Life on the Trail and in the Cattle Town for an American Cowboy

Note: This writeup first appeared in the Dickinson County Historical Society's newsletter, the Gazette.

July 23 marks the National Day of the American Cowboy and people throughout Kansas and other states will be gathering together to celebrate this national icon.  Abilene is no exception, as Old Abilene Town will be holding many festivities to celebrate the day.

When students visit the Heritage Center, many of them wonder why cowboys were rowdy when they reached a cattle town.  This may seem like a simple question, but there are many different answers.  Life on the trail for a cowboy was difficult, and this affected their behavior in cattle towns greatly.

Life for a cowboy (or drover as they were often known) was difficult before they even left the ranch.  Many men and boys that drove cattle lived together in small shacks on their employer’s property.  These buildings had very few furnishings, small bunks for each inhabitant, and not many luxuries.  Many cowboys plastered up newspaper along their walls to keep warmth inside their cabin, and offer themselves a little reading material.

Once a drover was out on the trail, conditions were worse.  Most cowboys slept under the stars while on the trail, which as itself would not be too hazardous except for the risk of rattlesnakes and stampeding cattle.  Stampedes were a constant worry no matter what time of day or where the herd was located.  Prairie dog holes and other ground agitated by animals were another problem, as horses could trip into these easily, possibly throwing the rider to the ground.  For these reasons, strict discipline along the trail was enforced to prevent injuries to the men and cattle.  A cowboy always had to be on guard for problems along the path.

Another hazard was encounters with Native Americans.  Since many tribes had lived throughout the land that the Chisholm Trail passed through, many cowboys met Native Americans along the trail.  A typical encounter simply entailed the trail boss paying a fee for his herd to pass through the Indian land.  Fees were typically under ten cents per head of cattle, or entailed the trail boss allowing a tribal group to have two to three cattle.  Occurrences of fighting between the two groups did happen, but these skirmishes were few and far between.

When a drover arrived to a cattle town such as Abilene, he was ready to relax and “cut loose.”  These men and boys had spent roughly three months on the trail though, so they did not always have the best of manners when they arrived in town.

Once the herd arrived and were sold and ready to ship east, the cowboys were paid for their work.  Most cowboys went about spending most of their wages within the next few days.  A drover would typically pay a visit to a local barber for a haircut and shave, clean himself up, and buy new clothes and boots to wear.  Most cowboys would also treat themselves to a fancy meal served by their hotel (such as the Drover’s Hotel), and spend the rest of the evening using his money to gamble on card games and drink his weight in whiskey.  During the evening, some drovers would feel inclined to visit a brothel and spend their money on the wares of that business.

After spending evenings filled with gambling, booze, and debauchery, tensions flared and fights broke out over card games and other matters.  Before Abilene’s “no firearms ordinance” in 1870, many people were armed, and weapons may have came out during brawls.

Overall, cowboys were likely rowdy for the simple reason that they could be.  Compared to the standards of law enforcement in the big cities of the east, there was a general sense of lawlessness on the plains.  In Abilene’s case, it became a cattle town in 1867, seeing a large influx of people, but had no official law enforcement until 1870.  There were several reasons cowboys behaved the way they did, and their experiences on the trail and in the cattle towns greatly contributed to that behavior.

Wild Bill in Abilene

After the death of Abilene’s Tom Smith in 1870, the town needed a new law officer to tame the wild cattle town.  Mayor Joseph McCoy (who you may remember brought the cattle drive to Abilene) and the city council, decided to hire a new City Marshal for the 1871 cattle season.  Their choice for City Marshal was James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok.

Photograph courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

Hickok maintained order and quiet in Abilene to the best of his ability.  His eight months tenure was a stormy one though, with the end of the cattle season following an incident widely known as the Phil Coe shooting affray.

Prior to his time as Marshal in Abilene, Hickok had performed many duties including scout for the Union and constable of Monticello Township, Johnson County, Kansas.  His reputation preceded him due to an article published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in February 1867; and his many exploits which were talked about throughout the country.  One particular exploit, the McCanles affair, was well known, and involved Hickok fighting anywhere from four to fourteen men at the same time.  While Hickok was involved in several impressive gunfights, many of these stories were greatly exaggerated.  In addition to having exaggerated stories, the Harper’s article featured many falsehoods.  The author of the piece did not even get Hickok’s name correct, calling him William Haycock.

