The Evolution of The Frontier Economy Monopolistic System: Jay Gould not only controlled the Texas and Pacific Railway, but also the Missouri Pacific, the Great Northern, the Cotton Belt, and several other railroads. Gould owned nearly one-third of the track mileage from 1878-1888. Similarly, developers of the ATSF competed heavily with the Kansas and Pacific for a share of the Texas cattle supply. Each company fought for a majority stake in the Texas railway system. The Union Pacific and the Texas and Pacific faced opposition from the ATSF railroad, with the T&P and the ATSF splitting a forty percent share of the traffic flow to California. While the railway company worked to assert itself in other regions, ATSF wittingly tried to block their competition from the state.
Railroad Regulation: The railroad industry concentrated wealth in very few hands. This lack of distribution led to the creation of the Texas Railroad Commission by John H. Reagan and James S. Hogg in 1891. Texans debated if the state or federal government should control the regulatory powers, eventually giving more regulatory power to the state. The Texas Railroad Commission continued into the Twentieth Century and controlled economic and social issues along the railway lines.
Railroad Commodity Map, Photo Courtesy of: The Texas History Portal
Impact of Trains:
The “Iron Horses” facilitated an economic and population boom in Texas. In 1870, the state had 711 miles of railroad and the population was 815,519. In 1880, Texas increased to 3,244 miles of track with a rising population of 1,591,749. Texas’ population was still largely rural, but as early as 1880, the train closed the frontier
Commodities:
The lumber industry boomed with the coming of the railroad to eastern Texas in 1860. Eventually, the T&P had twenty gristmills locatedeast of Dallas. In addition, cotton, sugar, molasses, hides, and livestock were vital to the Texas economy. In 1893, the same year that historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared the frontier closed, a report stated that Texas had fifteen million tons of freight during that year. Oil’s discovery at Spindletop in 1901 changed the Texas economic system and train freight. Texas connected to other cities through her rail lines, not only spurring the economies of train towns such as Abilene, but also connecting Texas to larger cities like St. Louis and Chicago. These vast transportation networks provided a way for Texas to increase her trade markets. In Chicago, the Burlington Route brought lumber, grain, and meat, leading to the creation of one of America’s great metropolises.