Up the Trail: How Texas Cowboys Herded Longhorns and Became an American Icon by Tim Lehman (review)

Chasing grass, good weather, and greed.

Tim Lehman's book is terse, inviting, and a fun read. The primary characters in this story are the cattle, the drovers, and the fickle climate of the Great Plains. Supporting roles are played by railroad and cattle barons, the beef market, and western expansion following the Civil War. From this great open-air saga emerged an American icon built upon rumor, legend, and folklore.

The "Texas longhorn" was an invasive species that, while wild and dangerous, represented "cash on the hoof." Vast herds of cattle represented a resource free for the claiming to anyone who could gather and burn their brand onto their flanks. But the markets for the beef they provided were in the East and the railheads were to the north. Lehman describes the beginnings of the trail drives and the herders they required in accurate and compelling text. He shows the difficulty of managing wild herds with boys of varied skills, fortitude, and commitment, many of whom were teens and people of color. And as Lehman notes, most only made one drive. Interesting was the observation that the laconic nature of the stoic cowboy was likely due to the depression of spirits that resulted from the monotony and isolation of the trail.

Lehman's story of the characters of the trails north is engaging and informative. However, I longed for a stronger characterization of the free ranges of tallgrass that covered the Southern Plains and fed the cattle and horse on their trails to Kansas, and likewise, the devastation of these grasses and soils as markets boomed and tens of thousands of cattle moved north, many wintering on ranges around the rail heads to gain weight and kill off the Texas fever–carrying ticks. Lehman deftly shows that just when the trail drives should have ended, the chase for quick and easy profits moved the routes west and farther north. He notes that taking Texas cattle to the Northern Plains and the cool-season grasses (that cured into highprotein forage) was made possible by the near eradication of the bison and necessitated by the impounding of the Native peoples of the region. These northern drives and winter stocking essentially ended when the deadly winter of 1886–87 hit the overgrazed Northern Plains.

From the dust and ashes of the trails rose an American icon, the cowboy. Lehman traces this transformation in cogent fashion, from the night-herd songs and poems, to the "dime novels," to the Hollywood "horse operas" of the early 1900s. Gone from this legend were the hardship, the cruelty, and the extreme toll exacted from the land, the stock, and the men of the trail drives that we are given glimpses of in this appealing book.