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Famous Cattle Towns

Ellsworth, Kansas: The Railhead That Led the Cattle Trade from 1871 to 1875

For four or five seasons Ellsworth was the busiest place in Kansas for Texas longhorns, and then the trade moved on.

Where did Ellsworth come from?

Ellsworth was first surveyed in 1867, close to Fort Harker, according to Legends of America's Ellsworth history. The railroad reached the fort in July 1867, and the new town grew quickly to more than 2,000 people. Within three months it had several houses, three grocery stores, a hardware store, dry goods and boot sellers, and a number of saloons.

The first year was hard. The Smoky Hill River flooded the town, leaving it in nearly four feet of water, and a cholera epidemic at Fort Harker then spread to Ellsworth. Many settlers left. Those who stayed moved the townsite to higher ground to the west, and that move is the town that later met the cattle trade.

How did Texas cattle reach Ellsworth?

After the Civil War the North wanted beef and Texas had millions of cattle but no railroad to carry them. The Kansas Historical Society's cowtown article places Texas drives between 1866 and 1885, with the Chisholm Trail as the main route to many towns. Joseph McCoy opened the first big Kansas shipping point at Abilene in 1867, and as settlement pushed west the trade followed the rails.

With the railroad extended to Ellsworth, the town dominated the Kansas cattle trade from 1871 to 1875, facing strong competition from Wichita in the later years.

How big was the cattle trade in 1873?

Sources give different pictures of the peak year. The Kansas Historical Society says more than 150,000 cattle were trailed to Ellsworth in 1873, with over 30,000 shipped by rail and most of the rest sold to stock western ranges. Legends of America says about 220,000 head were driven through town that year. Both agree 1873 was the largest season, and both help explain why Ellsworth prepared so heavily for it.

The shipping figure matters because Wichita sent out 66,000 head that same year, roughly twice what Ellsworth loaded. A big drive did not always mean a big shipment: much of the trade fed ranches on the northern and western plains rather than packers.

The Drovers Cottage and the business of the trail

In 1872 Ellsworth businessmen moved the Drovers Cottage, once owned by Joseph McCoy, from Abilene to their own town. It could house 175 guests and stable 50 carriages and 100 horses. Moving the hotel was a plain business decision: whoever held the hotel held the drovers, and the cattle buyers who came to meet them.

A trail town earned its living from a short season of cash. Hotels, outfitters, boot makers and saloon keepers all depended on herds arriving. When the herds stopped, so did the income, and one boot maker, John Mueller, packed up and moved to Dodge City.

What Made It Work

Ellsworth's run was short, but the record shows why it briefly led Kansas.

The costs were visible in the same record, from the flood and cholera of its first year to the shootings of the cattle seasons.

  • It had a railroad. A cattle town without rail access was only a stop on the trail.
  • It moved to higher ground after the 1867 flood, rather than abandoning the site.
  • It offered a full set of services for drovers, including the relocated Drovers Cottage with room for 175 guests.
  • It was positioned to take the trade as Abilene faded, and it dominated Kansas from 1871 to 1875.
  • It prepared in advance for the 1873 season, the largest of its cattle years.
  • The trade was exposed to outside forces: quarantine laws, new rail lines and settlers moving in all cut it short.

Violence and the Wild West image

On August 15, 1873, a dispute at Nick Lentz's Saloon between the Texas gambler Ben Thompson and John Sterling escalated. City Marshal Happy Jack Morco sided with Sterling. Sheriff Chauncey Whitney stepped in to calm things, but Billy Thompson's shotgun discharged and mortally wounded him. Ben Thompson was never tried and left for Austin, Texas; Billy was returned in 1876 and acquitted when a jury ruled the shooting an accident.

Morco and a later city marshal, Ed Crawford, were both gunned down in the streets, and Crawford had pistol-whipped a Texas cowboy named Cad Pierce to death. Wild Bill Hickok is named among the colorful figures who passed through, though the source describes no specific event involving him. One newspaper of the time wrote that "hell is still in session in Ellsworth."

What happened after 1875?

The shipping pens closed in 1875 and the town settled into farming and ranching. Quarantine laws and settlement closed off the old trail routes, and the center of the Kansas cattle trade moved to Dodge City. Ellsworth today has nearly 3,000 residents, and the Ellsworth Correctional Facility is a major employer.

For more on the trail towns and the era, browse the ranching section of farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about Kansas cow towns. Another view of the same period is in Legends of America's Kansas cowtown survey.

Timeline

  1. 1867Ellsworth surveyed near Fort Harker; railroad reaches the fort in July; flood and cholera follow
  2. 1871Ellsworth begins to dominate the Kansas cattle trade
  3. 1872Drovers Cottage moved to Ellsworth from Abilene
  4. 1873Largest cattle season; Sheriff Chauncey Whitney is fatally shot on August 15
  5. 1875Shipping pens close; cattle trade ends
  6. 1876Billy Thompson returned to Kansas and acquitted

Frequently asked questions

When was Ellsworth, Kansas, a cattle town?

Ellsworth dominated the Kansas cattle trade from 1871 to 1875, according to the Kansas Historical Society and Legends of America. The shipping pens closed in 1875 and the town turned to farming and ranching.

What was the Drovers Cottage?

The Drovers Cottage was a hotel built for Texas cattle drovers and once owned by Joseph McCoy. Ellsworth businessmen moved it from Abilene in 1872. It held 175 guests and stabled 50 carriages and 100 horses.

How many cattle came to Ellsworth in 1873?

Sources differ. The Kansas Historical Society says over 150,000 cattle were trailed in, with more than 30,000 shipped by rail. Legends of America reports about 220,000 head driven through town.

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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