In 1819, Major
Stephen Long explored the
area beyond the Mississippi River calling it the “Great
American Desert.” People in
the east, looking for new places to settle, began moving
west to California in pack trains and wagon trains. The
trails they created became the Oregon
Trail,
the Santa
Fe Trail,
and others. Eventually, railroads took the place of
trails.
In
the early 1870s, the railroads became a major factor in
the economy of Oklahoma. Oklahoma products such as beef,
pork, cotton, corn, wheat, and later coal, could reach
the other U.S. markets, and the products from the rest
of the nation could reach the Oklahoma. Transportation
between Oklahoma and the rest of the U.S. also became
easier, faster, and cheaper.
The
first railroad in Oklahoma was the Missouri-Kansas-Texas
(1870-1872), nicknamed, Katy.
Other important railroads included the Santa Fe Railroad,
which ran north-south through the middle of Oklahoma,
the St. Louis & San Francisco, which cut through the
Choctaw Nation running southwesterly, and the Chicago
Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, which was wesNat of
the Santa Fe and ran north-south.
From 1855-1905, Irish, German, and
Chinese immigrants along with Native Americans, freed
slaves, and civil war veterans, laid 260,000 miles of
track in the U.S.
The first locomotives burned wood for fuel. Later they
were converted to coal. A single locomotive, also called
an “Iron Horse” cost about $10,000 to build.
As trains chugged across the prairies, large herds of
buffalo often held up the trains for hours. The railroads
brought gamblers, drifters, and law-abiding citizens
to the frontier.
Because
of Texas Fever brought by cattle to the Native Americans
living near the cattle trails, Joseph G. McCoy talked
the railroads into building a shipping station in Abilene,
Kansas, and convinced the cattlemen to drive their cattle
up through the western part of Indian Territory, thereby
avoiding the Indian settlements. The cattle were then
shipped by rail to Chicago. By 1872, an average of 400,000
head was driven north each year from Texas. The Indian
tribes charged a toll to cross their lands.
Railroad
stations were eventually built in Wichita, Dodge City
and other places in Kansas. The original Chisholm Trail
(named after Jesse Chisholm, a guide and trader) became
famous as a cattle trail during these years.
Harvey
Girls served gourmet meals to passengers on the railways
during the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s.
The photo below
is a picture of some Harvey girls at the Vinita depot
in the early 1920's. The lady on the left is Charlotte
(Lottie) Hailey. Charlotte is the great, great aunt of
Liz
Eubanks (a friend of mine) who gave me permission to use this photo.
The
reconstruction treaty of 1866 granted the railroads the
right to lay track across Indian Territory. By 1905, Oklahoma
had 5,231 miles of track. The rails brought lumber, food,
clothes, and supplies to the new settlers, resulting in
profitable businesses and a big incentive for statehood.
After
the Civil War, the North and East had a beef shortage.
Large herds of cattle roamed freely in Texas. The cattle
originated from Spanish stock and fed on buffalo and
mesquite grass. They were half wild, hardy, well-adapted
to sudden storms and long dry summers. Their long horns
gave them the name of “Longhorns.” They could run almost as fast as a horse. Before
the Civil War, the cattle markets were in New Orleans,
Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. At the end of the
war, the North was paying higher prices for cattle,
so the ranchers began driving them north across the
Red River, then northeast through Eastern Indian Territory
to Baxter Springs, Kansas, and then on to St. Louis.
As the railroads expanded west, Texans kept cutting
new trails through Indian Territory. The most famous
of these trails was the Chisholm Trail, named for
the Cherokee trader Jesse Chisholm.
It ran straight north-south through central Oklahoma,
just west of present day Oklahoma City.
Cattle Drive Music Video (If you cannot see this video,
use LINK)
As
trails multiplied in western Oklahoma, cattlemen negotiated
with the plains tribes for grazing and crossing rights.
Unfortunately, the cattlemen also brought a strange disease
(caused by cattle tick) to these Native Americans. A small
number of Native Americans who were not happy about the
amount of money they were paid or the diseases that were
being brought, attacked the cattlemen and seized their
cattle.
In
addition to these problems, Texas cattle were soon banned
in Kansas and Missouri because of the diseases they carried.
Ranchers and farmers settling in the new territory, fenced
their land using barbed wire, which also made the drives
more difficult. And finally, by the1890s, the railroads
reached both Texas and Oklahoma, making the long drives
unnecessary. This was the end of the cattle drives.
Read
page 10-12, “The Cowboys,” “The Outlaws,”
and “Rodeos” in A Look at Oklahoma.
The
era of the cattle drive lasted about 20 years. Cattle
drives were established to get cattle from Texas, where
cattle was worth $5 to $10 a head, to markets in other
parts of the country that paid five to ten times as much.
Branding with a registered trademark identified the ownership
of the herd. These brands were registered with the county
clerks.
