OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL - Black Beaver - Grady County, Oklahoma

Submitted by:  Sandi Carter   SandKatC@aol.com 
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OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL

The reason I’m very interested in this old trail in the history of America 
will show, as you read on.

Thinking about the old Chisholm Trail might bring mental scenes of herding 
cattle from Western movies.  Lots of running longhorns, tired cowboys
trying to keep control, fearing the ever present danger of a stampede, and 
dust seen for miles around, announcing yet another cattle run. 

Unlike the movies, running cattle took tough and determined men, right down
to those who did the cooking, taking the chuck wagon ahead to set up camp
at the next stop and  preparing to feed those tense, tired, and sweaty
cowboys.  

This was, and, still today, is not the life for any man who does not wish
to face danger and discomfort on a 24 hour a day basis.

Chisholm Trail, the most famous of them all, was made famous after the end
of the Civil War.  Texans, fortunately, did not suffer the destructive
physical consequences of this war, as in other parts of the country.  They 
did, however, suffer from lack of money.  It was their good fortune, 
though, to possess over 3 million wild longhorn cattle.

The big problem was that these cattle weren’t worth much more than $3, $4,
or $5 each in Texas.  In the Northern and Eastern cities, though, a steer
could be sold for around $40.  This was too good to pass up.

Unfortunately, the railroad hadn’t reached Texas, and shipping them by boat
was out, due to their wild nature.  So, there was only one way left, which 
was to herd them to the railroads.

The first attempt at herding these wild beasts, in 1866, took the cowboys
and their cattle north, going through Indian Territory, to Missouri.  The
cattle were then herded into railroad cars for the rest of the trip to the 
east.  

There were several big problems with this first route:  Not enough grass
for grazing, too many settlements, and not enough flat prairie for easier
herding.

Luckily for the cowboys, a man by the name of Joseph McCoy got wind of the 
problem and settled it.  Since the Kansas Pacific was in the process of 
constructing railroad tracks to span the flat Kansas plains, Joseph McCoy 
built pens for loading the cattle on trains in Abilene.  He, also, erected 
buildings in which the tired cowboys could stay, getting a long needed
bath, a decent meal, and resting in a comfortable bed.  And, Mr. McCoy let 
it be known that he was willing to buy all the longhorns the cowboys could 
get to Abilene. 

Still, a new and better route had to be found through flat lands with
enough grazing areas for all the cattle, and, enough water to quench the 
thirst of the tired men and cattle.

Well, already, a trail had been found by Black Beaver, a man of 100% Native
blood in the Delaware Nation, along with his friend, Jesse Chisholm, who
was of mixed Cherokee blood, and a trader.  This old trail was named after
Jesse Chisholm.  It could have been named after Black Beaver.  We’ll never 
know why.  A possibility is that Black Beaver’s real name was Se Ket Tu M 
Quah.  And, it wasn’t pronounced as written in English! 

Well, the cowboys wanted to try this trail and, that they did!  This old 
trail went from Texas into Indian Territory at the Red River Station, near 
what is not Terral.  It ran north close to the present towns of Duncan, 
Chickasha, El Reno, Kingfisher, Henessey, and Enid.  Then, it left the 
Cherokee Strip around Medford.  The U. S. 81 highway of today sort of runs 
along side that old trail.

The cowboys were thrilled to have a good route to take those feisty
longhorns on.  Mr. McCoy was able to ship around 35,000 head of cattle to 
market in 1867.  The trail worked so well that it was used for the next 
twenty years, making all happy.  Each year the cowboys increased the amount 
of those longhorns they took on the Chisholm Trail.  Can you imagine that 
those sturdy cowboys managed to take over 3 million longhorns along that 
trail in their first ten years!  Wow!

The Chisholm Trail was used over the years until 1874 when many decided on 
using the Great Western Trail that went further west through Indian 
Territory.  The Chisholm Trail was no longer used by 1874 due to more 
settlements forming, Indian Nations charging fees for the right to go
through their lands, and some new cattle downs, Dodge City being one.

In the early 1890s railroads had successfully been built through Indian 
Territory from the south and north.  Of course, with this mode of 
transportation, trail drives were no longer profitable and ceased.

The Rock Island line, being built parallel to the Old Chisholm, caused a 
number of towns to sprout close to the tracks.  Duncan and Waurika were two
of those towns.

One wonders what that area would have been like without people like Black 
Beaver, Jesse Chisholm, and other trail blazers.  And, of course, one can’t
forget all of those who drove cattle through Indian Territory, and, those
who had the fortitude to settle there and make the area home.  None of 
those people had it easy, but, it would appear that most had been bitten by 
the wanderlust bug and were of strong and sturdy stock.  Weaklings did not 
survive in that old frontier during the wild and woolly lawless days.  And,
of course, disease took it’s toll.

Today, there are still vestiges of the old Chisholm Trail visible, here and
there, mostly in the form of ravines dug along the trail by rain.  When the
wild blows across the prairie, one can almost hear those cowboys shouting
and the cattle again crossing Oklahoma on the Chisholm Trail. 

Written by Sandi Carter
Great, great granddaughter of Black Beaver