Released Oct. 25, 2007
STILLWATER, Okla. – Cowboys and cowgirls from across Oklahoma packed their saddlebags, hitched up the wagons and mounted up on their horses to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail and the Oklahoma Centennial celebration.
A total of 450 longhorn cattle made their way up the Historic Chisholm Trail starting at the Red River of Texas through Oklahoma to the end of the trail in Caldwell, Kan.
These drovers recreated the drives that took place back in the 1800s: chuck wagon in the lead with the hands keeping the herd of longhorns rolling closely behind up the trail.
Meals came via an open fire and cast iron pots and consisted of sour dough biscuits, scrambled eggs, sausage, gravy, bacon and ham for breakfast and chili, cowboy stew, rib eye steak, chicken fried steak, green beans and mashed potatoes, to name a few, for supper. Lunch was a quick bite of whatever the cowboys and cowgirls could fit in their saddle bags – usually oranges, apples, beef jerky and crackers.
Scott Price, Grant County Extension educator, served as one of the cooks on the drive and said this was one of the toughest things he has ever done physically.
“A typical day was getting up at 4 a.m. to build the fire and begin cooking, and feed 40 hungry cowboys and cowgirls by 6:30 a.m. Then clean up breakfast, break camp, load the kitchen in the chuck wagon and be ready to travel by 8 a.m.,” he said. “After breaking camp we would travel 15 miles then reverse the process.”
When cooking with wood it takes approximately two hours for coals to get hot enough to prepare meals and wind or lack of it is important with outdoor cooking.
While the work was tough, Price enjoyed visiting with people along the way and took in many memorable experiences. Many schools bused their students to watch the steers go down their town’s main street and in the evenings families were encouraged to come to camp to visit the cowboys and cowgirls.
“When people visited the camp in the evening they had the opportunity to pet the horses, see the cattle close up and watch us cook,” Price said. “Visiting with the kids was great; I told them to be a cowboy you had to do four things: Work hard in school, mind your mom and dad, eat your vegetables and go to church.”
This cattle drive was conducted as closely as people may have done it 100 years ago, but on occasion a few modern convinces were brought in.
Price said the ponds supplied enough water for the livestock, but some camps didn’t have enough water for cooking and drinking, so it was brought in the modern way in barrels in the back of the pickup.
“We had pickups to charge our cell phones, had a portable restroom and we rigged up a shower with solar heated water,” Price said. “But we did sleep under the stars, travel from Texas to Kansas either by horse back or on the seat of a wagon, all the cooking was done over a fire in Dutch ovens and we didn’t lose a single head of beef to rustlers.”
Price noticed after traveling the state at 4 miles per hour, there are a lot more things that can be observed. He noticed almost everyone has a dog and this is a throw-away society.
“We saw everything you can imagine dumped in the ditch or over the side of the bridge,” he said. “If we don’t take better care of our precious resources in the next 100 years, then we may be condemning our grandchildren to live on a pile of our neighbor’s trash and discarded couches.”
Reflecting back on the drive and what it was like 100 years ago, Price has a new found respect for people who lived in this time period.
“Pioneers worked long and hard hours because that’s what it took to get everything done. Today we have cell phones, horseless carriages, refrigerators, microwaves and lots more,” he said. “After being on the cattle drive for a month you begin to realize you can get along just fine without some of the modern conveniences we now enjoy.”
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http://www2.dasnr.okstate.edu/Members/katie.reim-40okstate.edu/historic-chisholm-trail
Contact: Katie Reim, (405) 744-6792, katie.reim@okstate.edu
