The Chisholm Trail probably began as a buffalo migration route, linking summer pastures in the Central Plains to winter pastures in Texas. American Indians followed the buffalo and shared the route with U.S. explorers, who mapped it in the 1850s. In . . . — — Map (db m96433) HM
Like waves across an ocean of grain, wind ripples through acre after acre of wheat in Sumner County. This area produces more hard red wheat than any other in the United States.
Mennonites who emigrated from Europe in the 1870's planted the . . . — — Map (db m97665) HM
This Kansas limestone relief sculpture, by Cherokee sculptor Eddie Morrison, depicts the variety of cultures which have occupied and influenced this area. Each group, from Native Americans to early pioneers, farmers, and adventurers, have shared the . . . — — Map (db m96551) HM
Caldwell "The Border Queen"
Founded 1871, incorporated 1879 by a town company of investors from Wichita and named for U. S. Sen. Alexander Caldwell. The original townsite was north of Ave. F, the Kansas state line prior to 1876. . . . — — Map (db m96545) HM
A mile southeast of this marker the Chisholm Trail entered Kansas. It took its name from Jesse Chisholm, Indian trader, whose route lay between the North Canadian river and present Wichita. In 1867 it was extended from the Red river to Abilene when . . . — — Map (db m49504) HM
By the close of the Civil War in 1865, the cattle herds and cowboys from Texas began forging trails through Oklahoma and The Cherokee Strip to rail heads in Kansas. The most famous route of all was the Chisholm Trail. Caldwell Kansas became the . . . — — Map (db m96608) HM
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Cowtown Law Enforcement
On August 21, 1879, the Caldwell police force, consisting of a marshal and assistant marshal, was created by the city council. The new officers would daily take before the new police . . . — — Map (db m96611) HM
The silhouette on the bluff to the East, astride the actual Chisholm Trail, was completed in 1995 after hundreds of hours of volunteered labor, land, and donations. The "Ghosts" will forever remind us of the great cattle drives, 1866 - 1887, when . . . — — Map (db m11604) HM
Hired as assistant marshal in 1882 and later promoted to marshal. Henry Brown had failed to tell the city council about his interesting past which included cattle rustling, riding with Billy the Kid, and a trivial murder charge during the Lincoln . . . — — Map (db m96524) HM
George Flatt (1853-1880), Caldwell's first city marshal, and a fearless gunfighter, was gunned down here the night of June 19, 1880, 2 months after leaving the police force. Flatt had argued with two police officers earlier in the evening and died . . . — — Map (db m96521) HM
This corner was occupied by the Exchange Saloon, the site of many shooting incidents between cowpokes and outlaws during the 1870s and 1880s. The saloon was destroyed by fire in 1898. The first floor of this building was built in 1902 with materials . . . — — Map (db m96542) HM
By 1885 a reform movement had begun in this wild cowtown. The open saloons were being forced underground into "blind tigers", a place where liquor could be bought through a slot in the door but neither the seller nor the buyer could see the other. . . . — — Map (db m96537) HM
Red Light Saloon
On the NE corner of Chisholm and Ave A stood the Red Light Saloon which helped give Caldwell its reputation as the most lawless cowtown. In April, 1880 George and Mag Wood literally disassembled their Wichita . . . — — Map (db m96528) HM
On July 7, 1879, in the Moreland Saloon, Deputy Constable John Wilson and a citizen, George Flatt, cornered two cowboys named Woods and Adams. They had been firing their guns outside in celebration of being paid for a Texas cattle drive earlier in . . . — — Map (db m96538) HM
On December 17, 1881 in the alley east, Mike Meagher, past Wichita Marshal and Caldwell Mayor was killed in a shootout with Jim Talbot and his gang. Also killed by the gunfire was George Spears, former policeman, who had changed to the Talbot side. . . . — — Map (db m96534) HM
By 1884 the growing city of Caldwell was interested in promoting the finer cultural aspects of life and plans were made to construct a new Grand Opera House. During that year an opulent three story brick structure was erected on this site. It was . . . — — Map (db m96546) HM
The first building erected at Caldwell was, appropriately enough, a saloon. Constructed of thick logs in 1869 by Curley Marshall, it was located about a mile southeast of this marker on the north bank of Bluff Creek. It was open for business in time . . . — — Map (db m96531) HM
The Last Land Rush
On September 16, 1893, 15,000 land hungry whites gathered here to make "the Run" into the Cherokee Outlet to the south. Caldwell was 1 of 9 places where over 100,000 potential settlers awaited cavalry soldiers' . . . — — Map (db m96535) HM
The Legend of Mount Lookout
Just south of town is the red sandstone bluff first known as Manning's Peak following the killing of a cowboy by that name in a gunfight in town in 1872. Manning's brothers refused to bury him in . . . — — Map (db m96550) HM
The Leland Hotel stood here from 1880 to 1970 when a fire swept through the historic structure. It was built of brick, 3 stories high, 46 guest rooms each with its own running water, a billiard hall, barber shop, bridal chamber, barroom, dining hall . . . — — Map (db m96541) HM
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad reached here from the North on June 13, 1880 and Caldwell joined Baxter Springs, Abilene, Newton, Wichita, Ellsworth and Dodge City in the pages of history as a Kansas cowtown. Hundreds of thousands of . . . — — Map (db m96540) HM
Built by C. G. Stall and a group of investors at a cost of $17,000, the Southwestern Hotel stood here for almost a century. Boasting 38 rooms, including a servants sitting room, billiards room, barbershop, fine dining hall, ballroom, a laundry and . . . — — Map (db m96530) HM
The Stock Exchange Bank is the oldest business in Caldwell and occupies one of the oldest surviving buildings in town. It received a State Charter on November 12, 1881 and opened for business the following December 24th. The stone building erected . . . — — Map (db m96544) HM
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The "Real" Cherokee Strip
Under treaties made in 1828 and 1833 with the Federal Government, the Cherokee Tribe of Indians exchanged their homelands in the southeastern part of the United States for land in the . . . — — Map (db m96599) HM
Between 1867 and 1876 more than two million Texas Longhorns were driven North past here to Kansas railroad towns for shipment East. At Slate Creek Crossing 5 miles northeast a trading post, 1869, was the first building in Sumner County. Over this . . . — — Map (db m96430) HM
