In 1866 , Nelson Story traveled to Texas and spent $ 10,000 for 1000 ( some accounts indicate possibly as many as 3000 ) head of Longhorn cattle . 1866 was the first year after the end of the American Civil War and the economy of Texas , as in the rest of the former Confederacy , was devastated . However , there were significant numbers of cattle roaming Texas which could be had for very little money . Also , there was great demand for beef in the northern states along with money to pay for it . So many returning Confederate soldiers begged or borrowed a stake to get a herd together . Many others signed on as trail drive cowboys . Give or take , about 260,000 cattle were driven north from Texas that summer toward the nearest rail shipping point at Sedalia , Missouri in hopes of selling them there for a quick profit . To reach Sedalia , the cattle first had to be driven through the territory which was to become Oklahoma , but which at the time was the Indian Territory . This was the domain of the remnants of the Five Civilized Nations who had survived the Trail of Tears . While the tribes previously had tolerated the passage of a few herds , an exodus of this magnitude threatened their ability to support their own grazing cattle . Rather than blocking the herds entirely , they decided to charge 10 cents a head for passage . The drovers mostly paid the fee
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Nelson Story