The American Civil War {1861-1865} had almost destroyed the United States, but by 1867 the United States found peace again.
Long-horned cattle, which were introduced in part by the Spanish roamed freely upon the plains.
Ranchers noticed that the longhorn turned out to be particularly well adapted to the harsh and arid conditions in the West.
So thousands of head of cattle were rounded up from pastures in southern and central Texas and herded hundreds of miles north to Kansas.
Cattle drives were a celebrated event of this time period.
Between fascination with the American legend of a cowboy and a transitional time period in American history this brief, but captivating moment in history attracts learners of any age.
Too, with the invention of refrigerated railroad cars in the 1870’s it also made it possible to ship fresh beef anywhere in the country.
I used the Texas Chisholm Trail by the Texas Historical Commission to use as a guide for this lapbook. It’s a free wonderful educator’s guide, but of course you can use any resource you have.
First, there were at least four cattle drives during the 19th century. They were the The Chisholm Trail, The Goodnight-Loving Trail, The Western Trail and The Shawnee Trail.
The Chisholm Trail has at least 7 names: Abilene Trail, the Cattle Trail, the Eastern Trail, the Great Texas Cattle Trail, the Kansas Trail, McCoy’s Trail and the Texas Chisholm Trail.
Lesson Plans History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
- Beef basics. Fun lesson plan about beef products and terms to understand about cattle
- Make a Brand for Yourself the Cowboy Way
- Coloring page – longhorn
- Make Your Cattle Brand
- The Old Chisolm Trail – Lots of interesting background information and pictures to explain the Chisolm Trail
- Texas Frontier Timeline
- Texas Cowboys and Myths 5 page pdf download
- Hit the Trail – 10 page pdf about cattle trails
- Ranching Heritage – 10 page pdf with fun trail cards and background information
- Measure the width of longhorns. 4 page pdf. You’ll love the math lesson
- Texas Cattle Trails. Great site for history
- The Old Chisolm Trail Cowboy Song YouTube
- Build a Calf and pictures for different breeds
- The Cattle Drive and Westward Expansion
- Cowboys:Vaquero – 16 page pdf about cowboys, cattle trails and glossary
- Longhorn Cattle – Wonderful background information about the ancestors of Texas longhorns
- Learn about the King Ranch, one of the oldest ranches in Texas
- Longhorns of the Big Bend 63 page pdf wonderful and interesting information about Texas and the cattle industry and history of the longhorn
- The Lone Star State 3 page pdf fun reading about Texas facts
- Chisholm Trail cattle drive YouTube. In this episode Rick pushes Texas longhorns up the Chisholm Trail to the Ellsworth railhead
- Marty Robbins Sings ‘Whoopee Ti Yi Yo.‘ YouTube
- The Chisholm Trail YouTube. Created for the elementary classroom. This is a basic overview of what the Chisholm trail was, how it was used and the reasons behind the cattle drive.
Texas Size Vocabulary Words
- Cattle Kingdom – An industry based on cattle ranching that arose on the open range from Texas to Canada during the 1800s.
- Texas Rangers – Law enforcement to keep the law in frontier Texas.
- Tejanos – A person of Mexican heritage, but considers Texas home.
- King Ranch – Ranch in South Texas that is one of the most important cattle operations in the state.
- brands – identification marks on livestock made with burning irons
- barbed wire – a wire used in fencing that is made with points, or barbs, placed at intervals to prevent livestock from crossing the fence
- vaqueros – from vaca (cow) cowboy
- wrangler – one who herds or cares for livestock on the range
- XIT Ranch – Ranch established by the Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company which was funded by investors from Chicago and Great Britain.
- Longhorn – a hybrid breed of cattle that descended from Spanish and English stock; the main breed used in Texas ranching
Field Trip Ideas for History of Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives and Chisholm Trail
- You’ll love this page Off the Beaten Path: Drive Up the Chisholm Trail’s Less-Traveled Routes to give you ideas of where to go here in Texas.
- Landmark Inn – 1850s store
- Fort Griffin – Fort from 1867 to 1881
- The Alamo – Well known of course and still a fun place to visit
- However, another longtime favorite of ours is the Buckhorn Saloon Museum and The Texas Ranger Museum in San Antonio. If you want to learn about cowboy country, you have to visit this one.
- We love visiting the Barrington Plantation which is the last home of Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas. They have a fun program for homeschoolers which includes hand-on activity.
- The Star of the Republic Museum is on the same property as the Barrington Farm.
- Varner Hogg Plantation. Yes, it’s true Gov. James Hogg named his daughter Ima Hogg.
Hands-on Ideas For a Texas Unit Study
Next, you’ll love a few ideas for some hands-on fun to study about Texas.
- Make some easy Texas chili.
- Eat cactus.
- Easy fun watercolor sunset
- Study this piece of art, Outlier by Frederic Remington.By the time of the painting most Native Americans had been forced onto reservations. What is the mood of the painting?
- How to Get Rich on a Texas Cattle Drive: In Which I Tell the Honest Truth About Rampaging Rustlers, Stampeding Steers and Other Fateful Hazards on the Wild Chisolm Trail
- Explore Texas: The BIGGEST Coloring Book of the Lone Star Stat
- Then download my lapbook below.
- Build the Alamo.
- Make an Armadillo
- Fun tissue bluebonnet craft
- If a kid has never seen barbed wire which basically ended the open ranges of Texas, make some fun and fake barbed wire here.
- Candle making with kids
- Texas Activity Book (Color and Learn)
- Armadillo Rodeo
- Pancho Bandito and the Amarillo Armadillo
- Alamo Tree (The History Tree)
Field Trip to Washington on the Brazos, Star of the Republic Museum, Barrington Farms and Buckhorn Museum/Texas Ranger Museum
(don’t miss any of these places)
PURCHASE THE LAPBOOK BELOW:
Look at these other fun ideas:
- Texas Native American History Quick Unit Study (Middle School)
- How to Build the Alamo: Day 5 Hands-on Learning (Free Texas Unit Study)
- Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study
- 35 Simple But Powerful American History Homeschool Resources K to 12
- Plains Indians. Unit Study & Lapbook
- Exploring Edible Cactus: Day 4 Hands-on Learning (The Desert)
Hugs and love ya,
