A black and white photo of a cowboy with a herd of cattle in the background

In the crowded east, there was not enough room or grassy areas to raise livestock like cattle. The prairie grasslands across the Great Plains were the perfect environment for beef cattle raising because there was so much grass for the cattle to feed on. This adaptation out west, allowed some people to begin creating ranches for cattle raising because they could raise the cows and then sell the cows for beef. Cowboys became an important part of cattle raising because they were in charge of moving the cattle around and making sure they did not lose any.

Being a cowboy was tough and became much more difficult when more farmers began using barbed wire to protect their lands. Cowboys were mostly young men who needed cash. The average cowboy in the West made about $25 to $40 a month. In addition to herding cattle, they also helped care for horses, repaired fences and buildings, worked cattle drives and in some cases helped establish frontier towns. Cowboys occasionally developed a bad reputation for being lawless, and some were banned from certain establishments.