Editorials

From Cowboys to Catboys April 1, 2008 - No reporter cited

Most Americans are familiar with the cattle drives of the latter half of 19th century. Many a movie or television show featured the theme of hardy cowboys driving hundreds of head of Texas longhorns on their trek north from Texas through Oklahoma and onto Kansas City.

Apart from braving still hostile Indian Territory and marauding bandits, one of the most hazardous aspects of the trip was crossing our own Red River. Headstones marking the graves of cowboys who drowned while braving the Red River can still be found.

According to “Along the Chisholm Trail,” the drives followed three major routes through what is now Oklahoma. On a typical cattle drive, 20 to 40 drovers would drive the cows to Kansas, where they could fetch a much higher price than in Texas, which at that time had more cows than people. A longhorn steer, which would fetch $5 a head in Texas, could be sold for $100 in California.

The stories about the cowboys and their bravery are part of the historic fabric of this country. But a less well known part of history is that on their return back to Texas, the cowboys donned pink shirts and hats and became catboys!

That’s right! There was such a huge demand for common housecats due to an explosion in the rat and mouse population, that cats which could fetch maybe 10 cents apiece in Kansas City were worth $1 a head in Dallas and Ft. Worth.

The cats were bought and sold at auction in lots of a dozen cats. Obviously driving a herd of 5,000 to 10,000 cats is not an easy task. It took patience and perseverance. And lots of cat food.

The trip took longer than the cattle drive since cats cannot travel as long a distance each day as longhorn steers. The catboys would still ride horseback but they used border collies to assist them. Unlike the cattle drives, the chuck wagons would precede the cat herds. Typically the cook would open hundreds of cans of brands like Purina Cat Chow or just hunks of tuna fish. The scent would lure the cats to follow the wagons at a slow jog.

“The nights were special. After hard day’s drive, we would all bed down on the prairie under the stars. You could hear the soft meowing of hundreds of cats. If that won’t put you to sleep, nothing will,” said one of the drovers, Rowdy Yikes in his book, “My Life as a Catboy.”

Once they reached the Red River though, the cats would be loaded on barges for transport across. When they reached their destination, housewives would be there in the hundreds to select half dozen cats or so.

To this good day, tourists equipped with metal detectors still search the old Chisholm Trail, looking for rusty Purina Cat Chow cans which can fetch as much as $28, depending on the date stamped on the can.

At the end of the day, I used to tell my nieces and nephews this tall tale when they were growing up and even though they knew Uncle Larry was just teasing them, they wanted to hear the story anyway.

Happy April’s Fool Day. Meow.

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