Herds
were divided into groups of 2,000-3,500 and started
on the trail at different times. A herd of 1,000 cattle
would stretch out for up to two miles. Each group was
led by a trail boss and ten or fifteen other men, including
a
“horse wrangler” and a cook. Each cowboy
took his turn to watch the herd for two hours per night.
The cowboys would sing songs to quiet them if they grew
restless. Occasionally, lightning or noises would cause
the cattle to stampede. It often took many days to gather
a herd after a stampede.
The
cowboys’ jobs also included breaking wild horses,
branding the cattle, and protecting the herds from rustlers.
Rodeos and wild west shows developed because the cowboys
liked to compete with each other to see who was the best.
The most famous wild west shows were Buffalo
Bill Cody’s
and Pawnee
Bill’s.
Other famous cowboy entertainers from Oklahoma were Tom
Mix, Bill Pickett, May Lillie, Lucille Mulhall, and Will
Rogers.
The cook was the most important member of the crew other than the trail boss. He was in charge of the chuckwagon invented by Charles Goodnight in 1866. The chuckwagon carried food, utensils, water, tools, and bedding. Food was prepared on a fold-out counter, supported by hinged legs. Cowboys collected water and wood for the cook. The usual menu was fresh beef or bison steaks, stew, “chuckwagon chicken” (bacon), “Pecos strawberries” (beans), and “sourdough bullets” (biscuits).
A
rest stop was available at the Red Fork Ranch near
the mouth of Turkey Creek. Cowboys would gather at
the trading post and write letters, eat ginger “snaps,”
and sing to a fiddle or banjo.
Illnesses
were treated with a variety of home remedies. Coal oil
was used to combat lice, prickly-pear poultices were used
to treat wounds, bachelor button flowers were used to
cure diarrhea, salt and bison tallow were used for piles,
and bison-meat juice was drunk as a general tonic.
The
Dodge City Trail became the principal route north after
1876. The trip from Texas to Dodge City usually took between
25 to 100 days, depending on weather, stampedes, Prairie
Indian attacks, cattle thieves, and other problems. When
the cattle arrived in Kansas, the owner began taking bids
on the herd. Then they were shipped to California. Once
in California, thee cattle was worth $100 to 200 per head.
The end of the Civil War resulted in a breakdown of law
and order in Indian Territory. Outlaws, whiskey peddlers,
horse-thieves, and other criminals from neighboring states
robbed and murdered at will. They could hide easily and
the Indian governments had no control over them. A robber
would rob a bank in a neighboring state and then race
back to Indian Territory to hide in cabins or rock caves.
Criminals
like Jesse
James,
Belle Starr, William Quantrill, John Wesley Hardin,
the Daltons, and Doolins were destructive. The Frontier
Police and vigilante groups tried to enforce laws but
were mostly unsuccessful.
In
1875, the Federal Government established a federal court
at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and gave Judge
Isaac Parker the power to crack-down on criminals. Judge Parker believed
that people were responsible for their actions. He became
known as the “hanging judge” because of the
numerous death sentences he passed. Famous lawmen who
helped Parker tame Oklahoma were Bass Reeves, Heck Thomas,
Bill Tilghman and Chris Madsen. After 1883, U.S. criminals
of Indian Territory were tried in Wichita, Kansas and
Paris, Texas.
An interesting fact from "The First Hundred," a book written by Rev. Wishard Lemons about the First Methodist Church in Tulsa, OK, was that three of the Dalton gang brothers went to church there. They even sang in the choir!
Clip
from 1954 TV Western about Dalton Gang. If
you can't see the video below, use LINK.
Hit the Trail (Click the lesson titled "Hit the Trail") - Draw three cattle trails that passed through Indian Territory, using a written description of the trails. (3-12)
What's Your Brand (Click the lesson titled "What's Your Brand?") - Students learn the history and purpose of branding cattle. Use along with Cattle Brand worksheet (pdf). You can use pipe cleaners to create a cattle "branding iron." Flatten out the brand and use it as a stamp the worksheet. Another way to create a "branding iron" would be to carve it into a bar of soap and then use that as a stamp.
Get the Point (Click the lesson titled "Get the Point") - Read about cattle drives and measure the width of the horns on drawings of longhorn cattle and then convert the measurements from inches to centimeters and from inches to feet. (2-12)
Ephesians
4:28, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but
rather let him labor, working with his hands what is
good, that he may have something to give him who has
need.”
Paper
or Oral Report: Research the life of one outlaw and one
cowboy in the old west. Then write a paper or answer orally:
How does the life of these two people relate to Ephesians
4:28? (4-12)
Harvey
Girls by
Sheila Wood Foard. Historical fiction about an Ozark farm
girls who runs away to become a "Harvey Girl."
There were several Harvey Houses in Oklahoma. (4-8).
