Why didnt they just herd the cattle to the east?

No.

First,depending on how far east they are going (say: Wyoming to the slaughterhouses in Chicago), that’s a thousand miles and many of the cattle would die along the way.

And it would mean a slow trek. Figure that a train in those days was going 30–35 mph. A herd of cattle doesn’t walk at 35 mph. Maybe, if you’re luck, 3–4 mph.

And then you need cowboys or escorts of the whole herd. Depending on the size of the herd, maybe a dozen or more cowboys. At least. So there’s personnel cost, horse cost, and what do the cowboys do on the way home? Deadheading and being paid for nothing.

Finally, how do you keep the herd from trampling every city and town and ranch and homestead on the way? Even the best managed herd is going to spread out. What a mess!

Bottom line is that the economics of railroad shipment, and the speed to market, were far more favorable than walking the cattle there.

The map showed them starting in southern Texas and there were 3 or 4 trails. One ended in KCK but another looked to go all the way to the Canadian border. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can post a graphic of what they showed.

No. The more the cattle weigh, the more money they bring. The longer you keep them on the trail the more weight they lose, the tougher the meat gets. And the railroads were safer and faster and overall cheaper than paying those cowhands to drive the cattle that far.

Moving from the southwestern rangeland into settled areas like Missouri and Illinois would be difficult. A farmer isn’t going to allow a thousand head of cattle to cross his farm while grazing on all the grass.

Mississippi River

Any more questions?

Here’s another thing. On the cattle trail there has to be food and water. The closer you got to the singular trailhead, the lesser and lesser the feed would become.

Here is the map they showed.

Good answers everyone.

@zenvelo and @elbanditoroso have a really good point, about the cattle encroaching on established land and screwing up towns.
Cities like Wichita and Dodge City grew up along the trail, because of the trail. They catered to the cattlemen’s needs. Lots of drink and women.
They’d herd the cattle right down Main street.