Baccus Plaza is dedicated to the role that cowboys and cattle played in the history of Texas. The Shawnee Trail passed over this spot on its journey north, and Texas cattle herds, mostly longhorn, were taken up the Shawnee Trail as early as the 1840s. Rivers, weather, mountains, and distance challenged the great cattle drives as the cowboys struggled to keep the herds together. Averaging 10 to 15 miles per day, the work was hard, the pay was low, but the adventure was great and lured many young men to the wide open spaces of Texas and the now historic cattle drives.