REQUEST FREE BROCHURE
 
|
   |
| Chisholm Trail |
 |
|
|
Group Tour Planner Motorcoach Information Tours and Packages Request Marketing Aids Sample Itineraries Searchable Tour Planner OK Driving Time Map (pdf) Escort Notes Travel Games |
Chisholm Trail
Sample Itinerary for the Chisholm Trail - 4 days
The Chisholm Trail was blazed 133 years ago by Jesse Chisholm, a trader of Cherokee and Scottish descent. Cowboys herded cattle along it from Red River Station in Texas north through Indian Territory and on up to Caldwell, Kansas - five to 15 miles a day. Today, US Highway 81 is designated as the Chisholm Trail Historic Route and boasts of 400 trail markers.
DAY 1
Crossing north from the Texas border, into the Chickasaw Nation, visit the site of the Fleetwood store and post office. This counterpart to a modern-day convenience store is five miles due east from Terral. It was the first post office in Indian Territory, and remained open until 1960. Two historical markers give additional information. Travel north to Waurika, known during the trail's heyday as the "big pasture"- a place where cowboys could let their herds graze a day or so after crossing the Red River. Waurika's Chisholm Trail Historical Museum, housed in a restored Rock Island Depot, features a pioneer room, a full-sized covered wagon, and a Colt rifle once owned by trail driver Tom Lattimore.
About two-and-a-half miles east of Addington is Monument Hill. Perched atop the hills is a tall obelisk marker that provides additional historical facts. A short distance southeast of the monument lies the grave of trail driver Tom Lattimore. Notice trail ruts still visible left by the hooves of millions of cattle traveling north.
Back on US81 head for Duncan, the home to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center and Museum which commemorates and celebrates the great history and heritage of the old Chisholm Trail and the other Great Cattle Trails of the late 19th century. The Center includes the largest bronze sculpture in Oklahoma, a monumental statue of a cattle drive, and an adjacent museum and visitor center. Inside the museum, displays and galleries put you on the old Trail. The recent expansion houses four major state-of-the-art historical and educational attractions. The new gallery contains interactive, computer/video-based, and traditional exhibits. The Chisholm Trail Environmental Theater uses leading-edge technology and state-of-the-art visual and physical special effects. Viewers in the Environmental Theater will experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the old Trail. In the courtyard area, standing nearly 15 feet high atop it's immense base and stretching almost 35 feet across the horizon is a majestic work of art, titled "On the Chisholm Trail.” Downtown Duncan's picture-book Main Street is home to numerous antique shops, a drugstore with a soda fountain unique shopping. Notice the sidewalks made from the regions native sandstone creating a trail with Duncan's history in blocks of granite. Of special interest are the blocks representing Duncan natives, actor and director Ron Howard and UN Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick. The Stephens County Historical Museum features displays on the cattle drives, pioneers, the oil boom and the Plains Indians artifacts.
DAY 2 & 3
Marlow is the "Outlaw Capital" of the state. Legend reveals that the sons of Dr. Marlow (for whom the town was named) were accused of stealing cattle. Before the incident was over, two of the brothers were shot dead by a mob. The others, unarmed and still shackled together, fought off the mob and escaped. Visit the third-floor museum on Main Street, and decide if the men were wrongfully arrested and mistreated. The incident spurred the movie The Sons of Katie Elder. The Chisholm Trail follows the bank of Wildhorse Creek through Redbud Park in downtown Marlow. Walk The Creekwalk and explore the contents of the four exhibit huts, named for four of the five Marlow brothers. The Marlow Area Museum features local pioneers, history and color. Drop in Guiseppe's Italian restaurant, one of the best small-town cafes in the state and housed in a restored bank building. With prior arrangement, entertainment will be provided in The Opera House. The Marlow Gunfighters and Snake River Gang are always more than happy to pounce upon unsuspecting buses of visitors!
Chickasha, the next community along the trail, is home to Shannon Springs where natural springs once watered cattle along the Chisholm Trail. Relax at the scenic park then explore the Grady County Historical Museum for insight into local history and pioneer artifacts. The Muscle Car Ranch is an open-air collection of classic muscle cars, vintage racing motorcycles and neon and porcelain signs.
