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CHISHOLM TRAIL

The Chisholm Trail originated in southern Texas and ran about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to its end at Abilene, Kansas. In 1866 the route was first traveled by American frontiersman Jesse Chisholm (1806?–1868?) as he drove a wagon from the Mexican border, through Texas, and across Indian Territory (presentday Oklahoma) to a trading post in Kansas. The following year, the Union Pacific Railroad reached Abilene. Cattle ranchers in Texas hired cowboys to round up their livestock on the open range and drive their herds to the depot. Cowboys followed Chisholm's path to Abilene. There the herds were loaded onto trains and transported to markets in the eastern United States, where the demand for beef increased growth in the cattle industry after the American Civil War (1861–1865). Between 1867 and 1870 cowboys drove about 1.5 million cattle along the Chisholm Trail. As the railways pushed westward, so did the route of the trail drive. At the ends of the trails, cities including Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas, became cow towns. As the railroad continued to expand into previously remote areas, the use of the trails declined.

See also: Cattle Drives, Cow Towns, Cowboys, Open Range