The
Railroad (Life in the Old West)
by Bobbie Kalman. 32 pgs. Children will learn about the
hard-working people who built the railroads from sea to
sea, and how railroads changed the face of western North
America forever. ISBN 0778701085. (4-12)
Stop
the Train
by Geraldine McCaughrean. 297 pgs. Fiction. story of settling
Oklahoma territory and their dependence on the trains
as told by a 12-year old. ISBN 0060507497. (4-12)
Cowboy
Camp by Tammi Sauer. This is THE best children's
picture book author. You'll love this book! (K-4)
Life
on the Ranch
by Bobbie Kalman. Describes life on cattle ranches including
the reasons for becoming a rancher; the hard work involved,
the food and living arrangements, and more. ISBN 0778701034.
Read aloud for all ages.
Hank,
the Cowdog
by John R. Erickson. 127 pgs. ISBN 0141303778. (4-12)
The
Toughest Cowboy
by John Frank. This is a lot of fun and great illustrations!
(PreK-4+)
Tree
in the Trail
by Holling C. Holling, The story of the Sante Fe Trail
told from the point of view of a tree planted on the trail.
(evolution assumed). 64 pgs. ISBN 039554534X. (3-12)
The
Value of Humor: The Story of Will Rogers
by Spencer Johnson. A fun, colorful book for all ages.
This was one of my favorite set of books when my children
were small. Buy used or borrow. ISBN 0916392058. K-6
Read a few tall tales such as Paul
Bunyan.
Write one of your own. If your child is really into tall
tales, you might like Tall Tales Literature Pockets by
Evan-Moor. EMC 2732. (2-12)
Write a biography about one of the people studied in this
unit. (Famous
Person Form)
2-8
Pretend
you are a Harvey Girl. Write a letter to your family
back East telling them what life is like as a Harvey
Girl.
Write a descriptive essay about one topic studied in this
lesson. Example: A description of a cattle drive as told
from the point of view of young cowboy on first drive,
the sight of the first train going through Indian Territory
as seen by a Native American child, or the recollections
of a bank robbery as told by a child in a bank/stage coach
at the time. (4-12)
Trains - the Number That Comes After - math. (K-2)
The Farmer and the Cowman (Click the lesson titled "The Farmer and the Cowman") - Learn the difference between a farm and a ranch by making booklets. (K-2)
Pretend
you run a Wild West Show. Create a poster to advertise
your show.(2-8)
Pretend
you are in a Wild West Show. Pick a talent and “perform”
it for your family. Add a stuffed longhorn steer and other props for more fun! You might also want to check out the Toys for cowboy play time on Amazon. (K-4)
Pan
for gold. Hide small rocks in sand. Punch holes in
aluminum pie pan and "sift" out the gold OR
you could use sugar for and and M&M's for gold
- edible! (PreK-12)
Stick Horse Rodeo (Click the lesson titled "Stick Horse Rodeo") - Make stick horses and use in simulated rodeo activities. (K-4)
Food
for Keeps (Click the lesson titled "Food for Keeps") - Explore food preservation methods and
make beef jerky. (K-4)
Recipes:
Cowboy
Chili:
Brown 1 lb. ground beef, 1 onion (chopped), 1 clove
garlic (minced) in a skillet. Add 1 cup water, 1 can
dark red kidney beans, 1 can tomato soup, and 1 can
chopped tomatoes. Add salt, cayenne pepper and chili
powder to taste. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours.
Tumbleweeds:
Melt 1 pkg. butterscotch morsels in plastic container
in microwave. Stir in 1 can crispy chow mien noodles.
Spoon mixture in 2” mounds onto wax paper. Cool.
Cow Chips:
Beat 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar and and 1 cup brown sugar
together until soft and fluffy. Mix in 2 eggs and 2
tsps. vanilla and beat until creamy. In a separate bowl,
combine 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking powder
and 1 tsp. baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and beat
well. Stir in 1 cup oats, 1 cup bran flakes, 6 oz. chocolate
chips, 3 oz peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup pecans, 1/2
cup coconut, and 1/2 cup raisins. (You can leave out
any of these that you don't.) Drop by tablespoons onto
lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for
12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. ENJOY!
Tulsa
Historical Society. Cattle Trade of Tulsa is a presentation
for older elementary children (groups only). The program
features Chuck and Maxine Tichenor teaching lasso twirling
and brand making. For more information email Lynn Doyle
or call at 918.712.9484
If
you have purchased the Oklahoma
Scrapbook, be sure to check it for additional field
trip ideas. Don't forget to add the above field trips
to your Scrapbook.
All
rights reserved.No
portion of this online book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without the written permission of the
Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles and reviews.
Published
by:
Cindy Downes, 9034 E 64th St., Tulsa, OK 74133
Index:
Website
Research: Railroads
by Kristiana Gregory. 203 pgs. ISBN 059010991X. (4-12)
Belle
Starr
owboy
Camp
by Allen Farnum. 
