Chisholm Trail
When the railroads moved west to the Great Plains, the "Cattle Boom"
began. Southern Texas became a major ranching area with the raising of longhorn
cattle from Mexico. Cattle was branded by the rawhides who guarded them on
horseback on the ranges.
Before the Civil War, small herds of Texas cattle were driven by the
cowboys to New Orleans, some as far west as California, and some to the north
over the Shawnee Trail. This trail passed through Dallas and near the Indian
Territory, ending in Sedalia, Missouri. In 1866, the Shawnee Trail presented
some major problems for the cattle drivers Farmers along the route did not like
their fields being trampled. They also objected to the ...
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head in the east.
Ranchers hired cowboys for the cattle drives north, realizing the great
opportunity for a large profit if they could reach the railroads in Abilene,
Kansas.
Joseph McCoy, a stock dealer from Springfield, Illinois, decided a new
trail was necessary west of the farms. In 1867, he chose a route that would
reach Abilene and the railroads with the least amount of problems. This route
was to become well-known as the Chisholm Trail.
Jesse Chisholm was a half-breed, a Scotch Cherokee Indian trader, who in
1866 drove a wagon through the Indian territory, known now as Oklahoma, to the
Wichita, Kansas, where he had a trading post. Cattlemen use the same trail in
the years to come, following Chisholm's wagon ruts to Abilene, Kansas, and the
railroads. The trail began below San Antonio, Texas, and stretched north for
about 1,000 miles. The main course then passed through Austin, Fort Worth, The
Indian Territory, and Wichita to Abilene. Side trails fed ...
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Chisholm Trail. (2005, October 21). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Chisholm-Trail/35208
"Chisholm Trail." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 21 Oct. 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Chisholm-Trail/35208>
"Chisholm Trail." Essayworld.com. October 21, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Chisholm-Trail/35208.
"Chisholm Trail." Essayworld.com. October 21, 2005. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Chisholm-Trail/35208.
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