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 Chisholm Trail - Enid, OK Posted by:  hamquilter
N 36° 27.850 W 097° 52.391
14S E 600960 N 4036023
This historical monument stands on the route of the Chisholm Trail, used in the late 1800s to move cattle from the ranches of Texas to the railroad stockyards in Abilene, Kansas
Waymark Code: WMDQ1W
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/12/2012
Views: 16
North of Enid, on Highway 81 stands a large monument commemorating the historic Chisholm Trail. Jesse Chisholm was an Indian trader, guide and interpreter who had several trading posts in Western Oklahoma. He devised the system that brought Texas and Oklahoma cattle to market over the Trail named after him. The Trail was used between 1865 and 1893, and during its heyday (1867-1871) it is estimated that more than 1.5 million head of cattle made the trip north on this Trail.
This monument was dedicated in 1945. It is a large granite slab approximately twelve feet wide with a tall vertical slab at the center over eight feet high. The monument is standing on a set of six concrete steps. At the top of the vertical portion, the face of Jesse Chisholm is etched. Beneath the face an engraving reads: “CHISHOLM TRAIL/1865-1893” On the wide side pieces, drawings of scenes along the Trail are etched, which include a chuck wagon and campfire, a horse being watered, and hundreds of cattle being herded.
At the base of the vertical portion, an inscription reads:
Here Passed the Old Cattle Trail,
Blazoned by Jesse Chisholm, which
Finally Stretched for Eight
Hundred Miles from San Antonio,
Texas to Abilene, Kansas over
which Cowboys from the Pasture-
lands of the Great Southwest
Drove their Herds to the Railroads.
Many Tales of Adventure will
Perhaps Remain Untold with the
Passing of those who Traveled the
Trail. To Them This Memorial
is Dedicated, in the Year 1945
On the back side of this vertical slab, the following information is shown:
The Jesse Chisholm Trail and
Memorial Association, Inc.
Ed Stinnett, President
Fred Moehle, Vice President
Ernest F. Smith, Secretary
H.F. Donnelly
L.A. Chenoweth
Erected by the Jack H. Pellow
Monument Works, Enid, Okla.
Miss Fern Malott, Designer
Fred Moehle Associate
James Gildea, Jr. Sculpture
Unveiling
Phyllis Irene Moehle
Jeanne Marie Stinett
The left and right wings of the monument on the back side each have the following inscription:
The Following Names are Members of C.S.C.P.A. and Worked on Cattle
Ranches Before the Spring of the Cherokee Strip for Settlement.
(Eight Columns of over 250 Names)
County: Garfield
Rate the Site: 
Date Erected: 1945
Sponsor (Who put it there): Jesse Chisholm Trail and Memorial Assoc. Inc.
Record Address:: Not listed
Web site if available: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:1 - Must visit the site in person.
2 - New Photo required.
3 - Give some new insight to the marker/site.
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