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Chisholm Trail

TitleChisholm Trail
# of Words643
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)2.57

Chisholm Trail



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 spread of tick fever.
Longhorns carried the ticks but were immune to the fever.  A few farmers were so
angry, they armed themselves with shotguns to convince the cattle ranchers to
find another trail north.

        There was a large increase icattle by the end of the Civil War.  Over
1,000,000    cattle roamed the open range.  At this time, people in the north
had money to buy beef and cattle which was in great demand. A cow that cost 4
to5 dollars a head in Texas was going for 40 to 50 dollars a 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...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!

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