The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 62
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
not only among Kansans but among the Texas drovers. With
the Chisholm name applied to part of the trail, its extension
to the whole route was easy and natural.
In the early days of the Chisholm Trail, the drovers included
some of the most prominent Texas cowmen. One was James M.
Daugherty of Denton County, who had been tied and whipped
by a band of Jayhawkers on the Shawnee Trail in 1866. Others
were William H. Day and his brother-in-law, Jesse L. Driskill,
who would leave an Austin hotel as his monument. From Cald-
well County went Colonel John J. Myers, who had gone to
California with John C. Fremont, and Mark A. Withers, one
of the most expert in handling a trail herd. From Brushy Creek,
in Williamson County, two brothers, Dudley H. and John W.
Snyder, took herds north almost every year. From the coastal
plains of Matagorda County came Abel H. (Shanghai) Pierce,
whose booming voice and salty stories were known in many a
cow camp.
For the men who rode the trail, it was long and tiring. By
the time they reached Abilene, they were ready to celebrate.
They had been perhaps two months in the saddle, with mo-
notonous diet, no women, and no entertainment beyond the
nightly howling of the coyotes. So Abilene, which had been a
sleepy village of a dozen log cabins, roofed with dirt, and a few
business buildings, became in a few weeks a riotous cow town.
Soon it had eleven saloons with gambling rooms in the back,
several dance halls, and a whole colony of bagnios.
The frontier Texas cowboy liked to wear his pistols wherever
he went and to use them whenever the spirit moved him. Abi-
lene residents soon became aware of this habit. Young J. B.
Edwards, who delivered ice to the saloons, saw much of this
revelry. "When a man from Texas got too much tanglefoot
aboard," he recalled, "he was liable under the least provocation
to use his six-shooters. Not less than two were always hanging
from his belt. If his fancy told him to shoot, he did so--into the
air or at anything he saw. A plug hat would bring a volley from
him at any time, drunk or sober."
With the Abilene cattle business doubling every year, the
town fathers soon had to do something to check cowboy exuber-
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/75/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.