CHAPTER XVI. 

 THE LONG TRAIL. 



Western ranching had its genesis in the cattle 

 originally introduced into Mexico by the Spanish 

 conquistadores. The admission of Texas and the 

 Gadsden Purchase of 1854 brought within the bound- 

 aries of the United States enormous tracts of arid 

 and semi-arid lands susceptible of a great pastoral 

 development, but insofar as the territory north of 

 the present Mexican border is concerned, cattle- 

 raising as a business (as distinguished from the 

 mere maintenance of the herds as a source of food 

 for their owner and his dependents) was virtually 

 unknown among the rancheros of that period. 



After prolonged negotiations and a vigorous po- 

 litical contest, Texas, formerly a portion of Mexico 

 and later an independent republic, was admitted to 

 the Union by joint resolution of Congress, approved 

 by President Tyler on March 1, 1845. As a result 

 of the Mexican "War and by the Treaty of Guada- 

 lupe Hidalgo, on Feb. 2, 1848, Mexico ceded the ter- 

 ritory now covered by California and Nevada, also 

 her claims to territory covered by Texas, Utah, the 

 bulk of Arizona, New Mexico, and portions of Wyo- 

 ming and Colorado. 



The tract of land known as the Gadsden Purchase, 

 comprising territory lying within the present limits 



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