Well, when Texas became independent and all the Mexicans moved out, they left all the cattle ranches behind. With the American Settlers, they did not have very many cattle farms before Texas's independence, and at first the cattle farmers the had aquired the Mexican farms weren't making very much money. One of the main reasons for this is because the settlers hadn't aquired a taste for beef yet. After a while though, they started to get more and of a taste for it untill it was at the point where is was getting expensive, and was also in very high demand. One important pioneer of this industry was Joseph McCoy. What he did is helpmove the cattle industry by rail road to Chicago from Texas, and then to the East. All the while making a ton of money.
Question: Why did it take so long for us to aquire a taset for beef?