A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



and Cow Skin Creeks flow into that stream. They were 

 moved during the Civil War with Maj. Henry Shanklin in 

 charge. He had made a deal with a rich half-breed "squaw 

 man," Jesse Chisholm, to open a trail, and establish supply 

 depots. Cow ponies were used to drive back and forth at 

 crossings in treacherous quicksand streams, such as the Dou- 

 ble Mountain and Salt Forks of the Brazos, Cimmaron and 

 North and South Canadian, settling the sand and permitting 

 the crossing of heavy wagons. [This process is still used in 

 Texas, and during my early years in the state when driving 

 across country we often unharnessed the horses when swollen 

 rivers were encountered, riding them back and forth, and in 

 later years I have taken off my shoes and tramped in the 

 sand, still "quicky" after a rise, in order to make crossing in 

 an auto safe.] With the advent of the trail driving the 

 Chisholm trail was extended, and as nearly as exhaustive 

 research can determine in the somewhat conflicting accounts 

 by different authors it was as follows: C. H. Rust, San 

 Angelo, Tex., says the trail started at San Antonio and 

 ended at Abilene, Kans. The route was San Antonio to 

 New Braunfels, thence to San Marcos, Austin, Right Round 

 Rock, Georgetown, Salado and Belton to old Fort Graham 

 near Waco ; thence to Cleburne and Fort Worth, and on to 

 Bolivar, where the trail forked out, most trails going up 

 Elm to St. Joe on Red River; thence to Nation, Beaver 

 Creek, Monument Rocks, Washita Crossing and Canadian 

 River to the north Fork, Prairie Creek and King Fisher 

 Creek; thence to Caldwell, Solomon and Abilene, Kans., 

 crossing Cow Skin Creek and the Arkansas River and pass- 

 ing via Brookville. 



The trail varied in width at river crossings from 50 to 

 100 yards to from I mile to 2 miles at the widest points. 

 The average drive per day was from 8 to 12 miles, and the 

 time on the trail was 60 to 90 days from points in Texas to 

 Abilene, Kans. The other trail from Bolivar crossed the 



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