Cattle Drives of the West (original) (raw)

Arkansas was a source for many cattle drives westward following the California gold rush, and some later cattle drives cut through Arkansas for northward routes. In comparison to Texas, Arkansas played a minor role in cattle drives, but was significantly affected by these cattle drives. There is evidence that the Cherokee drove cattle drives in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, but the major cattle drives out of Arkansas ensued the California gold rush in 1848. These cattle drives usually departed from Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas. Fort Smith boomed as a western frontier as adventurers equipped themselves there.