TheChisholm Trail (/ˈtʃɪzəm/CHIZ-əm) was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era todrive cattle overland from ranches in southernTexas, across theRed River intoIndian Territory, and northward to rail stops inKansas. The trail consisted of a pathway established byBlack Beaver in 1861 and a wagon road established byJesse Chisholm around 1864. "The ChisholmWagon Road went from Chisholm's trading post on the southCanadian River (north ofFort Arbuckle) to theCimarron River crossing, to theArkansas River at the future site ofWichita where Chisholm had another trading post and on north toAbilene," according to the Kraisingers. By 1869, the entire trail from Texas to Kansas became known as the Chisholm Trail.[1][2]
Texas ranchers using the Chisholm Trail had their cowboys start cattle drives from either theRio Grande area orSan Antonio. They joined the Chisholm Trail at the Red River, at the border between Texas and theOklahoma Territory. They continued north to established railheads of theKansas Pacific Railway inAbilene, Kansas, where the cattle were sold and shipped eastward. The trail is named for Jesse Chisholm, a multiracial trader from Tennessee ofCherokee andScottish descent. Together with scout Black Beaver, he developed the trail to transport his goods from one trading post to another. The two men were the first to drive cattle north along this route.[3]
By 1853, Texas cattle were being driven intoMissouri. Local farmers began blocking the herds and turning them back because theTexas Longhorns carriedticks that caused diseases in other species of cattle. Violence,vigilante groups, andcattle rustling caused further problems for thedrovers. By 1859, the driving of cattle was outlawed in many Missouri jurisdictions. By the end of the Civil War, most cattle were being moved up the western branch of the trail, being gathered at Red River Station inMontague County, Texas.
In 1866, cattle in Texas were worth $4 per head, compared to over $40 per head in theNorth andEast. Lack of market access during the Civil War had produced an overstock of cattle in Texas. In 1867,Joseph G. McCoy built stockyards in Abilene, Kansas. He encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to his stockyards. O. W. Wheeler answered McCoy's call, and he along with partners used the Chisholm Trail to bring a herd of 2,400 head from Texas to Abilene. This herd was the first of an estimated 5,000,000 head of Texas cattle to reach Kansas via the Chisholm Trail.[4][5] McCoy's stockyards shipped 35,000 head in 1867 and became the largest stockyards west ofKansas City, Kansas.
The construction of theUnion Pacific Railway throughNebraska eventually offered a cattle drive destination that was an attractive alternative to theKansas Pacific Railroad. Between 1876 and 1884 some drives followed theGreat Western Cattle Trail instead of the Chisholm Trail.[6]
In Texas, hundreds of feeder trails headed north and joined the main cattle trails. In the early 1840s, most cattle were driven up theShawnee Trail. The Chisholm Trail was previously used byIndian hunting and raiding parties; the trail crossed intoIndian Territory (present-day west-centralOklahoma) near Red River Station and entered Kansas nearCaldwell. Through Oklahoma, the route ofU.S. Highway 81 follows the Chisholm Trail through present-day towns ofEl Reno,Duncan, Chickasha, andEnid.[7]
Historians generally consider the starting point of the Chisholm Trail to be eitherDonna or San Antonio. From 1867 to 1871, the trail ended in Abilene, Kansas, but as railroads were incrementally built southward, the end of the trail moved to other cities. The end of the trail moved toNewton and soon afterward toWichita. From 1883 to 1887, the end of the trail was atCaldwell.
On the long trips—up to two months—cattlemen faced many difficulties. They had to cross major rivers such as theArkansas and theRed and innumerable smaller creeks, as well as handle the topographic challenges ofcanyons,badlands, desolate plains, and low mountain ranges. Major drives typically started in the spring after the rains stimulated the growth of green grasses which the cattle would graze along the way. The spring drives, with those rains and higher water levels with the runoff, always meant more danger at the river crossings, which had few or no bridges suitable for large herds of cattle to cross. The half-wild Texas Longhorn cattle were contrary and prone tostampede with little provocation.
The days of longest sunlight, near mid-June, were also an important consideration in the timing of drives. In addition to natural dangers, the cowboys and drovers encountered rustlers and occasional conflicts with Native Americans. The cattle drives disrupted hunting and the cultivation of crops in the Indian Territory. Tribal members demanded that the trail bosses pay atoll of 10 cents per head to local tribes for the right to cross Indian lands (Oklahoma at that time was Indian Territory, governed fromFort Smith, Arkansas).
The only woman known to run her own cattle drive traveled from Texas to Wichita using the Chisholm Trail.Margaret Borland took her family, hired hands, and 2,500 Longhorns on the trail in 1873 in search of profit for her cattle, which were worth triple in Kansas over Texas prices. She died from what was called trail fever just after arriving in Wichita, after an otherwise successful journey.
The cattle drives have been a popular topic amongWestern genre movies. At least 27 movies have portrayed fictional accounts of the first drive along the Chisholm Trail, includingThe Texans (1938), directed byJames P. Hogan and starringRandolph Scott andJoan Bennett; andRed River (1948), directed byHoward Hawks and starringJohn Wayne andMontgomery Clift.Walter Brennan co-starred in both films.
The trail is the subject of at least twopop songs: "The Last Cowboy Song," written and recorded byEd Bruce, also performed byThe Highwaymen; and the song "The Old Chisholm Trail." Among those who have covered the song areGene Autry,Girls of the Golden West,Woody Guthrie,Michael Martin Murphey,Tex Ritter, andRoy Rogers.Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) also covered this song, although his version was titled "When I Was A Cowboy". Nova Scotia-bornWilf Carter recorded a version of the song, titled, "Come A Ty-ya Yippie Yi Yo".
Many schools in this region have been named after the Chisholm Trail, including:
The Chisholm Trail is roughly traced by U.S. Route 81 through Oklahoma, and that state has multiple museums and sites paying respect to the trail.[13] TheChisholm Trail Heritage Center inDuncan, Oklahoma has educational and interactive exhibits, a large monument depicting a scene from a Chisholm Trail cattle drive, and a trail walkway.[13][14] Trail Ruts at Monument Hill just outside of Duncan has visible traces of cattle hoofs and wagons actually left on the trail.[13]Kingfisher, Oklahoma, has a life-size statue of Jesse Chisholm in the middle of downtown, as well as theChisholm Trail Museum and Governor Seay Mansion which gives a clear timeline of the trail.[13]Yukon, Oklahoma, has the Chisholm Trail Watering Hole and historic marker, while Jesse Chisholm's gravesite is a bit further north outsideGeary, Oklahoma.[13] A mural in Enid, Oklahoma depicting the trail is located in the downtown area.[13]
Lockhart, Texas, inCaldwell County, holds a four-day festival on the second weekend of June, to celebrate its place on the Chisholm Trail.Newton, Kansas holds a three- to four-dayChisholm Trail Festival, combining it with the annual Fourth of July celebration.
In 2014, theNorth Texas Tollway Authority constructed a 26-mile-long toll road named after the trail, theChisholm Trail Parkway. It connects downtownFort Worth to the nearby city ofCleburne inJohnson County. In 2017, theTexas Historical Commission releasedThe Chisholm Trail: Exploring the Folklore and Legacy, an online tour and mobile app.[15] The tour includes audio tracks and short videos that retell the history of communities and local heritage in towns and cities that line the route of the former Chisholm Trail.
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