John and Julia Heffernans were Irish colonist who settled in Texas in 1829. At the time of their arrival in Texas the Heffernans had two daughters, Mary and Margaret, who had been born in Ireland. The Heffernans took up ranching near Victoria, Texas. There, two more children were born, John and James.

The younger daughter, Margaret, who was born on April 3, 1824, grew up in Texas and married Harrison Dunbar. Dunbar was killed due to a private argument in Victoria. Margaret had recently given birth to their only child, a daughter.

Several years later Margaret married again. This time to Milton Hardy, and again she was widowed after Hardy died of cholera in 1855. Margaret was left with two additional children.

Margaret married for the third time. This final marriage, though it produced four more children, was brief. In 1867 a yellow fever epidemic swept through Texas. Margaret not only lost her husband but several of her children and grandchildren as well.

Margaret had helped Borland with his cattle business.  After his death she took full responsibility for the ranch. By the middle of the 1860s Texas cowboys were driving large herds of cattle northward to markets or ranges along the Chisholm, Goodnight-Loving, and Sedalia trails. It is estimated that more than 11 million cattle were herded up these trails before the railroads reached the cow towns.

By 1873 Margaret Borland owned a herd of more than 10,000 cattle, and she well knew they weren't going to make her any money strolling around the ranch, eating and sleeping. There was just one way she was going to get her money, and that meant getting all those ornery critters to market. And that's when Margaret Borland went down in history as a woman doing a man's job.

This woman of Texas, having come from Irish and pioneer stock, is said to be the only woman known to have led a cattle drive. In the spring of 1873 Margaret Borland left her home in Victoria for an undertaking most women wouldn't even consider. With her were two sons, both under fifteen, a seven-year-old daughter, and even younger granddaughter. With this brave gathering went a group of trail hands, and about 2,500 cattle.

They reached Wichita, Kansas successfully but Margaret was ill.  She was diagnosed as having an illness often described as "trail fever" as well as "congestion of the brain."  Margaret Borland died on July 5, 1873.