Famed for its beef since the era of the Republic, Texas fed a great part of the Confederacy, both civilians and army, during the Civil War years 1861-1865. Beef moved along many routes, including the Shreveport Trail to Vicksburg, Mississippi; the Alexandria Trail to Natchez, Mississippi; the Opelousas Trail to Woodville, Mississippi, and on to Mobile, Alabama; the Old Government Road to Little Rock, Arkansas; Oliver Loving's 1859 trail north to Indian Territory; trails to army depots; and even to Mexico. Cowboys swam cattle across rivers, including the Mississippi, and after such hardships one outfit was mistakenly arrested by Confederates. Lieutenant Colonel J.F. Scurlock and his son, driving Texas beef into southern Louisiana from Johnson County, were arrested by Federals and died in prison of fever. Meredith Hart, 1811-1864, a leading beef supplier who came to Johnson County in 1855 after fighting for the Texas Republic in 1836, sold beef to the U.S. Army in the 1850's. During the Civil War, he was among ranchers victimized by beef contractors using counterfeit money, but he accepted the losses in the belief that his beef was feeding his sons and others on Confederate fighting fronts.