Shawnee Cattle Trail
Italy vicinity, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In use from approximately 1850 to 1873, the Shawnee Cattle Trail was the first north-south cattle trail and reached the farthest east of the four great cattle-driving Trails from Texas to the northern markets. These included the Shawnee, Chisholm, Great Western and Goodnight-Loving trails. The Shawnee Trail passed through western Ellis County crossing the Brazos River at Waco, the Trinity River at Dallas and the Red River at Preston en route to Missouri. The trail was well-suited for cattle drives as Ellis County is situated within the Blackland Prairie. The prairie transitioned from gently rolling terrain to level ground in the central corridor, which provided an easy pathway for cattle transport. In the 19th century, the prairie provided an abundance of forage and water, which ensured safe passage for their journey north. Waxahachie, the Ellis County seat, was created in 1850 and was a supply stop on the trail. However, by 1855, an epidemic of Texas fever, also called tick fever, began to pass from unaffected Texas cattle to northern cattle. The fever ravaged cattle and enraged local stockmen, but the drives continued. Between 1861 and 1865, the cattle drives were all but discontinued due to the outbreak of the Civil War and laws that regulated infected Texas cattle. Famed cattle baron Joseph Geiting McCoy first used the Chisholm Trail in 1867, which followed the Shawnee Trail through Waco but then travelled west through Fort Worth. Although the Chisholm trail eventually became the major route for Texas cattle, drives up the Shawnee trail continued through 1873.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In use from about 1850 to 1873, the Shawnee Trail was the earliest and easternmost of the great cattle trails that drove Texas herds north to market, crossing western Ellis County and fording the Brazos at Waco, the Trinity at Dallas, and the Red River at Preston en route to Missouri. The Blackland Prairie's forage, water, and gentle terrain made ideal droving country, and towns like Waxahachie rose as supply stops. Outbreaks of tick fever and the Civil War disrupted the drives, and after Joseph McCoy opened the Chisholm Trail in 1867 the Shawnee slowly gave way, though herds still moved up it through 1873.
Why it matters
The Shawnee Trail opened the era of the long cattle drive, the enterprise that turned Texas beef into a national industry and stamped the cowboy onto the American imagination.
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Related people
- · Joseph Geiting McCoy
Themes & tags
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