Were there Cowboys in Illinois?

Yes! And by necessity, they were very good at their craft!

Firstly, the land was grassland, and before it was discovered, corn grew well there it would have had early ranches. So, horses were there before it became a territory. It remains horse country to this day. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and the father of one of my school chums ran a farm with a 75-horse barn and an indoor polo field. Nearby, the Butler Family owned most of what is now called Oakbrook, and they had more than a dozen polo fields tucked into the woods. It remains the polo capital of the US. But more than just horses, there were cowboys.

Many cattle drives started in Texas, bringing the herd to Chicago. They trailed the herd some 1,200 miles and swam them across the Mississippi River. The river, of course, was wide, deep, and had a significant current. Once on the other side, the cattle shook themselves dry and stood, tired, famished, and skinny. They were no longer saleable.

Something had to be done. And over there was a field of corn. The cattle grew up eating grass and knew nothing of corn. They rested on a ranch in the middle of corn fields and ate twenty-plus hours a day for a week to fatten up.

However, they were some 500 miles from Chicago and the last fraction of their trail to complete. Trekking was different than trailing across the open planes. Here, barbed wire surrounded corn fields. While the barbs might bother one steer, the herd could easily trample over the fence and happily devour everything in the field. Such a happenstance would immediately lead to a confrontation with the farmer and the local police. The cattlemen did not carry funds to pay for damages along the route, which was to be avoided at all costs. That was not easy, for the cattle now loved corn.

Maneuvering the herd through a gerrymandered trail up to Chicago required a greater number of cowboys. Thus, the farm or ranch hands, who were cowboys, were hired to help move the cattle north to Chicago. Now, leading the herd around tight corners and funneling them through narrow gaps between fields not only took more men but also expertise that a cowboy would not face working the herd on the open planes. So, these cowboys from Illinois had to lead, for they knew the route and taught the Texan cowboys how to move the herd under these conditions.

The Illinois cowboys had to earn the respect of their Texan counterparts and thus had to know the cowboy craft well. There were fine cowboys on both sides, but those from Illinois had to meet the skill standards to earn respect on the trail north.