NECESSITY FOR THE TRAIL

At the time of the breaking out of the war between the states in 1861, the Indians who remained in the Northern portion of the United States, east of the Mississippi River, and who had not been killed by the white invaders, had settled down on quiet reservations. The remaining portion of the Northern Indians had, prior to this time, retreated westward before the white man's rifle as it cleared the way for the white man's plow. These retreating Indians had made their last stand either in or at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and on the plains to the east of the same. The white man's cottages of logs, rock, and the sod of the prairie dotted the eastern portion of these plains, while the steel rails of the transcontinental railways were being extended further west and were preparing to reach out onto these plains.

In the Congress of the United States, at this time, the different factions were staging a battle incessant to determine whether the states which were to be carved out of this northern plains country were to be free or slave states. Both the Oregon and the Santa Fe trails extended westward from the Missouri River, the eastern boundary of Kansas. Each of these trails wound its way to the west, as devious as the trail of a serpent, and each crossed these northern plains. The Santa Fe trail terminated in the heart of the continent at Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Oregon trail found its way to various points on the Pacific coast.

The foregoing describes the situation generally in the North. In the Southern portion of the United States, in the, years preceding the war between the states, the fearless Davy Crockett had gone forth from his home in Tennessee to fight for the independence of Texas, and with his companion, Thimblerig, had cut loose from civilization at Nacogdoches, and, threading the forest wilderness, and swimming the rivers, had reached the old Alamo Mission, where now stands the beautiful City of San Antonio, Texas. There, fighting a forlorn hope, these soldiers of the frontier had died, together with Bowie, Bonham, Travis, and their other Texas companions. These brave defenders of Texas liberty had fallen when massacred by the ruthless invading Mexican Army, led by the more ruthless Santa Anna.

The hardy and fearless pioneers of Texas had rallied under the battle cry of, "Remember the Alamo"; and under the leadership of the rugged, intrepid, and sagacious Sam Houston had conquered Santa Anna and his Mexican Horde at San Jacinto. This conquest had been made in one of the most remarkable and decisive battles that the world has ever known. The flower of the Mexican Army had been driven back across the Rio Grande, and the power and control of the Mexican Government completely torn down and annihilated for all time in the country to the east of that river. Thenceforth the flag bearing the lone star floated over the great empire of Texas, and soon above it waved the Stars and Stripes.

Also, prior to this national conflict, the Indians in the Southern portion of the United States, living east of the Mississippi River, who belonged to the Five Civilized Tribes, comprised of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole, had been taken forcibly by the armed forces of a Christian and civilized Government, and placed on separate reservations in what is now the eastern portion of the State of Oklahoma. There had also, prior to the time stated, been ceded to the Cherokee Indians a strip of land fifty-eight miles wide immediately west of the Cherokee Reservation, immediately south of the southern boundary of Kansas, and extending west as far as the United States' possessions at that time reached, which location was then undetermined. This strip of land was said to be an outlet for the Cherokee Indians to the west from their reservation for hunting purposes. This was known as the Cherokee Outlet and later as the Cherokee Strip. The Cherokee Indians, as all people know, were not hunters. This land was never utilized by them, and this country until long after the Civil War was unoccupied. The land included in this outlet had really been considered worthless; hence the generosity of Congress. Regardless of the early impression of this country, it is now well known that it contained some of the finest, most valuable, and fertile land in the United States.

All this vast stretch of country, north of the Red River, prior to and for many years after the Civil War, was unoccupied and remained a veritable wilderness, over which roamed lawless bands of Western or Plains Indians, buffalo and other native wild animals. Onto this country, during that time, occasionally ventured intrepid explorers, traders, and outlaws, some of whom returned therefrom, while others left their bones upon the plains. Thus extended westward these two advances of civilization, while between them lay a vast domain, extending from the Red River on the south to central Kansas on the north. This intervening country, several hundred miles in width, was as void of civilization and protection of government as the jungles of South America.

Such was the situation in the West when active warfare between the states was entered into at the firing of Fort Sumter. The entire Nation was thereafter engaged in Civil War for the four years ensuing. During these four years, and up to the year 1866, the energy, power, and wealth of both the North and the South were exerted and spent in this civil conflict. During these years extensions of the frontiers and advancing the same were forgotten. Following the final capitulation of the Confederate Army at Appomatox, the armies of the North and the armies of the South left their bivouacs, cantonments, and forts, and returned to their former homes. Soon thereafter the men and women of the North took up their march to the west, singing both in spirit and in words:

"We will cross the prairies as of old
Our fathers crossed the sea,
To make the West as they the East
The homestead of the free."

In the South the men of Texas, joined by the Eastern and Northern men, pushed their herds westward, through thickets and woodland, across the glades and prairies to the Rio Grande. The trails left by the retreating Mexicans served as cow-paths, which were followed by the advancing herds. These pioneers left the line of their march marked with homes and ranches.

During the Civil War it had been impossible to send cattle out from the State of Texas. That State was a part of the Confederacy, and cattle during that period were not sent to States in possession of the Federal Army. During most of the war, the Mississippi River had been in the possession of the armies of the North, and for that reason no cattle could pass from Texas down or across to the east side of that river. During all these years the cattle of Texas multiplied, until the most accurate statistics show that at the close of the war there were over 3,000,000 cattle on the farms and ranches of that State. While this number purports to be accurate, we know that it cannot be exact. It has been said that the cost of rearing a steer to maturity in Texas at that time was fifty cents, and this was the cost of branding it. There was no market for these cattle, and they were practically without value.

Following the close of the war some of these cattle were driven east to the Mississippi River, and shipped by boat to New Orleans and other points down the river, but the...