Description
词汇提示
1.cattle drives 赶牛
2.conqueror 占领者
3.roamed 漫步
4.prairies 草原
5.interbred 杂交
6.temper 脾气
7.aggressiveness 攻击性
8.disbanded 遣散
9.tribes 部落
10.wagon 马车
11.barred 被禁止
12.barbed wire 带刺铁丝网围栏
13.dealer 商人
14.sheriff 治安官
15.tamed 驯服
16.herd 牧群
17.rancher 牧场主
18.chuck wagon 流动餐车
19.portable 便携的
20.fenced 被围起来
原文
Cowboys
The golden age of the American cowboy was short lived.
It began in the 1860s with the great cattle drives from Texas north to Kansas.
By 1890, when railroads had reached remote areas, there was no more need for large scale cattle drives.
Of course, cowboys have a history before 1860.
In fact, there were Mexican cowboys long before that.
The Spanish conqueror of Mexico, Hernan Cortes, brought cattle with him.
In 1521, Cortes also branded his cattle with a three-cross design.
The Spanish sharp horned cattle roamed the deserts and prairies freely.
Eventually, they found their way to Texas.
American settlers in Texas interbreed their animals with the Spanish breed.The Texas long-horn cow was the result.
It was famous for its bad temper and aggressiveness.
The long horn was a dangerous animal, with each of its horns measuring up to three and one half feet long.
After the American Civil War ended in 1865, disbanded soldiers who were former black slaves and young men seeking adventure headed west.
At that time, there were about 5 million cattle in Texas.
Back in the east, there was a big demand for beef.
By this time, railways from the east extended as far west as Kansas.
It was still more than 600 miles from South Texas to the railway between the two places.
There were rivers to cross Indian tribes, bad lands and other problems.
Fur trader named Jesse Chism had driven his wagon north.
In 1865, cowboys and cattle followed the Chism trail north to Abilene, Kansas.
This cattle trail became the most famous route for driving cattle, until it was barred with barbed wire in 1884.
In 1867, cattle dealer Joseph G McCoy built pens for 3000 cattle in the little town of Abilene.
Soon, Abilene was the most dangerous town in America.
After the long cattle drive, cowboys who had just been paid went wild.
Sheriff “Wild Bill”Hickok tamed Abilene in 1871 by forcing cowboys to turn over their guns when they arrived in town.
Other towns replaced Abilene as the wildest town in the west-Newton, Wichita, Ellsworth and Dodge City in Kansas.
A herd of 3000 Texas long horns might sell for 100000 dollars, making the rancher rich.
The cowboys might get 200 dollars in wages, which often disappeared on drink women and gambling.
Getting cattle to Kansas was far from easy.
One of the biggest difficulties was getting the herd across rivers, especially when the river was high.There were no bridges.
In 1871, 350 cowboys driving 60000 cattle waited two weeks for the water level in the Red River to go down.
Food for men and animals was also difficult to find at times. An early cattleman developed the Chuck Wagon, which were both a supply wagon and a portable kitchen.
In the 1870s, there were probably 40000 cowboys in the West.
After the prairies were fenced in, there was less work.
Large ranchers still employ cowboys to round up the cattle for branding or for sale.
Even today, about 20000 cowboys still work in North America.
翻译
牛仔美国牛仔的黄金时代是短暂的。它始于19世纪60年代,从德克萨斯向北到堪萨斯的大规模赶牛。到1890年,当铁路到达偏远地区时,就不再需要大规模的赶牛了。当然,牛仔在1860年以前就有了。事实上,早在那之前就有墨西哥牛仔了。墨西哥的西班牙征服者埃尔南·科尔特斯带来了牛。1521年,科尔特斯还在他的牛身上烙上了一个三叉图案。西班牙尖角牛在沙漠和大草原上自由游荡。最终,他们找到了去德克萨斯州的路。德克萨斯州的美国定居者将他们的