A Long Day on the Trail is a photograph by David and Carol Kelly which was uploaded on August 29th, 2015.
A Long Day on the Trail
The cowboy of myth and reality had his beginnings in Texas. There cattle grew wild with few natural enemies. By the end of the Civil War there were... more
Title
A Long Day on the Trail
Artist
David and Carol Kelly
Medium
Photograph
Description
The cowboy of myth and reality had his beginnings in Texas. There cattle grew wild with few natural enemies. By the end of the Civil War there were an estimated 5 million of them including the Texas Longhorn. It was then that the cowboy entered his twenty year golden age, 1866 through 1886, the era of the open range and the great cattle drives. A steer worth four dollars in Texas was worth forty dollars in the North. The economics did not escape the Texans. Beginning in 1866 they began moving long lines of longhorns northward, with the primary destination being the railhead at Sedalia, Missouri. Indians and farmers who resented cattle trampling their crops and spreading the dreaded Texas fever protested their passage. Outlaws stole the cattle and were not averse to killing the men driving them.
The men who worked the cattle in the treeless expanses of the West (at least one-fourth of them blacks) became known as cowboys. The image of the courageous, spirited horseman living a dangerous life carried with it an appeal that refuses to disappear.
Uploaded
August 29th, 2015
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Comments (43)
Karen Adams
Fantastic simple white background gives all the attention to the worn and tired cowboy and horse.....vf
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