The Chisholm Trail: A History of the World's Greatest Cattle Trail
608
The Chisholm Trail: A History of the World's Greatest Cattle Trail
608eBookProprietary (Proprietary)
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Overview
After the Civil War, many cattlemen saw that there was money to be made in moving cattle northward. Joseph G. McCoy built shipping pens at Abilene, which became known as the terminating point of the Chisholm Trail. When the trial was most active, millions of cattle and mustang accompanied their drivers on the two to three month journey that it took to travel across. This book is the story of those cattle and their drivers, who fought through Indian ambushes, stampedes and cattle rustlers.
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781632207685 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Skyhorse |
| Publication date: | 04/21/2015 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 608 |
| File size: | 18 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
NECESSITY FOR THE TRAIL
At the time of the breaking out of the war between the states in 1861, the Indians who remained in the Northern portion of the United States, east of the Mississippi River, and who had not been killed by the white invaders, had settled down on quiet reservations. The remaining portion of the Northern Indians had, prior to this time, retreated westward before the white man's rifle as it cleared the way for the white man's plow. These retreating Indians had made their last stand either in or at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and on the plains to the east of the same. The white man's cottages of logs, rock, and the sod of the prairie dotted the eastern portion of these plains, while the steel rails of the transcontinental railways were being extended further west and were preparing to reach out onto these plains.
In the Congress of the United States, at this time, the different factions were staging a battle incessant to determine whether the states which were to be carved out of this northern plains country were to be free or slave states. Both the Oregon and the Santa Fe trails extended westward from the Missouri River, the eastern boundary of Kansas. Each of these trails wound its way to the west, as devious as the trail of a serpent, and each crossed these northern plains. The Santa Fe trail terminated in the heart of the continent at Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Oregon trail found its way to various points on the Pacific coast.
The foregoing describes the situation generally in the North. In the Southern portion of the United States, in the, years preceding the war between the states, the fearless Davy Crockett had gone forth from his home in Tennessee to fight for the independence of Texas, and with his companion, Thimblerig, had cut loose from civilization at Nacogdoches, and, threading the forest wilderness, and swimming the rivers, had reached the old Alamo Mission, where now stands the beautiful City of San Antonio, Texas. There, fighting a forlorn hope, these soldiers of the frontier had died, together with Bowie, Bonham, Travis, and their other Texas companions. These brave defenders of Texas liberty had fallen when massacred by the ruthless invading Mexican Army, led by the more ruthless Santa Anna.
The hardy and fearless pioneers of Texas had rallied under the battle cry of, "Remember the Alamo"; and under the leadership of the rugged, intrepid, and sagacious Sam Houston had conquered Santa Anna and his Mexican Horde at San Jacinto. This conquest had been made in one of the most remarkable and decisive battles that the world has ever known. The flower of the Mexican Army had been driven back across the Rio Grande, and the power and control of the Mexican Government completely torn down and annihilated for all time in the country to the east of that river. Thenceforth the flag bearing the lone star floated over the great empire of Texas, and soon above it waved the Stars and Stripes.
Also, prior to this national conflict, the Indians in the Southern portion of the United States, living east of the Mississippi River, who belonged to the Five Civilized Tribes, comprised of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, had been taken forcibly by the armed forces of a Christian and civilized Government, and placed on separate reservations in what is now the eastern portion of the State of Oklahoma. There had also, prior to the time stated, been ceded to the Cherokee Indians a strip of land fifty-eight miles wide immediately west of the Cherokee Reservation, immediately south of the southern boundary of Kansas, and extending west as far as the United States' possessions at that time reached, which location was then undetermined. This strip of land was said to be an outlet for the Cherokee Indians to the west from their reservation for hunting purposes. This was known as the Cherokee Outlet and later as the Cherokee Strip. The Cherokee Indians, as all people know, were not hunters. This land was never utilized by them, and this country until long after the Civil War was unoccupied. The land included in this outlet had really been considered worthless; hence the generosity of Congress. Regardless of the early impression of this country, it is now well known that it contained some of the finest, most valuable, and fertile land in the United States.
All this vast stretch of country, north of the Red River, prior to and for many years after the Civil War, was unoccupied and remained a veritable wilderness, over which roamed lawless bands of Western or Plains Indians, buffalo and other native wild animals. Onto this country, during that time, occasionally ventured intrepid explorers, traders, and outlaws, some of whom returned therefrom, while others left their bones upon the plains. Thus extended westward these two advances of civilization, while between them lay a vast domain, extending from the Red River on the south to central Kansas on the north. This intervening country, several hundred miles in width, was as void of civilization and protection of government as the jungles of South America.
