Jesse Chisholm - Kingfisher, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 50.905 W 097° 56.367
14S E 595769 N 3967655
The bust of Jesse Chisholm greets visitors to the Chisholm Trail Museum in Kingfisher.
Waymark Code: WM14JCA
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/15/2021
Views: 1
The Chisholm Trail Museum, located at 605 Zellers Avenue in Kingfisher, is a very interesting and complete history of the early frontier days in this region of Indian Territory. It is complete with photos, artifacts, and relocated historic buildings from the area. The museum is dedicated to the history of the Chisholm Trail.
Jesse Chisholm is a larger-than-life character from the Old West. He was born in Tennessee to a Scotsman and his Cherokee wife in 1805 or 1806. Jesse was a fur trader and merchant with trading posts in Western Oklahoma. He spoke 13 Native American languages, as well as Spanish and served both Texas and the United States as an interpreter in negotiations and treaties with the Indian tribes.
The Chisholm Trail for which he is most known was originally developed by him as a trail for supplying the various trading posts in that area. Unfortunately, he died on March 4, 1868 before seeing the amazing benefit of the Chisholm Trail on cattle herding, when more than 5 million head of cattle were moved along his Trail from Texas to the railheads in Kansas. Jesse Chisholm died of food poisoning in what is now Geary, Oklahoma.
This sculpture is a bust of Jesse mounted on a granite pillar. He is dressed, as often depicted, in a jacket and loose neck scarf.