John S. Chisum, Confederate Beef Contractor
Paint Rock vicinity, Concho County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1824-1884) On this site during the Civil War and later, grazed by tens of thousands the Longhorns of cattle baron John S. Chisum. Ranch headquarters were 10 miles east. Here in 1863-1865, Chisum not only ranched but also was buyer of cattle to feed Confederate armies stationed west of the Mississippi River. Born in Tennessee, he came to the Republic of Texas in 1837. After a term as Lamar County clerk, started ranching in 1853. For room to expand, moved his well known "Jingle - Bob" herds to the Concho in 1863. Though he was not the man who gave the name to the famed northbound trail (this was Jesse Chisolm) John S. Chisum's drives were heroic. Herds bound in wartime for Louisiana army camps had to by-pass or to fight Indians, rustlers and occasionally a federal patrol. Concho cattle had to swim across the deep, cold Brazos River. Here cowboys would prod a heavy, wild bull till he was angry; then he would turn on men and horses. Or the Brazos itself killed men and horses. Still beef went through to the Confederates. After the war, Chisum developed ranches in New Mexico and was a bystander in the Lincoln County Wars of Billy the Kid and other desperados. (1965)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Cattle baron John S. Chisum (1824–1884) grazed tens of thousands of Longhorns on the Concho after moving his "Jingle-Bob" herds here in 1863. During the Civil War he supplied beef to Confederate armies west of the Mississippi, driving cattle toward Louisiana camps through gauntlets of raiders, rustlers, federal patrols, and the deep, cold Brazos. After the war he built ranching empires in New Mexico and became a bystander to the Lincoln County War of Billy the Kid.
Why it matters
Chisum's wartime and postwar drives helped forge the great cattle-kingdom era of the American West, when Texas Longhorns became the engine of a frontier economy.
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Related people
- · John S. Chisum
- · Jesse Chisholm
- · Billy the Kid
Related events
- · Civil War
- · Lincoln County War
Themes & tags
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