First we visited a site recreating the 1830's. The girls herded chickens and built a snake fence. The chickens were under the house, so our "guide" had to get them out. Then she lined up all the kids with their arms out to the sides and told them to walk slowly and "herd" the chickens to the coop. It really didn't take that long. Of course there were about 20 kids, so their line was long and they could easily wrap around to corral any wayward fowl. This is also how the early settlers herded the wild cattle on the South Texas plain. The girls really enjoyed it.
The fence is called a snake fence for its serpentine shape (and not because it keeps snakes out). Basically, the poles are laid in an alternating pattern at right angles (or close to it). When it reaches the desired height, each "corner" is braced.
Then we went to a site from the 1870's where we learned about the chuck wagon. Before the wagon, cowboys carried all their groceries in saddlebags on the back of their horses. Charles Goodnight, a.k.a. Chuck, developed the cook's wagon, and cowboy-in' went gourmet. Very cool presentation. Amazing how much they could carry and what they could cook out in the wilderness.
Next we took a tram over to the 1890's. Here we learned about branding and the use of the railroad in the cattle industry. Cowboys were usually young men and boys from their early teens to early 20's. The life was hard and lonely and didn't pay much.
We ended our ranch tour in the 1930's with a demonstration of roping and dipping cattle. The roping was interesting, because the cattle were very good at eluding the lasso. It took a while to actually catch one.
Most entertaining to the kids was the dipping demonstration. Until the mid-1930's, Texas cattle were required to be dipped in a DDT and arsenic solution to kill a specific tick that caused a deadly cattle fever (not deadly to the hardy longhorn, but definitely deadly to the northern European breeds favored in the northern states). The George Ranch and the King Ranch are the only ranches in the country that still have working dipping vats. The George Ranch is for demonstration purposes only (chlorinated water). The King Ranch is highly regulated and uses approved pesticides.
The cowboys ran about 6 steers into a chute, then each steer jumped into the 10 ft. deep vat and swam to the other side. The kids all howled with laughter. It was a fun experience. I couldn't take pictures, though, because of all the splashing!
We got a little sunburned and definitely were worn out by the 3-4 hour experience.
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