Ranch and Range in Oklahoma Page: 7
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CATTLE TRAILS IN OKLAHOMA
By Jimmy M. Skaggs
C e
~~4,At the close of the Civil War, when
the range and ranch cattle industry
emerged as Texas's economic salva-
tion from Reconstruction, the In-
dian Territory was invaded by
countless herds of Longhorns
trudging slowly northward toward
market. Perhaps as many as
15,000,000 of these bony bovines
followed generally northerly routes
that, with each passing herd and
with each successive year, became
increasingly worn into the red clays
of Oklahoma. At first the cattle
were driven to Missouri and Kan-
sas over what became known as the
Shawnee Trail; but civilization
soon forced drovers further west to
the most famous of all the paths,
the Chisholm Trail; and finally,
the herds shifted once more, thistime to the Western Trail. A hundred years later, these hoof-worn thorough-
fares have all but been totally obliterated by farmers' fields and by ranchers'
pastures. Only a few of the more prominent sites, such as river fords, are
commemorated by historical markers.
The earliest of these paths through Oklahoma was the Shawnee Trail,
first used during the 1850s. In 1866 it became the first major post-war cattle
trail. Arising deep in South Texas, near Brownsville, it pointed generally
north-northeastward, passed through San Antonio, Austin and Waco, and
proceeded either to Fort Worth or to Dallas, depending upon the preference
of the trail boss in charge. The Fort Worth branch arced eastward to join
its Dallas counterpart near present Denison. The reunited Shawnee then
headed northward and forded the Red River at what was then called
Colbert Ferry, a point just below the mouth of the Washita River, near
Preston, Texas.' Most of the physical evidence of this river crossing was
buried during the twentieth century by Lake Texoma.
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Ranch and Range in Oklahoma (Book)
Reprint of a book containing historical information about ranching in Oklahoma during the cattle drive era, as well as maps showing the different cattle drive trails that ran from Texas through Oklahoma. Index begins on page 122.
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Skaggs, Jimmy M. Ranch and Range in Oklahoma, book, 1983; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc862888/m1/17/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; .