to move over the prairies freely and the bison were disappearing, many were rapidly shifting economic emphases. They had been successful horse breeders for some time already, but now they moved to apply their horse breeding and bison management skills to the new imported breeds of cattle. As a result, many of the earliest cattle and/or horse herds in north america belonged to First Nations and Métis, and some of the original canadian herds were brought north by skilled cattle drivers from those same groups. In many ways, the great north-south cattle drives represented the last uses of the original major Indigenous trade networks of the americas at the time, which did indeed run from the far north to the far south. The archetypal "cowboy shirt" and leather chaps were both developed from traditional Indigenous gear, tufted war shirts and leggings respectively. This is easy to accept in the case of chaps, but for those feeling doubtful about the shirts, consider the fact that "cowboy shirts" today, like most button down dress shirts, have a rounded bottom edges on the front and back, and a distinct v-cut at the sides, usually rounded. None of that is about the shape of the wearer's hips or tucking the shirts in. These cuts and hems reflect the shape of the hide of a four legged animal, and how teh stronger, thicker portions are arranged to sit where the most wear happens. In the southern plains and southwest of the rockies especially, <Organization> Nations opted to ranch rather than farm. While it is true that the resulting way of life may have seemed more familiar, the choice was an eminently practical one. They understood the nature of the prairie drought cycles and the prairie soil, and could not afford fancy eastern farm machinery which might have allowed them to work the land in defiance of the environmental conditions. First Nations were also prevented from retaining access to water to irrigate crops courtesy of an invidious settler designed licensing system and continuous enclosure and taking of reserved lands. The resulting operations were reasonably successful, providing employment to <Organization> Nations members and M