A History of The Cattle Pools In Barber County, Kansas

For a period during and following the Civil War there was a great demand for beef in the United States and in Europe. The building of the railroads across the nation was of great value in the transportation of cattle to meet this demand. From Texas the cattlemen began to make the long drive to the nearest rail head. Much has been written about the so called cow towns of Kansas and the part they played in the development of the state, but a point that has been overlooked for the most part is the association of cattlemen into groups for the purpose of protection and mutual aid . It is not the purpose of this paper to treat each such association in the state for to do so would involve much too broad a field . However, an attempt will be made to present the history of the cattle pools in Barber county , Kansas. The author has chosen Barber county because it is more familiar to him, and it is representative of the beginnings and growth of the cattle industry in southwestern Kansas