- Term
hide and tallow trade
- Broader Term
Business and Economics
- Date
1821-1875
- Remarks
Under Spanish rule, missions were the main economic institution in California. After 1821, the Mexican government granted mission lands to individuals, who developed vast cattle ranches. Without refrigeration, the meat could not be shipped very far. But American and British traders eagerly bartered manufactured goods for cow hides and tallow that would be made into shoes, harness and other leather goods in New England manufacturing centers. This trade increased American interest in California in the 1830s and 1840s. After the United States - Mexican War, the hide and tallow trade shifted to the Texas coast, where it thrived until approximately 1875, when cattle populations in the region had been exhausted.
- See Also