When Texas ranchers returned home after the Civil War, they learned the old ways of cattle ranching were gone forever.

The enslaved men who had tended their herds before the war had left and their cattle have scattered across the open range.

The market for beef had changed, too.

Markets in the South had collapsed — people were broke — but demand for beef in the North was surging.

These changes brought an opportunity to get back on their feet for ranchers who could adapt.

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