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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 13

Cotton, Cattle & Railroads

The frontier, trail drives and rails

What your child practices

The expansion of the frontier and its effects on American Indians, the Buffalo Soldiers and Quanah Parker, the cattle industry from its Spanish beginnings, the railroads and James Hogg, and how farming changed West Texas.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.6(A); 7.6(B); 7.6(C); 7.6(D) · the frontier, the cattle industry, railroads, and the agricultural development of West Texas

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The frontier moved west, pushing American Indians off their lands. Quanah Parker was a Comanche leader; Buffalo Soldiers served at frontier forts.
  2. Cattle drives grew from Spanish ranching; cowboy words like lariat come from Spanish.
  3. Railroads connected markets and built towns. Governor Hogg created the Railroad Commission to regulate rates.

Example: Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? They served in the army on the frontier. They were African American cavalry and infantry soldiers. Answer: African American soldiers who served at frontier forts

Cotton, Cattle & Railroads in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 8 of 13 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Civil War & Reconstruction and before Oil & the Modern Economy.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    The word "ranch" comes from the Spanish word…

    • rodeo
    • vaca
    • rancho
    • pueblo

  2. Question 2

    Why did trail drives boom after the Civil War?

    • the government ordered them
    • railroads already reached every ranch
    • Texas had no cattle
    • Texas had millions of cattle, and Northern cities paid high prices

  3. Question 3

    The Chisholm Trail ran from Texas to…

    • Mexico City
    • railheads in Kansas, such as Abilene
    • New Orleans
    • Galveston

  4. Question 4

    Railroads changed Texas by…

    • shrinking every city
    • stopping immigration
    • connecting markets, creating new towns and helping cities like Dallas grow
    • ending all farming

  5. Question 5

    Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving blazed a trail…

    • east to Florida
    • west into New Mexico and north to Colorado
    • along the Gulf Coast
    • south into Mexico

  6. Question 6

    How did railroads change where cotton was grown?

    • cotton growing ended
    • trains planted cotton
    • cotton was grown only near the coast
    • farmers could grow cotton farther west and ship it out

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