On July 5, Margaret Borland of Victoria died of "trail fever" in Wichita, Kan., after successfully becoming the first and only woman to lead a trail drive from Texas. Thrice widowed, the mother of seven had assisted one husband in his cattle business and, after his death, assumed full responsibility for the estate. Buying and selling livestock, by 1873 she owned a herd of more than 10,000 cattle. She left Victoria that spring with 2,500 cattle, and a crew that included two dozen trail hands along with two sons under fifteen, a seven-year-old daughter, an even younger granddaughter. Due to Texas poor economy after the Civil War, the trail drives offered new opportunities for women, formerly enslaved and Hispanic Texans.