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"By 1869 the main trails were well defined...the best known of these was the Chisholm Trail...the Chisholm Trail ran north from Red River station across the Indian Territories, and entered Kansas near Caldwell. It crossed the Arkansas River at Wichita and continued past the present site of Newton to Abilene. The 'old Shawnee Trail' led from the Red River to Baxter Springs in southeastern Kansas, another northern shipping point opened about the same time as Abilene, but never so important as a cattle market. In the seventies, the trail through the Creek Nation to Baxter was known as the Okmulkee Route. Between the two main trails was the 'west Shawnee Trail', which left its namesake near the Canadian River and ended at Junction City. A new trail, known as Cox's Trail or the Ellsworth Cattle Trail, was surveyed to Ellsworth in the spring of 1873...the new route branched off from the old trail at the Pond Creek ranch about half way between Salt Fork of the Arkansas river and Pond Creek, Indian Territories, and ran by way of Kingman and Ellinwood to Ellsworth...trails were established to Dodge City and other points in western Kansas, and many herds were driven by thousands of cowboys to Nebraska and other northern and western states and territories."

Source: Streeter, Floyd B. Prairie Trails and Cow Towns.

• The Old West Kansas site is managed by George Laughead, maintainer of Web Site Tools for non-profits and Mountain Plains Museums Museums Social Network session. Original author Stephen Chinn. Thanks to Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, History Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas. Updated: 08 May 2010.
• WWW-VL: History: United States History

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