<P> Smaller cattle drives continued at least into the 1940s, as ranchers, prior to the development of the modern cattle truck, still needed to herd cattle to local railheads for transport to stockyards and packing plants . Today, cattle drives are primarily used to round up cattle within the boundaries of a ranch and to move them from one pasture to another, a process that generally lasts at most a few days . Because of the significance of the cattle drive in American history, some working ranches have turned their seasonal drives into tourist events, inviting guests in a manner akin to a guest ranch to participate in moving the cattle from one feeding ground to the next . While horses are still used in many places, particularly where there is rough or mountainous terrain, the all - terrain vehicle is also used . When cattle are required to move longer distances, they are shipped via truck . </P> <P> Events intended to promote the western lifestyle may incorporate cattle drives . For example, the Great Montana Centennial Cattle Drive of 1989 celebrated the state of Montana's centennial and raised money for a college scholarship fund as 2,400 people (including some working cowboys), 200 wagons and 2,800 cattle traveled 50 miles in six days from Roundup to Billings along a major highway . Similar drives have been sponsored since that time . </P> <P> The cowboy's distinctive working gear, most of it derived from the Mexican vaquero, captured the public image . High - crowned cowboy hat, high - heeled boots, leather chaps, pistol, rifle, lariat, and spurs were functional and necessary in the field, and fascinating on the movie screen . Increasingly the public identified the cowboy with courage and devotion to duty, for he tended cattle wherever he had to go, whether in bogs of quicksand; swift, flooding rivers; or seemingly inaccessible brush . He rode with lightning and blizzard, ate hot summer sand, and was burned by the sun . Theodore Roosevelt conceptualized the herder as a stage of civilization distinct from the sedentary farmer--a classic theme well expressed in the 1944 Broadway hit "Oklahoma!"--Roosevelt argued that the manhood typified by the cowboy--and outdoor activity and sports generally--was essential if American men were to avoid the softness and rot produced by an easy life in the city . The cow towns along the trail were notorious for providing liquor to the cowboys; they usually were not allowed to drink on the trail itself . </P> <P> During three decades it had moved over ten million cattle and one million range horses, stamped the entire West with its character, given economic and personality prestige to Texas, made the longhorn historic, glorified the cowboy over the globe, and endowed America with its most romantic tradition relating to any occupation . </P>

What problems brought an end to the great cattle drives