The Old Chisholm Trail charts the evolution of the major Texas cattle trails, explores the rise of the Chisholm Trail in legend and lore, and analyzes the role of cattle trail tourism long after the end of the trail driving era itself. The result of years of original and innovative research—often using documents and sources unavailable to previous generations of historians—Wayne Ludwig’s groundbreaking study offers a new and nuanced look at an important but short-lived era in the history of the American West. Controversy over the name and route of the Chisholm Trail has persisted since before the dust had even settled on the old cattle trails. But the popularity of late nineteenth-century Wild West shows, dime novels, and twentieth-century radio, movie, and television western drama propelled the already bygone era of the cattle trail into myth—and a lucrative one at that. Ludwig correlates the rise of automobile tourism with an explosion of interest in the Chisholm Trail. Community leaders were keenly aware of the potential economic impact if tourists were induced to visit their town rather than another, and the Chisholm Trail was often just the hook needed. Numerous “historical” markers were erected on little more than hearsay or boosterish memory, and as a result, the true history of the Chisholm Trail has been overshadowed. The Old Chisholm Trail is the first comprehensive examination of the Chisholm Trail since Wayne Gard’s 1954 classic study, The Chisholm Trail, and makes an important—and modern—contribution to the history of the American West. Winner, 2018 Elmer Kelton Book of the Year, sponsored by the Academy of Western Artists​

This is a new release of the original 1948 edition.

An illustrated version of the legendary song whose many verses were made up by cowboys while herding cattle on the Chisholm Trail.

The first cattle drive of the season leaves Texas for Abilene, Kansas along the Chisholm Trail, but unforeseen terrors lay hidden in the natural beauty of the land. In the heart of Indian Territory lies the sleepy town of Duncan, a friendly respite from the dusty land. But something lurks in the untamed West-a powerful creature that hunts to satiate its horrifying hunger. The land will run red with blood, and only Karl Beck has a chance against this ancient evil.

One hundred fifty years ago the McCoy brothers of Springfield, Illinois, bet their fortunes on Abilene, Kansas, then just a slapdash way station. Instead of an endless horizon of prairie grasses, they saw a bustling outlet for hundreds of thousands of Texas Longhorns coming up the Chisholm Trail—and the youngest brother, Joseph, saw how a middleman could become wealthy in the process. This is the story of how that gamble paid off, transforming the cattle trade and, with it, the American landscape and diet. The Chisholm Trail follows McCoy’s vision and the effects of the Chisholm Trail from post–Civil War Texas and Kansas to the multimillion-dollar beef industry that remade the Great Plains, the American diet, and the national and international beef trade. At every step, both nature and humanity put roadblocks in McCoy’s way. Texas cattle fever had dampened the appetite for longhorns, while prairie fires, thunderstorms, blizzards, droughts, and floods roiled the land. Unscrupulous railroad managers, stiff competition from other brokers, Indians who resented the usurping of their grasslands, and farmers who preferred growing wheat to raising cattle all threatened to impede the McCoys’ vision for the trail. As author James E. Sherow shows, by confronting these obstacles, McCoy put his own stamp upon the land, and on eating habits as far away as New York City and London. Joseph McCoy’s enterprise forged links between cattlemen, entrepreneurs, and restaurateurs; between ecology, disease, and technology; and between local, national, and international markets. Tracing these connections, The Chisholm Trail shows in vivid terms how a gamble made in the face of uncontrollable natural factors indelibly changed the environment, reshaped the Kansas prairie into the nation’s stockyard, and transformed Plains Indian hunting grounds into the hub of a domestic farm culture.

The Chisholm Trail, traveled by Texas longhorn cattle moving northward across present-day Oklahoma to Kansas, was named for mixed-blood Cherokee Jesse Chisholm (1805–1868). Though Chisholm’s prominence in western lore rests largely on this connection, he was active on the frontier long before the naming of the trail. Because he left no diaries, letters, or personal documents, however, his life has been shrouded in mystery. Drawing from many sources, including early state and federal documents, newspaper accounts, and trade and military records, Stan Hoig offers the clearest picture to date of the many important roles Chisholm played: trailblazer, friend of Indian chiefs, linguist of Indian languages, scout, and—perhaps most important—liaison between Indian tribes, the U.S. government, and the Republic of Texas. With his formidable intellect and talent for diplomacy, Chisholm blazed a trail in the history of the American Southwest more fascinating even than the one that bears his name.

When Mrs. Bunton was a young bride, she took great pleasure in going to her husband's ranch, after their honeymoon to Northern and Eastern points was over, and in reveling in the adventures of ranch life. The prairie dogs objected vociferously to the swish of her silk petticoats, but not any more vehemently than did the more old-fashioned cattlemen and their wives to the first ladies' riding breeches which they had seen--and which Mrs. Bunton wore courageously and delightedly. when news came to the Bunton's Nolan County ranch, near Sweetwater, Texas, that the herds of cattle which Mr. Bunton was sending up to norther and western markets were ready for the trail, but that the general herd boss was stricken with sore eyes, Mr. Bunton could find no one to take the lead--except himself. Mrs. Bunton was determined to go too, and go she did, although the warnings and protests were great. Along the trip, made vivid by many adventures, she won the admiration and approval of cowboys, and upon their arrival at Coolidge, Kansas, the cattlemen proclaimed the young bride "Queen of the Old Chisholm Trail."--Jacket flap