Texas Longhorn "Explored"
If you had been here in the years following the civil war,you might have seen one of the most dramatic sights in the history of the west. For along this way came the enormous herds of Longhorn cattle on their way to market along the legendary Chisholm Trail.In it's brief existence from 1887 to 1884 more than 5 million Longhorns and a million Mustang horses followed the Chisholm. It was the greatest migration of livestock in history.
The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, a half Cherokee Indian trader and interpreter who,ironically,never drove cattle over the trail that bears his name. He did mark the route of the trail from the confluence of the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers to his trading post southwest of present day Oklahoma City,but his business was in trade goods,not cattle. In his time,Chisholm was largely known for his fluency in some 14 different Indian dialects. He served as interpreter for Sam Houston at many councils in Texas,Indian Territory and Kansas,often diffusing conflicts between hostile cultures.He was universally known for his fairness and neutrality. His language skills helped him negotiate for the freedom of children captured by the Comanche and Kiowa. Most of these were Mexican children whom he adopted and raised as his own.
The Chisholm Trail was finally closed by barbed wire and an 1885 Kansas quarantine law.
Jesse Chisholm died ingloriously in 1868 from eating rancid bear meat.
Texas Longhorn "Explored"
If you had been here in the years following the civil war,you might have seen one of the most dramatic sights in the history of the west. For along this way came the enormous herds of Longhorn cattle on their way to market along the legendary Chisholm Trail.In it's brief existence from 1887 to 1884 more than 5 million Longhorns and a million Mustang horses followed the Chisholm. It was the greatest migration of livestock in history.
The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, a half Cherokee Indian trader and interpreter who,ironically,never drove cattle over the trail that bears his name. He did mark the route of the trail from the confluence of the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers to his trading post southwest of present day Oklahoma City,but his business was in trade goods,not cattle. In his time,Chisholm was largely known for his fluency in some 14 different Indian dialects. He served as interpreter for Sam Houston at many councils in Texas,Indian Territory and Kansas,often diffusing conflicts between hostile cultures.He was universally known for his fairness and neutrality. His language skills helped him negotiate for the freedom of children captured by the Comanche and Kiowa. Most of these were Mexican children whom he adopted and raised as his own.
The Chisholm Trail was finally closed by barbed wire and an 1885 Kansas quarantine law.
Jesse Chisholm died ingloriously in 1868 from eating rancid bear meat.