Yukon was also a site of a Chisholm Trail watering hole. Every June the Chisholm Trail Historical Preservation Society of Yukon sponsors Chisholm Trail Festival Days, billed as "'The West at its Best!" While in Yukon, travel to the north end of Garth Brooks Boulevard (Yukon is the hometown of this country music great) to the Express Clydesdales Ranch. See some of the world's most beautiful and interesting black Clydesdale horses in North America. Express Ranches is an internationally recognized working ranch. It is one of the most extensive purebred operations in North America. Express Ranch has helped preserve the history of the cattle drive days and old western heritage, along with the Yukon Historical Society, through exhibit, of the Chisholm Trail, located in the loft area in the Clydesdale barn and on the ranch property. Stop by the barn to meet the Clydesdale horses in person. Each of the horses has its own distinct personality, and be amazed at how incredibly gentle these giants are and the love the attention they get from visitors to the ranch. The Welcome Center at the barn has a great gift shop where you can purchase items for yourself or friends. At the Yukon Historical Museum see a 1910 school building containing 6 rooms of early items; doctor's office, school, Czech history room, "Yukon's Best" flour mill history. Yukon's Best Railroad Museum offers a static display of caboose and rail cars containing Rock Island antiques and artifacts, plus general rail items, Route 66 exhibit. Old Interurban Depot lies directly to the west.
Head for Oklahoma City which offers over 50 great attractions like the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which preserves the rugged individualism and romantic spirit of the frontier. This popular visitor attraction features a superlative collection of classic and contemporary Western art. See Prosperity Junction, a turn-of-the-century western town and numerous galleries honoring the old west. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Memorial Center Museum memorializes and tells the story of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art which features a 55-ft. glass tower by world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The Myriad Botanical Gardens is a 17-acre oasis in downtown Oklahoma City and features the Crystal Bridge Conservatory which is 224 feet long and 70 feet across, and stretches over a small lake. Inside is a tropical paradise with waterfalls and a skywalk that has spectacular views of the gardens below. Bricktown, a renovated warehouse district, is home to the Bricktown Canal mile-long pedestrian waterway with canal-side restaurants, clubs and water taxis.
Day 4
Head west to Fort Reno. General Philip Sheridan established this cavalry outpost in 1874 to protect the Darlington Indian Agency from the restless Cheyenne Indians. Later the fort guarded the boundaries of the 1889 Land Run in central Oklahoma. Many of the historic buildings of the Fort still stand. In the old post cemetery 179 people were buried from Indian Territory times plus an adjacent POW cemetery from the World War II era. Travel to nearby El Reno, a picturesque city that imbues true Americana charm. Quaint shops and charming tearooms invites a leisurely stroll through town. Little has changed at El Reno's Old Rock Island train depot since 1906. Train cars sit on the tracks out back, and original benches where soldiers kissed their sweethearts goodbye still offer weary travelers a place to rest. The depot serves as the anchor for the eclectic Canadian County Museum complex. Next door stands the restored El Reno Hotel, where the boarding rooms and hallways are graced with antique murals and pictures. El Reno is also noted for its annual "Fried Onion Burger Day." The event is held the first Saturday in May and festival goers are treated to a free bite of the "Big One" - the world's largest onion-fried burger weighing in at over 650 pounds! For travelers whose trip does not coincide with the festival, stop in at Sid's, Johnny's or Robert's a smaller, yet tasty onion burger.
Take a side trip to Geary will lead to Jesse Chisholm's gravesite. A granite monument is located on the side of a hill overlooking the North Canadian River. Then head back to US81 and travel to Okarche. Stop for a quick bite to eat at Eischen's Bar - a landmark famous for its secret-recipe fried chicken, and it's said to be Oklahoma's oldest bar. Eischen's opened as a territorial saloon in 1896 and the mahogany bar is a replica of the original one made in Spain in the 1800s.
Kingfisher's Chisholm Trail Museum is located directly on the famous cattle route and is filled with reminders of the lives of cowboys and American Indians. Explore everyday frontier items from cooking pots and calling cards to hand plows and ornate hair combs. A replica turn-of-the-century village has been created in the outer portion of the site. Across the street stands the Seay Mansion, an 1890s home belonging to the second territorial governor of Oklahoma, and is open for tours. Kingfisher boasts several historical markers denoting sites such as the Kingfisher Stage Station, boundary marking the of the opening of the Unassigned Lands on April 22, 1889, site of US Land Office for filing claims in the Unassigned Lands.
Dover is home to two historical markers, one as a Chisholm Trail crossing and the other denoting Red Fort Station, once an important shipping point for cattle moving up the trail.
Further north in Enid, visit the Cherokee Strip Museum where tales and history from the Land Run of 1893 are told. Also, visit Humphrey Heritage Village adjacent to the museum. This recreated village includes an refurbished elaborate Victorian-style home, an original land office where pioneers lined up to file their claims after the land run of 1893, Enid's oldest church and an original one-room school. While in Enid see one of the largest grain elevators in the world and enjoy Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse and Adventure Quest, a sprawling hands-on museum with an awesome playground. Also, the Sod House Museum in nearby Aline (west of Enid) was built around the last "soddy" in Oklahoma.
The tiny community of Jefferson offers monuments to cattlemen and a stockade at Historic Jefferson Park and in Medford Homesteaders Monument carries the names of homesteaders participating in the 1893 Cherokee Strip Land Run.
(4-02-04)
