Cattle drives were among the most powerful engines of economic development and cultural identity in nineteenth-century frontier societies. This session explores the enduring legacy of overland cattle movement through both a deeply rooted Texas biography and a broader transnational comparison.
The session begins with the remarkable life of Amanda Burks, an innovative Texas ranch woman celebrated as the “Queen of the Old Trail Drivers.” In 1871, Burks joined her husband, William Franklin Burks, on a three-month cattle drive from South Texas to Abilene, Kansas, traveling with more than 4,000 head of cattle along the Chisholm Trail. Recognized as the first woman to make the journey with a cattle herd in a buggy, Burks later co-founded La Mota Ranch near Cotulla and, after her husband’s death in 1877, successfully managed and expanded the operation for five decades. Her career highlights women’s often overlooked roles in ranching, entrepreneurship, and the cattle trade.
Complementing this Texas story, the session places cattle drives in a global context through a comparative examination of Texas cattle trails and Australian cattle droving. Although these traditions emerged independently, both developed in response to similar economic pressures: the need to move livestock across vast grasslands to supply distant markets. Cowboys and stockmen in both regions faced isolation, environmental hardship, and logistical risk while converting frontier landscapes into productive pastoral systems. By comparing routes, labor structures, cultural influence, and eventual decline, the session reveals how cattle drives shaped rural development and national identity in both Texas and Australia.
Together, these presentations highlight cattle driving not only as an economic practice, but as a shared frontier experience that linked people, landscapes, and cultures across continents.
Session Chair: Sylvia Mahoney, Past President, West Texas Historical Association
