The old Chisholm Trail : from cow path to tourist stop / Wayne Ludwig.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ludwig, Wayne, 1954- author.

Series:

Nancy and Ted Paup '74 ranching heritage series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cattle drives.

History.

Cattle trails.

Chisholm Trail--History.

Chisholm Trail.

Cattle trails--West (U.S.)--History--19th century.

Cattle drives--West (U.S.)--History--19th century.

West (U.S.)--History, Local.

West (U.S.).

West (U.S.)--History--19th century.

Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.).

Frontier and pioneer life.

United States--Chisholm Trail.

West United States.

Chisholm trail--History.

Local Subjects:

Chisholm trail--History.

Genre:

History.

Local history.

Physical Description:

xviii, 307 pages, 40 unnumbered pages of illustrations : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A & M University Press, [2018]

Summary:

The Old Chisholm Trail charts the evolution of the major Texas cattle trails, explores the rise of the Chisholm Trail in legend and lore, and analyzes the role of cattle trail tourism long after the end of the trail driving era itself. The result of years of original and innovative research--often using documents and sources unavailable to previous generations of historians--Wayne Ludwig's groundbreaking study offers a new and nuanced look at an important but short-lived era in the history of the American West. Controversy over the name and route of the Chisholm Trail has persisted since before the dust had even settled on the old cattle trails. But the popularity of late nineteenth-century Wild West shows, dime novels, and twentieth-century radio, movie, and television western drama propelled the already bygone era of the cattle trail into myth--and a lucrative one at that. Ludwig correlates the rise of automobile tourism with an explosion of interest in the Chisholm Trail. Community leaders were keenly aware of the potential economic impact if tourists were induced to visit their town rather than another, and the Chisholm Trail was often just the hook needed. Numerous "historical" markers were erected on little more than hearsay or boosterish memory, and as a result, the true history of the Chisholm Trail has been overshadowed. The Old Chisholm Trail is the first comprehensive examination of the Chisholm Trail since Wayne Gard's 1954 classic study, The Chisholm Trail, and makes an important--and modern--contribution to the history of the American West.

Contents:

The Texas cattle trails

Sea lions and old Texans

Quarantines and cattle ticks

Life on the trail

The earliest trails

Two Chisholms and a Chisum

Jesse Chisholm blazes a trail

A new outlet

Chisholm's Trail

Chisum's trail

The Fort Griffin or Dodge City Trail

The end of the trails

The Chisholm Trail from newsprint to Hollywood

From Chisholm's Trail to Meridian highway

Marking the Chisholm Trail

Old chestnuts and white lies

National historic trails and Santa Claus.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Ludwig, Wayne, 1954- Old Chisholm Trail.

ISBN:

9781623496715

1623496713

OCLC:

1029067784