By 1867, six states had laws enacted or strenghtened laws prohibiting the movement of Texas and Indian cattle across their borders. Missouri's law was the harshest, as it gave inspectors the right to condemn and destroy any inspected cattle thought to be carrying Texas fever. Kansas law now expanded its ban on trailing from March to D
ecember, but carried one loophole...the southwestern boundry of the state, west of McPherson, was still open to drovers. The law also carried an important provision that would allow exploitation by a forward-thinking cowman: if a drover would post a $10,000. guarantee against damages to local farmers and towns, his herd could be moved north to the now expanding Union Pacific Railroad ship points. Once loaded on the rail, the cattle had to be moved outside of the state. Suddenly, the Texas cowmen had hope again. The question was - could anyone open up a new buying market in the geographic loophole so that cattle could be trailed north in 1867?
As 1867 progressed, Southern drovers still found themselves buffeted in Southeastern, Kansas and Southwestern Missouri by armed mobs acting under the guise of a fear of Texas fever. The border instability caused Northern buyers to avoid carrying cash to purchase stock worsening the woes of the cowmen as a new gambit emerged from an unscrupulous ...segment of society. Con men were now offering worthless paper, (drafts) to unwary Texas drovers. As more and more cowmen were stung by this ploy, the continuance of the trailing industry seemed bleak until a young Illinois businessman, Joseph G. McCoy, formulated a plan by which Northern buyers and Texas drovers could meet undisturbed by outside influences to buy and sell cattle. McCoy's vision for a meeting location included a shipping yard, hotels, offices, and stock pens that could hold as many as 3000 Texas cattle. McCoy soon found his dream location in Abilene, Kansas. Abilene at the time consisted of 11 log cabins and two small businesses - but held two crucial ingredients that would aid in McCoy's success: ample prairie and good water. There was a problem however - Abilene lay 60 miles inside the Kansas legislature's ban boundry. McCoy proceeded nonetheless, sensing that Abilene's sparse population might hold little interest in enforcing the law, especially when they would be afforded the opportunity to sell goods and services at outrageous prices to the drovers from Texas. McCoy purchased 250 acres in Abilene on June 18th. By September 24th, the hotel and shipping yard were completed. And before the end of 1867, 35,000 cattle were trailed to Abilene.
In the spring of 1868, the outlook for Texas cowmen had improved considerably. The new trail to Abilene, although not free of dangers, was most decidedly free of angry locals. The trail also offered drovers a more direct route as its path cut due North of its Red River crossing. (The Abilene trail was 150 miles West of the old Shawnee... Trail) In its infancy, the route to Abilene was called the Kansas Trail, the Abilene Trail, McCoy's Trail, the Great Cattle Trail, the Great Texas Cattle Trail, or the Wichita Trail. Around 1870, a letter in a Kansas newspaper stated: ...Osage Indians out on their spring hunt, had camped on the Chisolm Trail. Jesse Chisolm was a trader and guide who had operated at the mouth of The Little River in Arkansas and later on the North Fork of the Canadian River and on the Arkansas River. In 1865, Chisolm had trailed a herd of cattle over the Kansas prairies. Soon others began traveling what some called Chisolm's Trail. Chisolm died in March of 1868 never realizing that his name would achieve a place in American history. His route soon became part of the larger trail that was used to trail Texas cattle to Kansas markets.
Once the Chisolm Trail became the "trail" to Abilene - Fort Worth, Texas suddenly became the outfitting point for trailers. There a cowman could buy spare saddles, guns, rope, and food staples. At Fort Worth, a trail boss would cross his herd on the West Fork of the Trinity River, on to the village of Decatur, and then to Denton Creek... before arriving at the Northern boundry of the state. Most trailers crossed into to Indian Territory at Red River Station. Swimming the herds across the Red River was one of the most dangerous legs of the journey. The river could be flooded in the spring and featured whirlpools and quicksand. Once inside Indian Territory the herd might spend the first night on one of the branches of Beaver Creek. From there, the trail crossed the Washita River, Walnut Creek, the Red Fork of the Arkansas River, Turkey Creek, Skeleton Creek, the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, Polecat Creek, and finally to the Kansas border. If all went well, the herd could cross Indian Territory in a month.
Mike Kearby's Texas Copyright 2011
