CHISHOLM TRAIL

Aug 21 to 24

Hey there Campers;

What a beautiful day. We decided to get an early start before it got too hot. We drove on to Oklahoma.  

We went to see dad again in Hartshorne, OK.

 

Lo shows off the pic of his dad and the group, the Hearts of Harmony, he use to sing with in the 1950's. Dad actually had a good voice. (Dad is the second from the top on the right.)  I was actually on the same performance with him once when I sang in a gospel choir in the 70's. Talk about dating one's self!!!

We bide him adieu and headed to Kingfisher via Ok City. I thought the signs in Macalester  were cowboy cute.

 

We passed through the city of El Reno which is part of the original route 66.

 

We arrive in the city of Kingfisher. As all know now that this is the birthplace of Sam Walton of the Walmart stores.

 

It is good to see Barbie and Rex Shepherd again, even though we just saw them at camporee.

On Friday, Lo stayed home to mow the grass. Of course you know he had fun since he mowed 3 acres of grass on a riding lawn mower.

Last year when we were here, I saw the statue of Jesse Chisholm in the heart of town, but ran out of time to go to the museum. So Barbie and I went to the Chisholm Trail Museum.

This was a very old fashion museum with lots of artifacts that you could actually touch. Most of these items were from the local region.

 

 

 

This is what the town of Kingfisher looked like in the late 1890's.

This sled was used for the winter the buggy for very day.

 

The museum had several Indian artifacts. The map breaks out where the Indians tribe were put in OK.

 

Can you imagine putting everything you own in a Conestoga wagon and traveling west? I guess you can say that this wagon was the fore runner of the RV.

 

There were many billboards telling people to head to the new OK territory.  One could get land there cheap.

This is what OK City looked like 3 weeks after the Great Land Rush.

The railroad finally got to OK after the Great Land Rush. There was a huge train disaster in 1906 when two trains fell into the river when the bridge gave way. Look up the details on line. It was one of the reasons train rails were later made safer.

By the end of the Civil War, Union and Confederates armies had consumed most of the beef east of the Mississippi. Pork had been the meat most people ate. Lots of people wanted to have beef. When it was available a cow could cost as much as $50 a head in the east. During the Civil War there were millions of untended herds of wild longhorns. Texas ranchers could only get $3 a head. Since the demand was in the east "cattle-poor" ranchers had to get their herds to these markets. So it was decided that they would march the cattle from Texas to Kansas to put the cattle on the trains and send east.

Did you know Jesse Chisholm never had anything to do with the cattle being herded to Kansas? He was not even alive. He was a trader by occupation. He traded goods between Native Americans, federal forts and trading post. Chisholm did develop parts of the trail for his use to trade.

Museum Notes: The Chisholm Trail, the route millions of Texas longhorns traveled was across Indian Territory which is now OK was named for Jesse Chisholm. Chisholm is part of the lore of the American Southwest as a result of the Chisholm Trail. Chisholm never lived to realize the famous trail world bear his name. Instead, Chisholm's life represents a much earlier part of history, the early southwest prior to the Chisholm's Trail existence.

Highway 81 is the trail used for the herds. It is said that (before the freeway was put in) trail was so distinct that in the early days you could fly over it and see the areas where the herd had trampled the ground. The trail now days can be followed by the brown Chisholm Trail signs.

Jesse Chisholm facts

• Born 1805
• Father was of Scottish descent, mom was a Cherokee
• Moved with mother to OK during the Indian voluntary migrating period.
• Panned for gold in 1826
• Helped blazed trail from Fort Gibson to Fort Towson
• Member of the  Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition
• Married Eliza Edwards in 1836
• Interpreter and general aid  in several treaties between Texas and local Indian tribes.
• Indian Trader
• He remained neutral during the Civil War.
• Built up what had been a military and Indian trail into a road capable of carrying heavy wagons for his good. This later became the Chisholm Trail for Texas cattle.
• Died in 1868 near his last camp Left Hand Spring. The is now Wichita.

As part of the museum we also learned about the life of Abraham Jefferson Seay. He was a lawyer, solider, judge and politician. He was brought to Kingfisher as a judge. He later became the second governor of OK Territory. He thought that the city of Kingfisher would become the capital so he had a governor's mansion built. He was only governor 16 months. He had been appointed by President Harrison. When Grover Cleveland got in office he elected William Renfrow as governor.

We got a great tour of the mansion by the head curator of the museum. The home had wonderful carvings throughout the house. He never married and used his sisters as his hostess.

Our last stop was the homestead of Adaline Dalton. They brought her cabin to the museum. While you may not know her name you know 4 of her boys names Gratton, Bob, Emmett & William. They were the Dalton gang. She had 13 kids. All but these four were law abiding. She is buried in Kingfisher. Talk about a rustic 1 room cabin. Wow.

 

 

Church has always been a part of the town life.

 

Schools played an intricate part of the growth of a city.

 

If a town had a bank it meant there was life in the city.

 

We left the museum to have a good evening sharing desert with Barbie's neighbors, John & Arlene. They are really nice people and help out where ever they are needed. She gave us a tour of her home. It was nice to see quilts that were over 100 years old. There were all hand made by her mom and grandmother. Arlene is over 80 years old. I thought of Mary Ann L. and her great quilts. She would have loved to see these quilts.

 

We also saw painting by John's mom and their daughter. Wonderfully talented people.

Char & Rick Novak came over for the weekend.

On Sabbath we were on our way to church when we had a blow out in Rex's truck. Now can you  imagine 3 guys who can fix anything had to get the truck manual out to figure how to get the spare tire down. Barbie called Nick, her son to come and help. The guys had it figured out what to do by the time he came. So he took Barbie, Char and I to church and left the guys on the freeway.

 

We went to Sarah & Nick's new home for lunch. We were also able to see Larry Brinley and his son Eric. We also go reacquainted with Sarah's cuz Stephanie & David and their family. We met them the last time we were here. They are the chicken farmers.

Becky's Sarah's mom brought this desert. She called it country something. But you know me and my food issues. Desert not for me!! Everyone else said it was delicious.

We went back to Barbie's & Rex's house for watermelon and a good night's rest.

Oh happy day.

Question of the Day

What date did the Great Land Rush of OK happen?  

Well, until the next time Campers......

Lo & Bren