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Famous Cattle Towns

Abilene, Kansas: Where Joseph McCoy Opened the First Cattle Railhead

A cluster of log cabins in 1867, Abilene shipped hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorns within four years.

Why did Abilene become a cattle town?

After the Civil War, northern states faced a beef shortage while Texas had about five million cattle and no railroads to ship them. According to the Kansas Historical Society's Kansapedia article on cow towns, hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorns were driven north each year from 1866 to 1885 to Kansas shipping points.

The problem was Texas fever. Longhorns carried a tick that spread the disease to local cattle, so Kansas farmers lobbied for quarantines. An 1867 law allowed Texas cattle only south and west of present-day McPherson. Abilene lay outside that zone, but its sparse population meant no one objected at first.

How did Joseph McCoy build the Great Western Stockyards?

Joseph G. McCoy left a prosperous Illinois farm in 1867 and came to Kansas to make a fortune in the cattle trade. He planned to drive Texas cattle to a railhead outside the quarantine lines and ship them east, where beef prices were higher. According to the Abilene tourism site's history of McCoy, he searched along the new Union Pacific line. Junction City, Solomon City and Salina turned him down.

He chose Abilene, then a small town of dugouts and sod houses. In mid-June 1867 he reached an agreement with local farmers and won permission from Kansas Governor Samuel Crawford to bring Texas cattle in, and within a month he began building loading pens. He built the Great Western Stockyards and the Drover's Cottage hotel for cattlemen and drovers, and surveyor Timothy Hersey marked the trail with dirt mounds. The route was later called the Chisholm Trail, part of which had earlier been a trade route used by Jesse Chisholm.

How many cattle came through Abilene?

The Abilene tourism site gives approximate numbers of cattle coming up the Chisholm Trail: 35,000 in 1867, 75,000 in 1868, 150,000 in 1869, 300,000 in 1870 and 600,000 in 1871. On August 15, 1867, 7,000 longhorns arrived before the pens were finished. The Kansas Historical Society gives a lower rail-shipping figure for 1871, with more than 40,000 head shipped that last big season, so the totals depend on whether the count is trail arrivals or rail shipments.

By 1870 Abilene had 10 boarding houses, 11 saloons, five general stores and four hotels, with over 75 businesses and more than 3,000 residents. Up to 1,000 cowboys could be paid in a single day during the season, and a local bank opened in 1870 that handled over $900,000 in its first two months.

The Key to Abilene's Success

Abilene worked as a cattle market because one organizer solved the three problems that kept Texas cattle from northern buyers: where to ship them, how to hold them and how to bring buyers to them.

It also carried costs: disease fears, an unpaid railway bill and the backlash from farmers and townspeople that eventually closed the market.

  • Chose a railhead outside the quarantine line and secured the governor's permission.
  • Built the infrastructure first: stockyards, loading pens and a hotel for drovers.
  • Marked the trail so herds could find the town.
  • Answered buyer fears over Texas fever in 1868 with a St. Louis and Chicago show of captured bison, elk and wild horses, then a buffalo hunt for buyers in Abilene.
  • Brought banking to town in 1870 so cattle sales could be settled locally.
  • Left a gap in the money side: the Union Pacific never paid the $5 per car agreed verbally, and McCoy sued for years.

Why did the cattle trade leave Abilene?

The Kansas Pacific reached Abilene in 1869, and the town was the primary Texas cattle market for four years. Its 1871 season was its last big one. Settlement and community disapproval pushed the trade west to Newton and Ellsworth. In 1872 Abilene passed an ordinance banning Texas longhorns because of Texas fever and lawless cowboys, forcing ranchers to seek other railheads.

McCoy, then Abilene's mayor, disagreed with the decision, and he later described the town as largely abandoned, with many businesses vacant or moved.

The railroad dispute and McCoy's legacy

The Union Pacific had agreed verbally to pay McCoy $5 per loaded car, but no written contract was signed. After the 1868 season more than $200,000 was owed, and the railway refused to pay, calling the agreement improperly made. McCoy did not receive payment until years later, after suing the company.

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture entry on the Chisholm Trail is a further reference on the trail. Abilene was the first of six major Kansas cattle towns: Abilene, Ellsworth, Newton, Wichita, Caldwell and Dodge City.

Learn more about Abilene's cattle history

The Wikipedia article on Abilene, Kansas gives a general overview of the town beyond its cattle years.

For more on cattle drives and trail towns, browse the ranching section of farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about the Chisholm Trail.

Timeline

  1. 1867Kansas law limits Texas cattle to south and west of present-day McPherson
  2. 1867Joseph McCoy opens the first Texas cattle railhead at Abilene
  3. 1868McCoy stages a buyer show to calm Texas fever fears
  4. 1869The Kansas Pacific railroad reaches Abilene
  5. 1870Abilene has over 75 businesses and more than 3,000 residents
  6. 1871Abilene's last big cattle season
  7. 1872Abilene bans Texas longhorns

Frequently asked questions

Who made Abilene a cattle town?

Joseph G. McCoy, an Illinois cattle dealer, chose Abilene in 1867 and built the Great Western Stockyards and the Drover's Cottage hotel there.

When was Abilene a cattle town?

From 1867 to 1871, when it was the primary Texas cattle market. Abilene banned Texas longhorns in 1872 because of Texas fever and lawless cowboys.

How many cattle were shipped from Abilene?

Approximate Chisholm Trail counts run from 35,000 in 1867 to 600,000 in 1871. The Kansas Historical Society reports more than 40,000 head shipped by rail in 1871, so totals vary.

What was the Chisholm Trail?

The trail from Texas to Abilene marked by surveyor Timothy Hersey in 1867. Part of it followed an earlier trade route used by Jesse Chisholm.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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