Near Enid in Garfield County, Oklahoma — The American South (West South Central)
Jesse Chisholm
(circa 1805-1868)
Photographed by Lee Hattabaugh, October 19, 2015
1. Jesse Chisholm Marker
Inscription.
A section of the famed Chisholm Trail (1867-1885), which was used to drive cattle from Texas to the rail heads in Kansas after the Civil War, crosses a portion of Vance AFB near the entrance to the Armed Forces Reserve Center. The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, a true pioneer of the American West. Born in 1805 to a Scottish father and a Cherokee mother, he was the very embodiment of the collision of two great cultures. A merchant, guide, and interpreter, Chisholm established small trading posts in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas from the 1830s to late 1860s. Fluent in fourteen Native American dialects and a natural diplomat, Chisholm served as interpreter for numerous treaty councils in Texas, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), and Kansas. While his reputation for fairness and neutrality earned him the nickname of "Peacemaker of the Plains," he is best known as the namesake to the Chisholm Trail, the world's greatest cattle trail (1867-1885). At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Chisholm and a number of Wichita Indians left their homes in South Central Oklahoma and moved near present day downtown Wichita, Kansas.
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On their return to the plains of Indian Territory after the war, their wagons carved out the route which later became known as the Chisholm Trail.
Location. 36° 21.207′ N, 97° 54.064′ W. Marker is near Enid, Oklahoma, in Garfield County. It can be reached from Gott Road 0.7 miles south of West Southgate Road, on the right when traveling south. Marker is adjacent to the Vance AFB visitor center. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Enid OK 73703, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Central Oklahoma Frontier Country. It is also in the American South, specifically on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Comancherνa, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and Cherokee Outlet.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 31, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 21, 2015, by Lee Hattabaugh of Capshaw, Alabama. This page has been viewed 800 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 21, 2015, by Lee Hattabaugh of Capshaw, Alabama. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Frontal photo of entire monument. • Can you help?