While employed as city marshal of Abilene, Hickok continued the enforcement of the city’s no fire arms ordinance.  This ordinance was still ignored by many, and shootings did occasionally occur.  Those that ignored the ordinance did not openly carry a firearm though, as Hickok would have tried to confiscate it if they did.  Hickok did not maintain a mostly ceaseless patrol of the streets as his predecessor, Tom Smith, had.  Instead he often set up his unofficial headquarters at the Alamo Saloon, where he could be found gambling while on duty.  

Photograph courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

During his time in Abilene, Hickok had several enemies and was always on his guard in case of an assassination attempt.  This would lead to an incident, known as the Phil Coe affray, which would greatly affect Hickok.  After responding to a rowdy crowd near the Alamo Saloon, Hickok shot and killed the former owner of the Bull’s Head Tavern, Phil Coe.  Hickok believed that Coe was trying to kill him, and responded in this manner to save his life.  Most reports state that Coe fired two shots at Hickok and provoked the attack, neither of Coe’s shots found their mark though.  A policeman, Mike Williams, responded to the scene after hearing the initial commotion, and was accidently shot by Hickok.  This would be the last major event to happen during Wild Bill’s time as Marshal.  Since the cattle drive season came to a close, Hickok was relieved of his position in December 1871.  After this period, crime rates dropped greatly after the Abilene city council and the Farmer’s Protective Association decided that the cattle trade should not return for another season.

In 1872, due to an increase in domestic livestock deaths related to Texas Fever, an ever growing problem with unlawful cowboys, and a local economy moving towards being agriculturally based, Abilene passed an ordinance prohibiting Texas longhorns, making it necessary for ranchers to find new railheads to ship their cattle from. The following proclamation was issued: “We the undersigned most respectively request all who have contemplated driving cattle to Abilene to seek some other point for shipment, as the inhabitants of Dickinson County will no longer submit to the evils of the trade.”  So ended the cattle town days of Abilene.

Photograph courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

Further Reading:

Joseph C. Rosa is a fantastic author and researcher of Wild Bill.  His books They Called Him Wild Bill and Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and his Myth are both great resources for more information on Wild Bill Hickok.

Joseph G. McCoy and the Chisholm Trail, 1867-1871

You cannot write anything about the history of Dickinson County, Kansas without covering Joseph G. McCoy and his effect on cattle driving.

Joseph G. McCoy left a prosperous farm in Illinois and came to Kansas in 1867 where he planned to make his fortune in the cattle trade. He had heard reports of huge herds of cattle running wild in Texas after the Civil War. Their impoverished owners could not get the cattle to Northern Markets because the eastern trail had been closed by splenic fever, or “Texas Fever,” a disease brought north by ticks attached to longhorn cattle that killed thousands of domestic cattle. Farmers and ranchers north of Texas convinced state legislation to make quarantine lines that no longhorn was allowed to pass. McCoy devised a plan to drive the cattle to a railhead in Kansas outside the quarantine lines and then ship them back east where the market for beef was higher because of a scarcity of the product.  

Joseph G. McCoy.  This photograph was taken around the same time period that McCoy was in Abilene.  Courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

McCoy wasted no time searching for a railhead on the new Union Pacific Railway line. He traveled to several communities, looking for an acceptable location to build a stockyard.  He was turned down by many cities, including Junction City, Solomon City, and Salina.  After being turned down by so many communities, McCoy focused his attention to the small community of Abilene.  He had noticed Abilene during his journey to Salina, and decided it would be a good place to build his stockyards.  At the time, the town was rather small, mostly consisting of dugouts and sod houses.  There was one major problem with using Abilene for his stockyards; the town was within the quarantine line.  In mid June 1867, McCoy negotiated an agreement with the local farmers, and convinced Samuel Crawford, Governor of Kansas, to allow Texas cattle within the quarantine lines.  Within a month, he had started construction of loading pens in Abilene.  McCoy sent men south to Texas to locate struggling herds and direct them to Abilene. 

McCoy's Abilene stockyards were known as the Great Western Stockyards.  Photograph by Alexander Gardner, 1867.  Courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

McCoy also sent Timothy Hersey, a land surveyor and pioneer of Abilene, to survey the Chisholm Trail and build mounds of dirt to mark the trail for drovers.  At the time, they did not refer to the path as the Chisholm Trail, but in later years it took that name.  A portion of the trail had formerly been used by Jesse Chisholm as a trade route from the area near Wichita to a trading post near present day Oklahoma City.  