Such was the situation in the West when active warfare between the states was entered into at the firing of Fort Sumter. The entire Nation was thereafter engaged in Civil War for the four years ensuing. During these four years, and up to the year 1866, the energy, power, and wealth of both the North and the South were exerted and spent in this civil conflict. During these years extensions of the frontiers and advancing the same were forgotten. Following the final capitulation of the Confederate Army at Appomatox, the armies of the North and the armies of the South left their bivouacs, cantonments, and forts, and returned to their former homes. Soon thereafter the men and women of the North took up their march to the west, singing both in spirit and in words:
"We will cross the prairies as of old Our fathers crossed the sea,
To make the West as they the East The homestead of the free."
In the South the men of Texas, joined by the Eastern and Northern men, pushed their herds westward, through thickets and woodland, across the glades and prairies to the Rio Grande. The trails left by the retreating Mexicans served as cow-paths, which were followed by the advancing herds. These pioneers left the line of their march marked with homes and ranches.
During the Civil War it had been impossible to send cattle out from the State of Texas. That State was a part of the Confederacy, and cattle during that period were not sent to States in possession of the Federal Army. During most of the war, the Mississippi River had been in the possession of the armies of the North, and for that reason no cattle could pass from Texas down or across to the east side of that river. During all these years the cattle of Texas multiplied, until the most accurate statistics show that at the close of the war there were over 3,000,000 cattle on the farms and ranches of that State. While this number purports to be accurate, we know that it cannot be exact. It has been said that the cost of rearing a steer to maturity in Texas at that time was fifty cents, and this was the cost of branding it. There was no market for these cattle, and they were practically without value.
Following the close of the war some of these cattle were driven east to the Mississippi River, and shipped by boat to New Orleans and other points down the river, but the demand for them in this direction was soon satisfied. The people of the South, if they had the opportunity, were generally without means to buy any great amount of meat. In 1866 some cattle were driven across the desert to the Pecos River, and up that river to New Mexico and as far as Santa Fe, but the demand in these localities was meager as compared with the supply. The states to the north and northeast needed these cattle, and were able and willing to pay good prices for the same if it was possible to transport them to the localities of the demand. Reasonable prices for these cattle would have made the citizens of the State of Texas wealthy beyond their most exaggerated dreams.
In the year 1866 many Texas cattlemen, and also purchasers from the North, drove herds north across the Red River, thence taking a northeast course across the country of the Five Civilized Tribes, in what is now eastern Oklahoma, attempted to cross either the State of Missouri or the State of Arkansas, and thus reach the markets or railways. Almost without exception these undertakings ended in utter failure and disaster. The Five Civilized Tribes were engaged in farming, thus dependent on their crops for support; and the interference with these farming enterprises and the difficulty of handling these wild range cattle in a farming country was the first great difficulty encountered. The greatest trouble, however, arose upon reaching the States of Missouri and Arkansas. On the borders of and within both of these states, where these market bound herds must cross, were large numbers of men discharged from both armies, who sought the course of least legitimate efforts to provide means for living. Members of this class were ready to take up any means possible, regardless as to whether it was legal or not, to obtain money. If it could be done under the pretense of being for a commend able purpose, it would cause them less trouble.
Members of this lawless element would stop these north bound herds, claiming that they were interested in preventing the spread of what was then termed the Spanish fever, a disease later known as the Texas fever. In most cases these parties would levy blackmail on the drovers, requiring them to pay certain sums of money before they would be permitted to proceed on their journey. In case the drivers in charge of the herds refused to meet the demands of these lawless men, they were whipped and robbed, and all of their belongings and their cattle taken away from them. For the reasons stated there was not a successful drive of cattle north from Texas during the entire year of 1866. The season closed with this record, and no market had yet been found for the herds of Texas.
In the year 1866, there was organized at St. Louis, Missouri, a railway company under the name of "The Kansas Pacific Railway." The purpose of this company was to extend a line of railway west from the Missouri River. In 1866 or the spring of 1867 this company boldly pushed its railway westward onto the Great Plains. It took its course up the valley of the Kaw River from Westport, now Kansas City, Missouri, to Topeka, Kansas, and pushed on to Manhattan, Junction City, Abilene, Salina, and Ellsworth. Abilene, Kansas, was the nearest location, on a direct line, north on the prospective route from Texas to make the cattle drives and reach this new railway. A young energetic cattleman from central Illinois, by the name of Jos. G. McCoy, recognizing the opportunity of establishing this location as a shipping point, and preparing to care for the herds coming from the south, built shipping pens at Abilene, sent messengers out to meet them, and advertised Abilene generally as the great shipping point on the new Kansas Pacific Railway. On account of the efforts, energy, and labor of young McCoy, Abilene became famous throughout the West as the northern terminus of the Chisholm Trail.
