Dodge City Trail

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DODGE CITY TRAIL

DODGE CITY TRAIL was one of the famous cattle trails from west Texas to the railway terminal in Kansas. Herds of cattle were gathered along the trail at such Texas points as Mason, Brady, Coleman, and Fort Griffin. Crossing the Red River at Doan's Store near Vernon, the moving herds continued through Fort Supply in western Oklahoma to Dodge City. Texas cattle and cattlemen became the foundations of Dodge City's economy and rough culture. During the decade 1875–1885 the number of cattle driven up this trail amounted to several hundred thousand head. Local farmers eventually closed the trail to cattle drives in 1885.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Haywood, C. Robert. Trails South: The Wagon-Road Economy in the Dodge City–Panhandle Region. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1986.

Jordan, Terry G. Trails to Texas: Southern Roots of Western Cattle Ranching, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1981.

Lamar, Howard R. Texas Crossings: The Lone Star State and the American Far West, 1836–1986. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.

L. W.Newton/h. s.

See alsoAbilene Trail ; Cattle Drives .