A map of the Chisholm Trail.  Courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

In addition to McCoy’s Great Western Stockyards, he also built a large hotel for cattle barons and drivers to stay when they arrived in Abilene.  The hotel was known as the Drover’s Cottage and was known as one of the finest hotels in the west.  

An illustration entitled "Abilene in its Glory."  The building featured in this illustration is the Drover's Cottage.  Courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

On August 15, before the pens were completed, 7,000 longhorns arrived in Abilene. Before the season was over, 35,000 head of cattle had arrived.  The stockyards in Abilene were seen as a great success, and many stockyards began to appear in several Kansas towns.  The six major cattle towns of the era were Abilene, Ellsworth, Newton, Wichita, Caldwell, and Dodge City.  Many other Kansas towns shipped cattle as well though.  Below are approximate totals of the number of cattle driven up the Chisholm Trail from 1867 to 1871:

1867    35,000

1868    75,000

1869    150,000

1870    300,000

1871    600,000

When McCoy made his agreement with the Union Pacific Railway, the railway initially agreed to pay him five dollars for each car in which cattle were shipped.  This was a verbal agreement; no physical contract was signed by either party.  After the second season of the cattle trade in 1868, over $200,000 was due to McCoy.  The railway refused to pay this amount on the claim that the agreement was “improvidently made.”  McCoy surrendered, on the agreement that a new contract would be made.  This contract never came to fruition, and McCoy would not receive his payment until several years later after he sued the company for the amount due to him.

In 1868, Texas fever began making many of McCoy’s buyers from the east nervous about purchasing cattle from Abilene.  McCoy had an incredible solution for this problem.  The first part of his plan was to put on a show.  He had a band of cowboys capture several native plains animals.  After capturing several bison, elk, and wild horses, the cowboys travelled to St. Louis and Chicago showing their prowess in riding and roping the various animals.  This show impressed many of McCoy’s buyers.  Soon after, McCoy invited his buyers to visit Abilene and go on a buffalo hunt.  After the hunt, he brought the men to his stockyards and greatly praised the thousands of longhorns waiting to be sold.  These cattle were bought soon, and McCoy’s business was booming again.

In addition to McCoy’s businesses opening in Abilene, several other businesses began to be seen throughout Abilene’s cattle town era.  By 1870 the community had ten boarding houses, eleven saloons, five general stores, and four hotels. The community had grown to accommodate over seventy-five businesses and over three thousand residents.  Most of these businesses found their income from cowboys and cattle traders.  As many as one thousand cowboys were being paid off in a single day during the cattle drive season, and they spent their money quickly in the many businesses that Abilene had to offer.

A great example that shows what the economy was like in Abilene is the First National Bank.  McCoy referred many cattlemen to the First National Bank of Kansas City for their banking needs.  When the facility opened a local bank in 1870 in Abilene, over $900,000 passed over the counter in the bank’s first two months.  This amount would be the equivalent of over $15 million today.

In 1872, due to an increase in domestic livestock deaths related to Texas Fever and an ever growing problem with unlawful cowboys, Abilene passed an ordinance prohibiting Texas longhorns, making it necessary for ranchers to find new railheads to ship their cattle from. The following proclamation was issued: “We the undersigned most respectively request all who have contemplated driving cattle to Abilene to seek some other point for shipment, as the inhabitants of Dickinson County will no longer submit to the evils of the trade.”  Joseph McCoy, who was Abilene mayor at the time, did not agree with this decision.  

McCoy was left bitter towards what had happened in Abilene.  He wrote of Abilene, “Four-fifths of her business houses became vacant, rents fell to a trifle, many of the leading hotels and business houses were either closed, or taken down and moved to other points.  Property became unsalable.  The luxuriant sunflower sprang up thick and flourished in the main streets, while the inhabitants, such as could not get away, passed their time sadly contemplating their ruin.  Curses both loud and deep were freely bestowed on the political ring.  The whole village assumed a desolate, forsaken and deserted appearance.”

A photograph of McCoy taken later in his life.  Courtesy of the Dickinson County Historical Society.

Next week, I will feature some more information on McCoy and how his business enterprise affected not just Kansas, but the United States.

