The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 139
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The Overland Movement of Cotton, 1866-1886
The importance of the change in direction of the cotton move-
ment is seen in different ways. For example, of the total num-
ber of bales of cotton exported in 1880, which amounted to 3,-
774,173 bales,9 only 108,676 bales were transported overland, or
less than three per cent, while 350,416 bales, or over sixteen per
cent of the 2,178,917 bales exported in 1870,10 were carried over-
land to northern markets. Then, there is the factor of supply-
ing the cotton manufactories of the North. What percentage is
carried directly overland? In 1850, the northern mills bought
475,702 bales of cotton,11 and there is no record of any ship-
ments overland in 1850; the number of bales taken by the north-
erns mills for 1870, 1880, and 1886, respectively, was 806,890,
1,573,987, and 1,781,478 ;12 the shipments overland direct to man-
ufactories for these years, in the order given, were 153,825, 518,-
240, and 859,782 bales, respectively.8 The percentage of all the
cotton taken by northern mills supplied by rail movement in-
creased from approximately nineteen per cent in 1870 to fifty
per cent in 1886.
This rapid increase in the overland movement of cotton was
largely due to the great spread of the railway network through
the cotton-belt, and to combinations entered into between these
railroads and the great east-west trunk lines for through bills of
lading from points throughout the cotton-belt. 4
Other factors contributed to the growth of the overland move-
ment of cotton. St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville became
centers for distributing merchandise brought from the East, and
concentration points for collecting raw materials to provide
freight for the east-bound trunk lines. Feeder lines were built
out from these cities in such a way as to tap the rich resources
of the South and Southwest. The Louisville and Nashville Rail-
road furnishes a good example. It was the pariah of the South-
ern System, for its express purpose was to divert traffic north to
the great east-west trunk lines." The Gould System, which cen-
OReport on Internal Commerce, 1886, lxxiii.
1"Ibid., lxxiii.
"Ibid., lxii.
"Ibid., lxxii.
"Ibid., lxviii.
"Report on Internal Commerce, 1882, 82.
"Cotterill, R. S., "Southern Railroads, 1850-1860," in Mississippi Valley
Historical Review (March, 1924), X, 402.139
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932, periodical, 1932; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101092/m1/143/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.