It is the summer of 1865.

Texas ranchers are returning home from fighting in the Civil War.

And they are learning the old ways of cattle ranching are gone forever.

Their enslaved labor, which had tended the herds before the war, has left.

And their cattle have scattered across the open range.

The market for beef has changed, too.

Markets in the South have collapsed — people are broke —

but demand for beef in the North is surging.

These changes have brought an opportunity, for ranchers who could adapt,

to get back on their feet.

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