Cowtowns essays

Cowtowns essays To the cowboys cattle towns or cowtowns ,as purists referred to them, were merrily desolated towns in the mist of the desert. It was here that these cowboys could rest, get a bite to eat, gamble, or meet women. Most people thought of cowtowns as evil towns, because so much immorality went on in them. At times these places could be exhilarating or sometimes even hazardous. This era was known as the Wild West. Many of these towns existed in Colorado, Kansas, Oregon and numerous other regions of the United States. Cowtowns came about because people needed beef in other parts of the U.S., particularly in the Eastern states. At fist cattle were driven from Missouri to Sedalia and later to Baxter Springs, Kansas. In early 1867 Joseph G. McCoy set out to establish a small town in which he could keep cattle. He found a settlement on the route of the Union Pacific Railway Company called Abilene. McCoy purchased land and built cattle pens. It took a little persuading for the Texans to herd their cattle north, but the first carload of cattle was shipped east on September 5, 1867 to Abilene, Kansas. Abilene was the fist of the cowtowns. Each cowtown, thereafter, had the same general layout. Soon after the cowtowns had been established, the noise and smell of the cattle was an ongoing nuisance to the residents. Most cowtowns went through a stage of chaos and corruption. In July 1871 the more highly regarded women of Abilene made a petition to the mayor to remove the evil in our mist, and prostitutes were moved to another part of town. At this time the ladies of the night, as the prostitutes were called were kept in an area called Hide Park. Violence was also widespread in cowtowns. Cowtowns were tamed, unaccompanied by two-gun marshals. These men were used because they were quicker on the draw than their cowboy opponents. These marshals established law and order. ...