Explore Texas by Popular TopicsTexas Ranching

Rustlers_RangeTexas Ranching

Grades: 4-7
Teachers will find a series of films to help their students analyze the impact of the Cattle industry in Texas, specifically focusing on cattle drives and the role of the cowboy. Students will discuss the conditions on cattle drives, evaluate the daily activities of the cowboy, and assess technologies that were invented to aid ranchers.

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Texas Cattle Drives

In the decades immediately following the Civil War, cowboys and ranchers herded millions of cattle out of Texas to markets in Kansas and Missouri, in one of the greatest mass migrations of animals in American history.

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The King Ranch

Produced by Jim Ruddy and presented by the Shell Companies Foundation and the Texas Committee for the Humanities, The Texas Experience presents the history of Texas through a series of one-minute clips.  In this episode, Country Music Hall of Famer, Waylon Jennings delivers an overview of the history and operations of the King Ranch.

Jim Ruddy
Courtesy of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

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Drought Case Study

See how severe drought impacted people in Texas in 2012 and learn how communities adapted to the water shortage. Use this resource to provide relevance and context for learning about drought and opportunities for students to evaluate adaptation strategies.

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Vaquero

This 2003 documentary profiles the lives and traditions of the vaqueros, the Mexican-American cowboys who ranch cattle in South Texas.

Rogelio Agrasanchez
Courtesy of Texas Archive of the Moving Image

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Texas Farming & Ranching Life

Texas Parks and Wildlife provides a glimpse into ranch life at the turn of the 20th century at the  LBJ State Park Sauer Beckman Farm.