Merry Christmas to everyone!!!! Hope your holidays are filled with love, laughter and joy!

Cowboys and western history have always inspired my drawings, and living in North Dallas, TX offers me plenty of opportunities to satisfy my curiosity.  One of the more interesting historical facts that spark my artistic imaginations relates to cattle drives.  So naturally, when talking about cattle drives, one cannot avoid talking about the Chisholm Trail.

In its time, the Chisholm Trail was considered to be one of the wonders of the western world. Cattle herds as large as ten thousand were driven from Texas over the trail to Kansas. The trail acquired its name from trader Jesse Chisholm, a part-Cherokee who, just before the Civil War, built a trading post in what is now western Oklahoma City. Black Beaver, a Delaware Indian scout and friend of Chisholm, had led Union soldiers north into Kansas along part of the route after the federal government abandoned Indian Territory to the Confederates at the beginning of the Civil War.

In the Beginning

By 1853, Texas cattle were being driven into Missouri, where local farmers began blocking herds and turning them back because the Texas longhorns carried ticks that caused diseases in other types of cattle. Violence, vigilante groups, and cattle rustling caused further problems for the drivers. By 1859, the driving of cattle was outlawed in many Missouri jurisdictions. By the end of the Civil War, most cattle were being moved up the western branch of trail at Red River Station in Montague County, Texas.

In 1866, cattle in Texas were worth only $4 per head, compared to over $40 per head in the North and East, because lack of market access during the American Civil War had led to increasing number of cattle in Texas.

In 1867, Joseph G. McCoy built stockyards in Abilene, Kansas. He encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to his stockyards. The stockyards shipped 35,000 head that year and became the largest stockyards west of Kansas City, Kansas.

By the end of the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces had consumed most of the beef east of the Mississippi.  Up until then, pork had been the leading meat source in ordinary diets and now, millions of people had developed a taste for beef.  As a result, when it was available, a steer would go for as much as $50 a head back east. During the Civil War, untended herds of wild longhorns multiplied by the millions.  Texas ranchers had become “cattle-poor”.  Though thousands of cattle roamed the ranches, ranchers considered themselves lucky if they could get $3 a head.  The shortage of beef in the East, together with an increasing taste for it, created a demand that promised great profits if the cattle-poor ranchers could get their herds to the eastern cattle markets.

That same year, O. W. Wheeler answered McCoy’s call, and he along with partners used the Chisholm Trail to bring a herd of 2,400 steers from Texas to Abilene. This herd was the first of an estimated 5,000,000 head of Texas cattle to reach Kansas over the Chisholm Trail.

The trail developed by Jesse Chisholm assisted cattle ranchers starting from either the Rio Grande or San Antonio, Texas.  Through Oklahoma, the Chisholm Trail generally followed the route of US Highway 81 through present-day towns of El Reno, Duncan, and Enid. Eventually the herds of cattle would reach Kansas and went to the railhead of the Kansas Pacific Railway in Abilene, Kansas, where the cattle would be sold and shipped eastward.

Thus, the legendary Chisholm Trail was born and in years to come a love affair with the old west and the American Cowboy would spread across our country and around the world that continues today. 

Recently finished drawing for a friend of mine.  Her horse named Casche and her travelled through the John Muir trail for several days. Can you imagine? I was speechless as she recounted her story. Then when she showed me the picture of her horse as she stopped at an overlook, it just seemed like a perfect picture to draw from.

For those that know little about John Muir and the impact that he made on our lives, you must read on! 

The John Muir Trail is the premier hiking trail in the United States.The trail starts in America’s treasure, Yosemite National Park, and continues 215 miles through the Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sequoia National Park, King’s Canyon National Park, and ends at the highest peak in continental United States, Mount Whitney at 14,496 ft.

Not only is it a great opportunity to get out in the wild and just enjoy what nature has given us, but it is an absolute treasure! For more information regarding this national treasure, follow this link. Some of the most breath-taking views exist on this trail, such as this mountain sunset… 

While working on this drawing, I started reading a book that I found quite wonderful. Here is an excerpt from the book, The American Past: A Survey of American History, by Joseph R. Conlin:

“It took 3 to 4 months to drive a herd of cattle from the vicinity of San Antonio to a railhead town in Kansas.  For a young man to be asked to join a trail crew was a great honor.

The crew for a long drive consisted of a foreman, or a trail boss; a Segundo, who took over when the trail boss was absent, a cook (who was an older man), a wrangler who was in charge of the remuda (the herd of spare horses that accompanied the expedition) that consisted of ten to twelve mounts for each hand.

A herd, mostly consisting of steers moved 10 to 15 miles a day. The cattle grazed while the herd was halted specifically to keep the weight on the cattle, and for lunch and dinner breaks. Two cowboys rode “lead” or “point”, carefully staying to either side of the milling herd so as to be out of the way if the cattle should spook into a stampede. Four rode “swing” and “flank” in pairs alongside the herd. Two or three cowboys rode “drag” behind the herd to keep it moving and to ride after any stragglers.

Each position had its own peculiarities. Riding point was considered the most prestigious and pleasant in terms of dust and odors, but it was also the most dangerous. Riding drag was the safest and most undesirable, due to the dust and odors. Riding flank and swing were the easiest and safest on the horses.”

And with that, I wipe my face from the dust and dirt, and sit back to enjoy the ride… until next time.