Further Reading:

There are a number of fantastic books on the Chisholm Trail.  Many of these have information and details on all of the major Kansas cattle towns.

Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest by Joseph G. McCoy: That’s right, McCoy wrote a book about all of this himself!  Of what I have read, this book is rather interesting and it is invaluable learning about this topic from someone who was there.  That said, if you read this, take some things with a grain of salt, McCoy views rather highly of himself.

The Cattle Towns by Robert Dykstra:  In his book, Dykstra focuses on several different towns and is rather knowledgeable about this subject.

The Chisholm Trail by Wayne Gard

The Trail Drivers of Texas by J. Marvin Hunter

Cowtown Abilene by Stewart P. Verckler: I mentioned this one in another blog post, but it is a good book, and you can purchase it at the Dickinson County Heritage Center in Abilene.  So there you go.

Tom Smith: The Marshal Who Fought with his Fists

It seems fitting for my first true entry to be about Abilene's first lawman. He was an interesting person, that is for certain.

"Bear River" Thomas James Smith was born around 1830 in New York.  We do not know his birth date for certain since records have not been found.  This can be a fairly common problem when researching individuals that lived so long ago, but even today, many people do not write things down or save personal records or diaries.  According to an 1870 census though, Smith was listed as being 40 years old, so that is where we get his birth year.

This is the only known portrait of Smith.

Smith worked in law enforcement in quite a few different states before coming to Abilene, Kansas.  He was an officer of the law in New York, Colorado, and Wyoming.  He was also known to be quite a boxer, which is a skill he would put into great use while enforcing the law in the roughneck town of Abilene.  Smith earned his nickname "Bear River" while serving as a lawman in Bear River City, Wyoming.  In the town, a group of armed men killed an employee of the railroad because they claimed the man was guilty of murder.  This led to several railroad workers attacking the group of armed men in retaliation.  A massive fight occurred between the two groups, and much of the town was destroyed by fire.  Smith being on neither side, defended himself and other townspeople from the massive attacks.  This went on for several days until troops from Fort Bridger were able to respond to the problem and stop both groups.  It is not exactly clear what Smith did during all of this, but he gained renown for the event.

Smith was hired as Abilene's chief of police on June 4, 1870 by Mayor T.C. Henry (who would later gain a reputation as the "Wheat King" of Dickinson County).  It is important to understand what Abilene was like before Smith was hired though.  Abilene was definitely a dangerous town at the time, one could even call it a "sin city."  When Joseph McCoy built the Great Western stockyards in Abilene in 1867, effectively turning the town into a cattle shipping railhead, the town mostly consisted of sod homes and dugouts.  Three years had passed and much had changed.  Abilene became a town of transients for most of the year.  When cowboys arrived in Abilene, they had been on the trail for three months.  They were ready to come back to society.  These cowboys were accustomed to maintaining a strict discipline while on the trail, because if they did not, cattle could be lost, or someone could be injured or killed.  So when they arrived in Abilene, they were ready to let off some steam.  The cowboys were paid their wages once the cattle were delivered, and generally, they spent the cash like wildfire.  They would get a haircut, clean themselves up, and buy new clothes.  After that, it was time to hit the saloons, where they could drink and gamble their money away.  Or in some cases, the cowboys would visit one of the brothels and spend their money on a "lady of the night."  If all of this was not enough, violence was common as well.  Fights over poker games would occur.  Sure, most of these fights were likely just fistfights, but most of these cowboys were wearing six-shooters on their sides, so shootouts could occur.  That said, generally speaking, most of the gunfire that could be heard on Texas Street in Abilene was cowboys shooting at signs and other objects; but nevertheless, Abilene was a dangerous town to reside in.

After all of this, it was time for Abilene to have some law enforcement.  First off, two men from St. Louis were hired to clean up the town.  As the story goes, these two men were so intimidated by the crime in Abilene, that they quit before they even finished a day of duty.

Getting back to Tom Smith being hired as chief of police on June 4, 1870...  His initial pay was $150 a month and $2 for every conviction he made.  Here is an interesting fact, Smith was only hired to be in this position for one month.  However, he stayed on until his death that fall.  Smith received a raise in August, so he must have been doing a good job.