In the spring of 1867 the people of Texas learned that this new line of railroad was being built across the plains country to the north. The only question that then remained was the possibility of making the drive and breaking a trail across the several hundred miles of intervening wild and uncivilized country, which was not only exposed to the ordinary dangers of a wild country, but was also exposed to the assaults of the Western or Plains Indians, who for years had been on the war path. Many were the ranchers of Texas who stood upon the south bank of the Red River and looked anxiously to the north across this country; then returned to their ranches, afraid to venture over it. This feeling was brought about largely from a knowledge of the well advertised difficulties encountered and results of the attempted drives to the north the preceding year. Such was the necessity for a broken trail to guide the herds from Texas across this wild, exposed, and dangerous land.
There were no historians stationed along the routes of these trails of the West ready to record the deeds of these hardy plainsmen, and much of this early history is therefore lost to future generations. From the best recorded facts that can be gathered, and from the best existing information, it appears that it remained for a Californian, small and insignificant in appearance, but who had met and overcome all the difficulties and adversities of the plains and frontier, to make the first successful drive over this route. His name was Col. O. W. Wheeler. More will be said in future pages of this remarkable man and the drive he made.
Inasmuch as we are dealing at this time with the resources of the State of Texas and its capacity for producing the great herds that were ready to be thrown onto the northern markets, it is well, at this time, to observe the character and resources of this country, and to submit a general description of the same.
This great State has included within its boundaries over one hundred and seventy million acres of land, with all kinds and characters of surface, soil, and climate. The writer has traveled over all parts of the State of Texas, and from such personal observation considers it, when taken as a whole, one of the greatest States, if not the greatest State, of the Union of States. If the State of Texas was entirely segregated from the rest of the world it could come nearer subsisting, or could subsist longer and with less difficulty, than any other known territory of the same size. Over most of the State, except the extreme eastern portion, is found some specie of what is known as the mesquite grass. This grass is especially adapted for grazing at all seasons of the year.
The beauty of the State of Texas is unsurpassed. In most of the southern portion of the same the Spanish moss trails down from the trees and is swayed by the gentle breeze. Also in the southern portion of the State, in the early days, the long-horned cattle, the descendants of the herds driven by the Moors into old Spain, roamed through the dark chaparral thickets, wild as the deer with which they associated. These were the first cattle introduced into this country, and were brought here by the early Spanish explorers and settlers. In the central portions of the State the cattle grazed through the ragged mesquite thickets, where the grapevine cacti twines around the trees. Here also extends the long stretches of prairie dotted with great bunches of broad-leaved cacti with the long and dangerous spines, around which the cattle cropped with great caution; the native mesquite grass. This cacti is generally known as the prickly pear, and during the early springtime these huge bunches are covered with large yellow bloom. These blooms encircle leaves as large as a palm-leaved fan.
This set of horns was brought from Southern Texas during the cattle days, and is now owned by and kept in the Stock Exchange Bank at Caldwell, Kansas.
In the eastern portion of the State is found the towering long and short-leaved pine, in the forests of which twilight reigns a greater portion of the day. Out in the western portion of the State extends the broad plains, generally known as Llano Estacado. Here the "man-cactus" rears its head and stands like a lone sentinel on the plain. On the south the Gulf of Mexico washes the borders of the State, and along its beaches is almost perpetual summer. In the extreme northern portion, while the summers are long, during the winter months the chill winds and often the blizzards blow down from the north.
It has been heretofore stated that, in the days preceding the Civil War, the long-horned breed of cattle was found in the State of Texas. In making this statement the writer desires to impress the significance of the same as to the size of the horns of these cattle. The illustration appearing herein, while large, is not by any means the largest coming out or found in that country. The horns on these cattle were so large that in this day and age they are beyond conception. This is the more remarkable from the fact that they generally lived in a timbered country or among brush. These cattle in early days, when they were hunted, would hide in the chaparral thickets and come out during the night to graze, and return to their hiding place shortly after daylight.
The writer desires here to register a protest, on behalf of the old time southern long horned cattle, on account of the almost universal misrepresentation of this long suffering breed, from the hideous pictures which have been made and published illustrating them with long horns sticking up in front of their heads in a curve the shape of inverted teeth of a hayrake. If this departed race of cattle could know that they had been described thus, there would be a universal rattling of old bones, and, on sight of one of these pictures, there would be a general stampede.
(Continues…)
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