The Hide Trade on the Rio Grande
Two 1851 Letters to Charles Stillman
Among the many businesses that passed through Charles Stillman’s warehouses in Brownsville, one of the most important in the early 1850s was the trade in cattle hides. Two letters dated December 23, 1851, from New Orleans merchants give a glimpse of how that trade worked and why Brownsville quickly became a hub of international commerce.
The writers—B. S. Mann and M. W. McChesney, both operating from New Orleans—were part of the network of commission merchants who handled frontier products for sale in larger markets.
The Commodity: Salted Hides
The letters refer specifically to “salted hides.”
Hides were a valuable byproduct of the vast cattle herds roaming South Texas and northern Mexico. When cattle were slaughtered, the hides were preserved by salting so they could survive long journeys by wagon, steamboat, or sailing vessel.
Once cured, the hides were shipped to commercial centers where they were used in:
leather production
saddlery
harness making
boot and shoe manufacturing
industrial belts for machinery
In the mid-19th century, leather was one of the most essential industrial materials in the world.
Brownsville as a Collection Point
Stillman’s firm in Brownsville served as a collection and export point for hides produced throughout the Rio Grande frontier.
Ranchers and traders from:
the lower Rio Grande Valley
northern Mexico
the interior ranchlands
would bring hides to Brownsville, where merchants like Stillman purchased or consigned them for sale in larger markets.
From there the hides could be shipped by coastal vessel to New Orleans, one of the most important commercial ports in the United States.
New Orleans Commission Merchants
The two letters show how New Orleans merchants competed for Stillman’s business.
One correspondent notes that he had heard Stillman might be shipping hides through Witherell, Wade & Co., another commercial house. He writes to persuade Stillman to ship his hides instead through his own firm.
This type of competition was common. Commission merchants depended on frontier traders like Stillman to supply them with goods that could be sold in eastern or European markets.
Prices and Markets
The letter mentions hides being sold at about 9½ cents per pound.
That figure tells us several things:
• hides were sold by weight rather than by individual piece
• markets were closely watched for price fluctuations
• frontier merchants tried to time shipments for the best return
A merchant who could sell at even slightly better prices could attract large consignments.
The Commission System
The New Orleans merchant offers to handle Stillman’s hides for a 2½ percent commission.
Under this system:
Stillman would ship hides to New Orleans.
The commission merchant would sell them.
The merchant deducted his commission.
The remaining proceeds were credited to Stillman.
The commission house might then purchase goods requested by the frontier merchant—such as manufactured supplies—or send cash or bills of exchange.
A Growing International Trade
Although these letters concern hides, the same network handled many other frontier commodities:
cotton
wool
cattle
tallow
Mexican silver
From New Orleans the products could move onward to New York, Boston, or Europe, tying the remote Rio Grande frontier into the global economy.
Why These Letters Matter
These brief letters illustrate something important about Charles Stillman.
He was not merely a local storekeeper. By the early 1850s he had become a major intermediary in the trade between Texas, Mexico, and the wider Atlantic economy.
The hides stacked in Brownsville warehouses eventually became leather goods used thousands of miles away. The letters from New Orleans merchants show how eagerly larger commercial houses sought access to that trade.
Sidebar: What Was a “Commission Merchant”?
In the 19th-century trade world, a commission merchant was essentially a middleman who sold goods on behalf of someone else.
Frontier merchants like Charles Stillman in Brownsville often dealt in products produced far from major markets—cattle hides, cotton, wool, and other raw materials gathered along the Rio Grande. But selling those goods directly to manufacturers in places like New Orleans, New York, or Europe was difficult. Transportation, contacts, and market knowledge were required.
That is where commission merchants came in.
A commission merchant would:
• receive shipments of goods from distant merchants
• sell those goods in a larger commercial market
• deduct a small percentage—called a commission—for their services
• send the proceeds back to the shipper, often in cash, credit, or bills of exchange
In the letters shown here, New Orleans merchants are offering to sell Stillman’s salted cattle hides for a commission of about 2½ percent.
The arrangement worked both ways. After selling the hides, the commission merchant could also purchase goods that frontier merchants needed—tools, cloth, hardware, or manufactured items—and ship them back to Texas.
Through this system, remote frontier towns like Brownsville became connected to the commercial networks of New Orleans, New York, and even Europe.
What began as a wagon load of hides from a ranch on the Rio Grande might eventually become leather used in boots, harnesses, or machinery belts thousands of miles away.
Sidebar: Why Hides Were Valuable on the Frontier
In the early 1850s, cattle were plentiful across the ranchlands of South Texas and northern Mexico. Yet surprisingly, the most valuable part of the animal was often not the meat—but the hide.
Before refrigeration and large-scale rail transport, beef could not easily be shipped long distances. On the frontier, much of the meat from slaughtered cattle was consumed locally or simply wasted. What could be preserved and transported was the hide.
After a steer was killed, its hide was removed and packed in salt to prevent decay. These “salted hides” could then survive the long journey by wagon or coastal vessel to larger markets such as New Orleans.
Once there, the hides were sold to tanneries and leather manufacturers. Leather was an essential industrial material in the 19th century. It was used to produce:
• boots and shoes
• saddles and harnesses
• belts that powered factory machinery
• military equipment and wagon gear
Because demand for leather was constant, hides became a dependable frontier commodity.
Merchants like Charles Stillman collected hides from ranchers throughout the Rio Grande region and shipped them to commission merchants in major ports. The hides moved through commercial networks stretching from Brownsville to New Orleans, New York, and even Europe.
In this way, the cattle roaming the brush country of the lower Rio Grande became part of a much larger global trade.
Sidebar: The Hide Trade and the Rise of the Great Ranches
The trade in cattle hides along the Rio Grande during the 1850s helped lay the foundation for some of the largest ranching enterprises in Texas history.
At the center of this frontier economy was Charles Stillman of Brownsville, whose warehouses served as a major collection point for hides gathered from ranches throughout South Texas and northern Mexico. Stillman did not operate alone. He was part of a network of merchants and entrepreneurs whose partnerships shaped the economic future of the region.
Among those closely connected to this trade were Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King, two transportation contractors who supplied the U.S. Army and later became prominent ranchers. In the early years their business included hauling freight, moving goods along the coast, and participating in the hide trade that passed through Brownsville and other Gulf ports.
Hides from cattle slaughtered on the frontier were salted, packed, and shipped to New Orleans, where commission merchants sold them to tanneries and leather manufacturers. From there the leather was turned into boots, harnesses, saddles, and industrial belts used across the United States and Europe.
As cattle herds multiplied across South Texas, some traders began to realize that controlling the land and livestock themselves could be even more profitable than merely trading the hides. Men like Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy, already experienced in the frontier cattle trade, eventually invested in vast ranching operations.
One of those ventures would become the King Ranch, founded in 1853. What began partly as participation in the hide trade soon evolved into one of the most famous cattle empires in North America.
Thus, the salted hides stacked in warehouses along the Rio Grande were more than a frontier commodity. They were part of the economic forces that helped transform South Texas from a remote borderland into a region of powerful ranching dynasties.