What did Smith do though?  Well first off, he enforced a "no firearms ordinance."  With this law, everyone arriving in Abilene was required to check in their firearm with the proprietor of the hotel they were staying in.  Smith himself did not use a firearm much either.  He was known to use his fists when apprehending lawbreakers.  With Smith, it was definitely more common to see him punch someone in the face than see him draw a weapon.  Smith was capable using a firearm when necessary though, he just did not see the need when apprehending many criminals.  Another event that Smith received praise for was closing down the red light district.  In the Abilene Chronicle, September 8, 1870, it states that Smith told the "vile characters" to "close their dens--or suffer the consequences."  According to the article, all of the "houses of ill fame" quickly closed down and the women involved in that work left town shortly after. 

Probably the most well-known story concerning Smith is his death.  What is most surprising about his death is that it occurred by the hands of two farmers rather than cowboys.  In late October, a local farmer named Andrew McConnell had an argument with his neighbor John Shea.  Shea had been driving his cattle across McConnell's land, McConnell unhappy about this, confronted Shea about the problem.  After this confrontation, Shea ended up dead.  McConnell was brought in for questioning by law officers and claimed that he shot Shea in self defense.  A man named Miles backed up McConnell's claims, so he was released.  After this occurred, some other neighbors claimed that Shea was not the aggressor and that McConnell was guilty of murder.  A warrant for McConnell's arrest was reissued.

On November 2, 1870, Smith and officer J.H. McDonald went to McConnell's dugout to arrest him.  McConnell and his friend Miles were at the dugout when the law officers arrived.  Smith approached the dugout stating that he was there to arrest McConnell.  After this, a fight broke out.  Smith was shot through the right lung by McConnell.  Smith was able to shoot McConnell, but it was not a fatal wound.  After coming in close contact with one another, Smith and McConnell grappled with each other.  Smith was not giving up without a fight, even though he was fatally wounded.  According to the newspaper report on all of this (Abilene Chronicle, November 3, 1870), Smith "was getting the better of McConnell.  At this time, Miles struck Smith with a firearm, knocking him to the ground.  Miles picked up an ax and chopped at Smith's neck.  Miles did not exactly decapitate Smith's head, it was still loosely connected to his body.  This had to of been a grisly scene.  McConnell and Miles fled the scene after this happened.

Now, during all of this, what happened to that other law officer, McDonald, that arrived with Smith?  Well, McDonald returned to Abilene to get more help.  He raised up a posse, but when they returned to the dugout, Smith was already dead, and the murderers were gone.  Evidently McDonald did not receive much of the blame for Smith's death, since he continued working in law enforcement in Abilene throughout 1871 as well.

McConnell and Miles were captured three days after the killing.  During their trial, they claimed that the officers did not show a warrant or authority.  McConnell was sentenced to twelve years in prison and Miles was sentenced to sixteen years.  This seems like a pretty light sentence for such a brutal murder.

Smith was buried in the Abilene cemetery.  At the time, it was not a very lavish grave.  However, in 1904 Smith was reburied and a unique stone was used to mark his grave.  Abilene's first mayor, T.C. Henry, returned to town to give a speech on Smith's service at the dedication.  That stone still marks Smith's grave today, and reads:

Thomas J. Smith

Marshal of Abilene, 1870

Died, a Martyr to Duty, Nov. 2, 1870.

A Fearless Hero of Frontier Days Who

in Cowboy Chaos

Established the Supremacy of Law.

A recent view of Smith's grave, taken this summer.

Further Reading:

If you would like to learn more about Tom Smith, check out these books:

Cowtown Abilene by Stewart P. Verckler.  Verckler focuses on several aspects of Abilene's cattletown days, including Smith's time as chief of police.  This book can be purchased for under $10.00 at the Dickinson County Heritage Center in Abilene.

Abilene Lawmen by Larry D. Underwood.  This book tells the stories of both Smith and "Wild Bill" Hickok in great detail.  I believe it is out of print, but some sellers on Amazon.com list it for close to $12.00.

Why the West was Wild by Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell.  This is a fantastic book that is a collection of material on different wild west personalities.  This book is almost entirely made up of text from newspapers printed in Kansas 1860s-1890s.  The book also includes text from legal records, letters, and diaries written during this time period.  The section on Smith is a little slim, since not many documents on him exist.  However, the sections on "Wild Bill" Hickok, Luke Short, Henry Brown, and Bat Masterson (plus others) are really interesting.  I bought my copy from the Kansas Historical Society, but it can also be found on Amazon.com.