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The disappearance of the bison led to changes in the Great Plains ecology and economy. The bison were hunted nearly to extinction due to the urban market demand for their skins. However, this market demand also led to the emergence of a new livestock economy. Horses, sheep, and longhorn cattle began to take over the buffalo country and were tied to urban markets through railroad transportation.

The new livestock economy centered around Chicago, which became the largest beneficiary of the annihilation of the bison. The Civil War disrupted the ranchers in South Texas from their usual markets, causing the cattle population in the region to grow significantly. Ranchers realized that they could make a fortune by finding a way to transport their cattle to the new Union Stockyard in Chicago. Joseph G. McCoy established a stockyard in Abilene, Kansas, which became a meeting place for southern drovers and northern buyers. Cattle were then shipped from Abilene to Chicago for higher prices.

The cattle drives of the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s were iconic symbols of the American frontier. Cowboys drove hundreds or even thousands of cattle through the Great Plains to market. They became the agents who linked livestock-raising zones to the metropolitan market of Chicago. However, as conflicts between Texas cowboys and Kansas farmers grew, the center of beef production shifted. Ranchers began raising cattle in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The shift from bison to cattle led to changes in regional vegetation, as intensive grazing concentrated along watercourses and caused some species to disappear while others expanded.

The livestock industry transformed the Great West as bison gave way to livestock. Cattle and sheep produced similar grazing effects as bison and helped maintain the dominant grass species of the western plains. However, intensive grazing led to shifts in vegetation, with inedible forbs and certain grasses replacing taller species. Ranchers sought to control grazing land by buying up areas around springs and streams.

The introduction of fences further altered the grasslands. Large-scale fencing became possible with the invention of barbed wire, which reduced the amount of wood necessary for fences. Fences concentrated grazing in certain areas and reduced the frequency and intensity of fires. The capital investment in fences gave ranchers a strong incentive to suppress fires, further accelerating the demise of the old grassland ecology.

The livestock economy was integrated into a system of meat production that stretched from the Rockies to Chicago. Farmers in Illinois and Iowa, who raised livestock and corn together, fed their corn to their animals instead of selling it directly. This led to the shift from extensive to intensive agriculture in these states. Farmers raised corn and fed it to hogs and cattle, focusing on fattening animals rather than breeding young ones. Feedlots became the predominant form of meat production in Illinois and Iowa.

Chicago became the end of the line for cattle that were raised in the Great West. The city was known as Porkopolis because it was the place where animals went to die. The problem for Chicago packers was what to do with the animals once they were dead, as decay quickly rendered them unmarketable. The solution was to use ice to preserve the carcasses and keep the meat from decaying. Chicago packers began using stored winter ice to pack pork during the summer, reducing the seasonal variation in pork packing and allowing for year-round production.

The introduction of refrigerated railroad cars revolutionized the beef industry in Chicago. Before refrigeration, live animals were generally shipped east to butchers in cities like New York. Gustavus F. Swift and other packers realized that if they could butcher cattle in Chicago and ship them in refrigerated cars to eastern markets, beef packing would become more profitable. Swift developed a new system of refrigerated railcars that kept the meat cold and opened a chain of icing stations along the route to resupply the cars with ice.

The refrigerated railroad car, along with the ice trade and rail transportation, allowed Chicago to become the largest beef packing center in the nation. The city saw significant growth in beef packing from the mid-1870s onwards. The introduction of artificial refrigeration in the early 20th century eventually made the ice trade obsolete, but the refrigerated railroad car had already transformed the meatpacking industry in Chicago.

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