OklahomaHorses Magazine March 2022

14 OklahomaHorses • March/April 2022 in Indian Territory after 1884. New laws that were passed in Kansas in 1885 shifted the quarantine line much farther west. TheWestern Cattle Trail and Indian Reservations The Chisholm Trail was not the only great cattle trail of the 1870s and 1880s to make its way across the prairie in what is now Oklahoma. As quarantine lines pushed farther west and the demand for beef on the northern plains grew, the Western Cattle Trail, also known as the Dodge City Trail, became popular. John T. Lytle took a herd of 3,500 steers north from Bandera, Texas, to the Red Cloud Agency, an Indian agency near Camp (later Fort) Robinson in Nebraska. Initially, the new trail was not without danger. By 1875, the United States Army had succeeded in driving the Kiowas and Comanches onto reservations in Indian Territory, eliminating much of the threat along the trail. This image from the May 1874 issue of Harpers Weekly gives a glimpse into stockyard life in Kansas as thousands of cattle end their long trek north and are shipped to eastern markets by rail. Above: A hardworking cattle crew gathers around the chuck wagon for dinner. This routine was repeated every day as herds made their way north from Texas.