Cowtowns without cows?

[FifteensAway]

So, I was admiring the post about Profanity - and a fine game it appeared - but noticed no cattle, or very few if  I missed them.  And I started wondering why, so often, in the old west towns here there are generally so few cattle?  Those beasts were, after all, an integral part of the west in so many ways.  Of course, I realize not all old west towns were cow towns but it seems hard to have a proper western without at least a few cattle roaming about.

[starkadder]

So, I was admiring the post about Profanity - and a fine game it appeared - but noticed no cattle, or very few if  I missed them.  And I started wondering why, so often, in the old west towns here there are generally so few cattle?  Those beasts were, after all, an integral part of the west in so many ways.  Of course, I realize not all old west towns were cow towns but it seems hard to have a proper western without at least a few cattle roaming about.

I actually have a herd of longhorn cattle that I use, Fifteens, and a set of wild horses - both for stampede purposes.

The Profanity scenario was already way too crowded so I didn't use them. You'll see a mob of sheep that met a ghastly fate. They fled from a short exchange in the barrio and headed across the tracks towards the main town, where they were used for target practice by a couple of the locals - shot for trespassing.

I worry about some of my friends. 

[Gutbukkit]

My own town of Schitte Creek isn't a cow town but a mining town (currently sans mine). That said it will have a few cattle penned up to feed the locals.  The neighbouring town and more affluent town of Bull's Deep will be a cowtown with plenty if cattle ready to stampede during my games.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Cattle grazed freely or on a ranch until they were rounded up and driven to a rail line for transport to one of the big cities for slaughter and processing.

There'd be no cattle around until they were due to be moved onto the trucks when they'd be driven though town and then directly on board. Big herds and small towns don't mix - not for long anyway. That much cattle take a lot of feeding while they're waiting for a train, so keeping them on pasture til the last moment is the best plan.

The cowboys would be busy with the herd until it was driven through town, with only a few of their number visiting for supplies (or to shoot the place up and raise hell) at any one time. However there's always the chance that the cattle could stampede as the were herded through town to the railhead.....a bit like Pamplona - but unexpected like!

[Elbows]

Yep, the towns themselves would rarely have cattle.  The term cowtown is a bit of a misnomer.  Towns might be visited and supported by cowboys, but much of the business took place elsewhere.  Now certain towns and cities did become cattle centers, with huge train systems for moving large masses of beef back East etc.  It'd be quite a huge rail yard. Would actually make for a damn cool and interesting board.

[Cory]

Emir is right - cattle herds were temporary features even in most cattle towns. To hold them would be stockyards which because of smell were kept to the edge of town.

Most maps show several corrals but those were primarily for horses - the parking lots of the period. These make for some fun random movement terrain.  

A few chicken coops and a handful of pig pens could be found as well.

[Elbows]

Yeah, I'm still going to have to do some chicken coops and pig pens (and for the record, I am going to eventually have some cattle added...just not a huge priority).   

[starkadder]

Most grocers/butchers had pens with livestock in them. Easier than refrigeration and handy if you know Deadwood's Mr Wu.

[Gutbukkit]

Most grocers/butchers had pens with livestock in them. Easier than refrigeration and handy if you know Deadwood's Mr Wu.

I definitely plan to have my own version of Mr Wu's pigs.

[Heisler]

As far as a the stockyard itself it would be located outside of town and the most significant structure would be the stockyard itself which could be immense depending on how popular the trailhead was. Although Abilene KS is very famous it was not the destination for the cattle drives after 1871. Ellsworth KS would become the dominate cattle shipper till the early 1880s when the rail system was extensive enough and the advent of the refrigerator car that long distance cattle drives were no longer needed. That's when the immense stockyards in places like Denver, Kansas City and Chicago came into being. Federal law required that cattle could only be penned up in cars for so long and had to be given a chance to "stretch the legs" before being reloaded and sent on their way again.

I'm not sure how interesting a stockyard board would be. Two or three sections of track (mainline and the spurs) and then the stockyard pens and the loading chutes. It would certainly be tedious to build.

[Scorpio]

So, since someone is bound to ask: who manufacturers some good cows and pigs (and chickens!) for 28mm?

[styx]

So, since someone is bound to ask: who manufacturers some good cows and pigs (and chickens!) for 28mm?

Megaminis did, but I know they was selling off their molds to other lines....not sure if they are in business or not anymore.

[starkadder]

Dixon do Longhorns.

I have some very respectable pigs from a $2 shop. They were part of a farmyard set but I may have to reserve the chickens until I do a HG Wells' Food of the Gods scenario.

[Glitzer]

So, since someone is bound to ask: who manufacturers some good cows and pigs (and chickens!) for 28mm?

If you don't mind soft plastics, you might want to take a look at the Pegasus hobbies livestock set in 1:48. I have bought 3 of the, to have enough cows for the LotOW Scenarios (and random events).

[FifteensAway]

Heisler,

I understand your point about the cattle pens and all but I think of them as points of action.  Not only do you have the herds being driven to the pens to be loaded on the cars.  You also have the chance for gunfights to occur in or near them.  Yes, I know, the O.K. Corral fight wasn't in the corral.  Then there is 3:10 To Yuma; can always have the cows let loose to cause a distraction.  And, as far as my knowledge goes, there is the bit with the Earps on their way to California where Wyatt goes gunning (the movie sort of got that bit pretty accurate).  So, they don't need to be boring once they are built.  I am struggling to find some ready made fencing in 15 mm (please, nobody suggest HO!  Please! ) that I can use to build mine stock yard.

And, for all, stock yards do not have to be huge.  Can always think of it as a "way point" loading facility.  I plan to make mine a minimum of three enclosures but will probably go for bigger than that.  Thinking about getting even more long horn cattle than I've already got.  We'll see.  Too many bills right now to do it.