The Dodge City Trail

For a brave band of Texas pioneers, new enemies awaited on the thundering trail. But old enemies were the deadliest of all. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives. The Dodge City Trail Dodge City was a businessman's dream. And a cattle drive north-with thousands of unbranded longhorns and a remuda of stolen Mexican horses-was a dream of Texans like Dan Ember, who'd come home from the war to find a rich man's hired guns living on his land. Now Dan and his neighbors would risk everything on a drive across the Llano. Along the way, two bands of killers would fight over them, the gunslinger Clay Allison would join up with them, and Quanah Parker's Comanches would try to thwart them-in a bold adventure fueled by the courage to face death, the pride to keep going, and the knowledge that now, there was no turning back.

History of the trails from Dodge City Kansas to points in Oklahoma and Texas used primarily for trade from 1880 through the turn of the century.

FICTION-WESTERN

This is a story about a 14-year-old Texas boy who joins a cattle drive at the Red River in 1880, and his day to day adventures on the trail to Dodge City, Kansas. Crossing into Indian Territory on the Abilene trail (now called the Chisholm Trail), the cowboys join Chisholm's Wagon Road near the North Fork of the Canadian River. With the eastern Kansas cattle markets of Abilene, Ellsworth, Newton, and Wichita off limits to Texas cattle, the herd turns northwest after crossing the Cimarron River to head for Dodge. Will he survive wild longhorns, half-broke ponies, Indians, outlaws, rustlers, storms, stampedes, rattlesnakes, and other adventures? The timeline is real down to the phases of the moon. The stage stations, trading posts, river crossings, terrain and topography are all actual. Learn about real people, places and events along the way.

“For 60 years, [it] has been considered the most monumental single source on the old-time Texas trail drives north to Kansas and beyond.” —The Dallas Morning News These are the chronicles of the trail drivers of Texas—those rugged men and, sometimes, women—who drove cattle and horses up the trails from Texas to northern markets in the late 1800s. Gleaned from members of the Old Time Trail Drivers’ Association, these hundreds of real-life stories—some humorous, some chilling, some rambling, all interesting—form an invaluable cornerstone to the literature, history, and folklore of Texas and the West. First published in the 1920s and reissued by the University of Texas Press in 1985, this classic work is now available in an ebook edition that contains the full text, historical illustrations, and name index of the hardcover edition. “The essential starting point for any study of Texas trail driving days. Walter Prescott Webb called it ‘Absolutely the best source there is on the cattle trail . . .’” —Basic Texas Books “A book of recollections written by the trail drivers themselves. It has been declared that this volume will prove to be the storehouse of historians and novelists for generations.” —J. Marvin Hunter’s Frontier Times Magazine “A collection of narrative sketches of early cowboys and their experiences in driving herds of cattle through the unfenced Texas prairies to northern markets. They are true narratives told by the cowpunchers who experienced the long rides.” —Texas Proud

The most famous cattle town of the trail-driving era, Dodge City, Kansas, holds a special allure for western historians and enthusiasts alike. Wm. B. Shillingberg now goes beyond the violence for which the town became notorious, more fully documenting its early history by uncovering the economic, political, and social forces that shaped Dodge. The author cuts through legend and myth to depict a Dodge City that few people really know. He takes readers back to the southwestern Kansas frontier and traces a town's evolution from a military site for protecting Santa Fe commerce, to a wild and lawless buffalo hunters' rendezvous, to a regional freighting center and the primary shipping point for Texas cattle on the central plains. Amid all this activity a community sprang up in 1872 and was still stumbling toward maturity fourteen years later when the great herds no longer came. Shillingberg describes this transformation of place and purpose, along with its attendant political machinations and business fervor, revealing singular personalities, social turmoil, and a local economy in flux. Along the way, the book offers new perspectives on the Battle of Adobe Walls, the constant maneuvering of railroad moguls and cattle barons, and the exploits of such legendary figures as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, from city records to personal papers, Dodge City: The Early Years, 1872-1886 surpasses previous accounts of the town by depicting complex individuals and events in greater depth and detail. It shows us a community concerned with more than brothels, saloons, and gunplay. It will stand as the authoritative history of this quintessential western town.

Located in the Oklahoma Collection.

The founding of the American West can be studied in no better place than Dodge City and Ford County. Whether it is frontier forts, trails and cow towns, or farms and ranches, Ford County holds original examples. The best-known Wild West lawmen and gunfighters--Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Doc Holliday--gained their fame in Dodge City. Its history began with Francisco Vasquez de Coronado crossing the Arkansas River in 1541, leading to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (Dodge City is on the 100th meridian border) and the 1821 opening of the Santa Fe Trail by William Becknell. Fort Dodge, built in 1865, still stands as a reminder of the millions of people who passed through Dodge City. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1872, and the buffalo hunters and the Great Western Cattle Trail grew around Dodge City. The pioneer era did not end in the 1800s but continued through the 1930s dust bowl and beyond--demanding the same tough work, cooperation, and high ethics that made surviving possible in the "Great Western Desert."