The Great Western Cattle Trail - Canute, Oklahoma, USA.
N 35° 25.307 W 099° 16.289
14S E 475354 N 3919852
The pole is part of that 2003 effort to mark the Great Western Cattle Trail from beginning to end. The Historic Marker explains the significance of the Trail. Located alongside Historic Route 66 in Canute, Oklahoma.
Waymark Code: WMNGZB
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 03/15/2015
Views: 10
GREAT WESTERN TRAIL
The text on the GWCT Marker reads:
"THE GREAT WESTERN CATTLE TRAIL BEGAN AT BANDERA TEXAS. AS THE DEMAND FOR BEEF INCREASED IN THE EAST, RETURNING CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS HEARDED WILD LONGHORN CATTLE FROM SOUTH TEXAS AND MEXICO NORTH TO THE RAILHEAD AT DODGE CITY KANSAS. THE FIRST HERD CONSISTING OF 3000 HEAD, WAS DRIVEN NORTH UP THE TRAIL BY . JOHN T. LYTLE IN 1874, THEY CROSSED THE RED RIVER INTO INDIAN TERRITORY (OK) AT DOANS CROSSING ABOUT 22 MILES S.E. OF PRESENT DAY ALTUS, OK. GRAZING THE RICH GRASSLAND, THEY CONTINUED NORTH TO SOLDIER SPRINGS, LOCATED 9 MILES SOUTH AND 1 MILE WEST OF PRESENT DAY CANUTE, OK. PASSING ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF CANUTE, THEY WINDED NORTH TO DODGE CITY, KS. EVENTUALLY ARRIVING IN NABRASCA AT THE RED CLOUD INDIAN AGENCY. THE HERDS AVERAGED 3,000 THEM. HEAD, REQUIRING 10 MEN TO HANDLE THEM. EACH COWBOY, MOST IN THEIR TEENS OR EARLY TWENTIES, REQUIRED 7 HORSES ADDING 70-100 HEAD PER CATTLE DRIVE, ABOUT 100 HERDS CROSSED OKLAHOMA, USUALLY FROM MARCH TO SEPT, EACH YEAR. THE TRAIL COULD BE FROM 6 TO 20 MILES WIDE DEPPENDING ON HOW MANY AT ONCE. MORE THAN 7 MILLION CATTLE MOVED UP THE TRAIL DURING ITS 20 YEAR EXISTANCE OF THE TRAIL."
"The 1800’s Texans were looking for a way to make a living. There were no markets for the abundant cattle abandoned during the Civil War. The demand of the cattle in the North was high and the North had already established railways to accommodate the cattle, thus the Great Western Cattle Trail was developed on the simple theory of supply and demand.
In 1874 Captain John T. Lytle and several cowboys left South Texas with 3,500 head of longhorn cattle and a remuda of saddle horses. Five years later, the route Lytle cut out of the prairie to Ft. Robinson, Nebraska, had become the most significant cattle trail in history – the Great Western Cattle Trail.
Though less well known than the Chisholm Trail, the Great Western Cattle Trail was longer in length and carried cattle for two years longer than the Chisholm. The Great Western saw over seven million cattle and horses pass through Texas and Oklahoma to the railheads in Kansas and Nebraska, therefore, developing the cattle industry as far north as Wyoming and Montana.
A typical head would move 10 -12 miles a day and included the trail boss, a wrangler, and a cook. The drive from South Texas to Kansas took about two months at a cost of $1000 in wages and provisions. At the end of the trail, cattle sold for $20.00 to $35.00 per head." Text Source: (
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"Canute was established in the early 1900s and located on the now-defunct Rock Island Railroad. Following the advent of the automobile, Canute became a popular stop along U.S. Route 66 and a large number of tourist businesses including gasoline service stations, motels and restaurants. However, when Interstate 40 bypassed the small village to the north in May, 1970 and received only one exit from the freeway, the local economy went into a decline due to the bypass and the concurrent closure of nearby Clinton-Sherman Air Force base at Burns Flat, leading most of those businesses to shut down. Today, Canute businesses include a bank and auto repair shop on Route 66, a strip bar, along with a gas station/convenience store and a motel at the I-40 interchange." text source: (
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