Rollin’, Rollin’, Respectin’ Along the Western Trail
From Bandera, Texas, to Ogallala, Nebraska.
By: Johnny D. Boggs 08/01/2009
I’ve lost count of the museums dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of the Chisholm Trail.
I can’t remember all the novels I’ve read about the Chisholm Trail. There are songs about the Chisholm Trail. Books about the Chisholm Trail. Road markers lauding the Chisholm Trail. It’s Chisholm Trail this, and Chisholm Trail that.
You ask me, it’s a conspiracy, and I’m not putting up with this oversight anymore. I’m heading north from South Texas to honor the legacy of that other great cattle trail, the Western Trail.
Some historians tell us that the Great Western Cattle Trail was blazed in 1874 by John T. Lytle, who drove a large herd of longhorns from South Texas to the Red Cloud Indian Agency in Nebraska. Which brings up another point. Lytle was a cattle drover. Jesse Chisholm, namesake of that other cattle trail, never pushed a herd of little dogies. NO RESPECT!
When farmers started to clutter up that aforementioned Chisholm Trail, and the Kansas cattle towns began moving farther west, the Western Trail—a.k.a. the Dodge City Trail, a.k.a. the Fort Griffin Trail—grew up to be king of cattle trails.
Of course, it’s hard to figure out where any cattle trail really began. Trails depended on good grass and good water, which could change as often as the Texas weather. Feeder trails sent cattle from as far south as Brownsville, and through or from other fine burgs like Boerne (Fritze’s BBQ), Castroville (Castroville Cafe) and San Antonio (Alamo Cafe), all of which can fill you up with their history, charm and food. But I’ve found no better place to start any cowboy adventure in Texas than in the “Cowboy Capital of the World.”
Hey, Dude
Welcome to Bandera, home of the Frontier Times Museum, which J. Marvin Hunter founded in 1933 to preserve that rich Western history. (Yes, the same Frontier Times that this magazine’s founder Joe Small bought as a sister publication to True West.) Housing some 40,000 pieces of artifacts—prehistoric to pioneer—the museum is a great way to kick off a cattle drive journey.
An even better way is to head ’em up and move ’em out at a guest ranch, and remember: They’re not just for dudes anymore. Bandera has plenty to choose from: the Dixie Dude Ranch (the dean of Bandera’s dudes since 1937), the Flying L Guest Ranch (complete with an 18-hole golf course), the Running-R Guest Ranch (a horse lover’s heaven), the Twin Elm Guest Ranch (with its own summer rodeo), the Mayan Ranch (Miss Judy’s cooking’s to die for) and many more.
Just up the pike is another great Hill Country town, and historians and cattle trail buffs can make a strong argument that the Western Trail began here, in Kerrville. No argument from me, because it’s a good excuse to visit that grand home of the Cowboy Artists of America—the Museum of Western Art—one of the West’s great art collections and teaching institutions, with a side trip to the bar at the Y.O. Ranch Resort Hotel & Conference Center—one of the West’s best waterin’ holes.
From Kerrville, the Western Trail moved north through some prime Lone Star real estate, across the James River near Noxville, and then on toward Brady. Stop at Menard to check out the ruins of the Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas or skirt over to Fort McKavett to visit what William T. Sherman called the prettiest post in Texas.
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