By Brian Rukes, El Reno Historian
March 4, 1868 marks the date Jesse Chisholm passed away, the man for whom the famous Chisholm Trail was named.
Chisholm was a trader, scout, and trailblazer who could speak multiple native languages. He died, reportedly due to food poisoning, on this day in 1868 just north of the border of Canadian County in Blaine County, northeast of the city of Geary, OK. He is buried at that location, with a marker nearby. Here’s a link: https://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.3935
The Chisholm Trail was one of the first major routes through this part of the country, and it is regarded almost universally as the most important cattle trail in U.S. history. Later, U.S. Highway 81 would run very close to the route of the Chisholm Trail, contributing to why Highway 81 is such a major road (and a significant part of the reason why the City of El Reno has trademarked “Crossroads of the Continent” for itself). The 98th Meridian that it runs along is also highly significant for several other reasons that I will share later, Lord willing.
Chisholm established much of the trail around 1864 as a wagon route, part of his trading activities in the territory. The route became the world’s most famous cattle trail following the 1867 establishment of Abilene, Kansas, as a stockyards with access to the railroads to help supply the much-wanted beef in the United States’ growing economy. This came, of course, on the heels of the Civil War, which had ended in 1865. Chisholm died in 1868, but he reportedly never drove cattle on the Chisholm Trail. Nevertheless, the trail was named in his honor and continued under heavy operation until around 1885, when an extension of the railroad (the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) essentially supplanted the trail when the railway was completed from the north down to the town of Purcell, Oklahoma. (The scene from the 1946 movie The Harvey Girls in which Judy Garland performs the song “On the Athison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” captures the excitement and the great mobility that the railroads provided at that time. Remember, we didn’t have Interstate Highways or even Route 66 back then! You can see the movie scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgrOvMLWsY
El Reno would have the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway reach it in 1890, one year after the “Run of ’89” (the first land run) and El Reno’s establishment, further contributing to the significance of El Reno as the “Crossroads of the Continent.” El Reno would become a MAJOR railroad town, serving as the headquarters / hub of the Southern Division of the CRI&P / Rock Island Railroad. El Reno was even prominently featured in the 1954 Glenn Ford movie “Human Desire” (which originally had the working title “End of the Line”) because it was such an important railroad town.
That building that was recently razed (demolished) by the railroad tracks near the Canadian County Historical Museum wasn’t JUST an old, abandoned dilapidated apartment building. It originally was the main offices for the Rock Island Railroad here in town. Sadly, the dilapidated condition of that privately owned building led to its ultimate demolition. MANY people came to El Reno to live, work, and even visit through the decades because of the railroad, with so many people working for “The Rock” (as it was also called).
Also attached is a VERY detailed map of the Chisholm Trail through Oklahoma (including El Reno), as found at: https://www.okhistory.org/images/enc/HISMAP.0003.jpg
You can also read more about the history of the Chisholm Trail on that website, at https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CH045
What amazing history we have here in El Reno! We have FAR more than just Route 66 and fried onion burgers and tornadoes to offer here at the “Crossroads of the Continent” ™.
Also of significance on this date in history, two of the most influential Presidents in U.S. history were inaugurated on this day–Abraham Lincoln, in 1861, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933. Both have interesting connections to El Reno that we’ve shared in the past.
Additional CAPTIONS / Credits:
1st Image: Picture of Jesse Chisholm from: https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CH067 (1757, W. P. Campbell Collection, OHS).