The cattle trails were important because people started to demand a lot of beef. So, they needed a way to get cattle from the ranches. Texas didn't have any railroads at that time, so they had to take cattle to rail heads in Kansas also because they had low supply of beef. Ranching was introduced to America by the spanish who drove cattle from Mexico. In the 1800's Texans were looking for a way of living. There were no markets for the abundant cattle abandoned during the civil war. The Great Western Trail was developed on the simple theory of the supply and demand. The markets wanted beef because they were in great demand in markets. Then Mexico gave beef to Texas because the demand was high in Texas.