The Great Western Cattle Trail

The Great Western Cattle Trail. Circa 1876 - 1895. Began in southern Texas after Quanah Parker and the Comanches surrendered at Fort Sill in 1875. Due to the failing Post-Civil war economy in Texas, ranchers developed a 1,000 mile trail to Dodge City, Ogallala, and other northern markets to receive rewarding profits. With faith in God, Cowboys drove millions of Longhorns over the prairie that had been conserved by the Plains Indians. In Indian Territory, the Comanches and other tribes became skilled as diplomats and offered right of passage for beef from the cattlemen. Many of the human experiences we call "The Wild West" that captured the interest of the world evolved here on the Great Western Cattle Trail., Erected on the Quanah Parker Trailway in 1995 by the Jackson County Historical Society, The Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation, the Jack and Marie Mills Family, The Jackson County Farm Bureau, and Friends of the Western Cattle Trail, one hundred years after the close of the trail., As the Trail ceased to be used and the land openings began settlers moved onto the Great Plains. Many descendants of old Greer County Pioneers still live in Southwest Oklahoma.