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Famous Cattle Towns

Ogallala, Nebraska: The End of the Texas Trail on the Union Pacific

Ogallala began as a railroad water stop and became a wild end-of-trail town for Texas herds from the mid-1870s to 1884.

How did Ogallala start?

The city history says Ogallala had its beginning about 1867 and was at first little more than a Union Pacific section house and water tank. In spring 1868 the Lonergan brothers and Louis Aufdengarten arrived, the brothers having come to do construction work for the railroad. The City of Ogallala history page gives no firm founding date.

The railroad came first and the cattle trade later. Nothing about the original settlement suggested it would become the end of a trail that began hundreds of miles away in Texas.

What was the Western Trail?

Ogallala sat at the north end of what a Keith County history calls the Western or Texas Trail, which gradually supplanted the earlier Chisholm Trail. The Keith County article on Ogallala as cowboy capital reports cattle pens and a loading chute were built in 1874 and that the town site was purchased in September 1875.

Volume reached the level it kept in 1876. The Black Hills gold rush created new beef demand in 1876 and 1877, and Texas herds were driven north to feed it. The city history describes the 1880 season in more detail.

How many cattle came to Ogallala?

The Keith County article estimates that roughly 60,000 to 75,000 Texas cattle were driven to Ogallala in 1875. It says the boom continued through 1884 and brought 75,000 to 125,000 longhorns each season. The Bosler Brothers' herds during fall and early winter numbered 18,000 to 20,000 cattle.

The city history describes the 1880 pattern: the first trail herds arrived shortly after June 1, ten to twelve herds of about 2,500 head each gathered south of town every summer, and the drives wound down in late August as the Texans headed home.

Life in an end-of-trail town

Cowhands arrived after about three weeks on the trail from Dodge City and spent time and money in the town's saloons and the Ogallala House dining room. The main street, called Railroad Street, ran parallel to the rails with stores on its south side, and the Crystal Palace operated as a saloon and gambling place alongside the Cowboys Rest.

The city history calls Ogallala the lurid cattletown of the era, and the nickname Gomorrah of the Cattle Trail comes from the same reputation. The sources reviewed here give no reliable count of violent incidents, so none is offered.

What Made It Work

Ogallala's cattle years rested on position and timing, and they ended when disease and politics closed the trail.

A fair account includes the costs: the rough reputation and the exposure to disease that finally ended the drives.

  • It stood on the Union Pacific, which gave Texas herds a way to be shipped east.
  • It built pens and a loading chute in 1874, ahead of the peak seasons.
  • It sat where northern buyers needed stock: the Black Hills rush in 1876 and 1877 added demand.
  • It concentrated herds each summer, with ten to twelve outfits of about 2,500 head gathered south of town.
  • It served the cowhands with hotels, a dining room, saloons and gambling rooms.
  • It was vulnerable to disease: the Texas fever epidemic of July 1884 led Nebraska ranchers to demand a ban on Texas cattle.

What ended the drives in 1884?

In July 1884 a Texas fever epidemic appeared near Ogallala, apparently brought in by Texas cattle. Nebraska ranchers demanded that Texas cattle be excluded, and the resulting ban damaged the trail herd business. The city history describes this as the end of the romantic period.

The town became a peaceful farming settlement, though the history notes the cattle industry later revived in modified form.

Learn more

Sources differ on the dates of the cattle years: the city history gives 1870 to 1885 in one place and 1870 to 1890 in another, while the Keith County article gives about 1875 to 1885. For other trail towns, see farm.FM's ranching section and a farm.FM story on the Western Trail.

Timeline

  1. 1867Ogallala begins as a Union Pacific section house and water tank
  2. 1868Lonergan brothers and Louis Aufdengarten arrive
  3. 1874Cattle pens and loading chute built
  4. 1875Town site purchased in September; 60,000 to 75,000 Texas cattle reported
  5. 1876Volume reaches the level it keeps; Black Hills demand begins
  6. 1880Ten to twelve herds gather south of town each summer
  7. 1884Texas fever epidemic leads to a ban on Texas cattle

Frequently asked questions

Why was Ogallala called the Gomorrah of the Cattle Trail?

The nickname reflects the town's rowdy reputation as the end of the Texas Trail, where cowhands spent time and money in saloons and gambling rooms after weeks on the trail.

How many cattle came to Ogallala?

A Keith County history reports roughly 60,000 to 75,000 Texas cattle in 1875 and 75,000 to 125,000 longhorns each season through 1884. Those are reported estimates, not exact counts.

Why did the Texas cattle drives to Ogallala end?

A Texas fever epidemic appeared near Ogallala in July 1884, apparently brought by Texas cattle. Nebraska ranchers demanded exclusion, and the ban damaged the trail herd business.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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