Once all the cattle had been accounted for, a rancher could begin making plans for a trail drive north, for that was where the money could be made. A rancher could get about $4 per cow selling it for tallow and hide in Texas, but buyers in Kansas would pay ten times that amount.

A Long Journey

The trail drive was not a journey to be taken lightly. Depending on weather and the pace of the herd, a drive could last between three and four months. It was an event filled with every discomfort, hardship, and danger imaginable:

There were swollen streams to swim, wild runs of cattle that had to be checked by a few men on tired mounts galloping over unknown land, perhaps bandits or Indians to face... and hardships that lacked even the virtue of the spectacular —drives all...