Oklahoma's Lawless Era

Key to Oklahoma

[ Help ] [ Table of Contents ] [ Biographies ] [ Oklahoma Today ] [ Resources ] [ Search ] [ Sights and Sounds ] [ Timelines ] [ Student Activities ] [ Crossword Puzzles ] [ Quizzes ]

A Lawless Era and Cattle Drives

The Civil War so weakened the Civilized Tribes that there was a breakdown of law and order. Outlaw raids that began during the war continued. Gangs led by killers like William Quantrill and John Wesley Hardin caused much trouble. The Dalton and Doolin gangs were also destructive. Men like Wyatt Earp, later a famous Western lawman, led criminal operations to rustle cattle and horses. At one point, rustlers stole some of the Cherokee’s cattle. The criminals then sold the stolen herd to the Union army so that the Cherokee refugees could eat. In some areas, vigilante committees tried to enforce the law, but they could not fully control the outlaw activity. The Frontier Indian Police brought many criminals to justice, but they could not restore law and order.

Beginning in 1875, United States authorities tried to help restore law and order. The government established a federal court at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Federal authorities gave Judge Isaac Parker the power to crack-down on criminals. He recruited 200 deputy marshals. They began making trips into Indian Territory. They found and arrested law-breakers. One of Parker’s best and most famous deputy marshals was Bass Reeves. He was an African-American from Northeastern Texas. Born a slave, Bass became a runaway as a young man. He hid in Indian Territory. After the Civil War, he settled in Arkansas and farmed until he became a deputy.

From 1875 to 1890, Parker sent 9,000 men to prison. He became known as the "hanging judge" because he sentenced 160 men to hang. But only 79 of the hangings were carried out. The others originally sentenced to death had their sentences reduced to long prison terms. Other than Reeves, other famous lawmen who helped Parker tame Oklahoma were Heck Thomas, Bill Tilghman and Chris Madsen.

After the Civil War, the North and East had a beef shortage. In south Texas, great herds of wild cattle roamed free. Early Spaniards who conquered Mexico in the 1520s brought the first "longhorns" into the region. The Spaniards developed huge ranches between San Antonio and the Rio Grande. But after Mexico became independent in the early 1820s, the ranches were abandoned. The wild cattle multiplied. By 1865, about five million of them could be found in south Texas. By that time, an eastern railroad had reached Sedalia, Missouri, and the "long drives" began.

In the first "long drive," Texas cowboys rounded up a herd and drove it up the Sedalia Trail to the railhead. Even though the herd had to go over the Ozark Mountains, the Texans made money. More long drives followed. They used the Sedalia Trail first and then cut the East Shawnee Trail. It followed the Texas Road through eastern Oklahoma and then traveled through Missouri. The West Shawnee Trail branched out and turned northerly into Kansas.

Meanwhile, the railroad continued building westward through Kansas. Texans kept cutting new trails until the herds could be driven through open country all the way to Kansas towns like Dodge City, Abilene and Wichita. Once Texas cattle reached a railhead, the entire market east of the Mississippi received shipments of much-needed beef. Of course, for the Texas cattlemen to get to the railheads, they had to cross Oklahoma.

The most famous of the trails was named for the Cherokee trader Jesse Chisholm. The Chisholm Trail ran straight north-south through central Oklahoma. It passed just west of present day Oklahoma City. Today’s Highway 81 follows the old trail. Another route, the Great Western Trail, ran straight north-south through western Oklahoma. The Jones-Plummer Trail, yet another route, cut through the Panhandle. As the trails were being cut in western Oklahoma, cattlemen negotiated with the plains tribes and leased grazing rights. That gave much needed money to the tribes and also got them more accustomed to dealing with white people.

Soon, a number of factors caused the end of the long drives. Texas cattle were banned in Kansas and Missouri because of diseases they carried. As the land became more settled, the ranchers and farmers fenced their land using barbed wire. That made the drives more difficult. And, by the 1880s and 1890s, railheads reached both Texas and Oklahoma. That made the long drives unnecessary.

Cattle Trails through Oklahoma

cattletrails.gif (18471 bytes)

ctlp.jpg (11059 bytes)

Chisholm Trail Lookout Point marker near Addington (Photo courtesy of Fred Marvel, Oklahoma Department of Tourism)

Additional Resources

	Read more about Outlaws and Lawmen at the Wild Wild West.
	Learn more about the Chisholm Trail.

Study Guide Questions:

Name five notorious outlaws who were active in the post-Civil War era in Indian Territory.
Who were the Frontier Indian police and what was their role? By what other name were they known?
Who were Isaac Parker and Bass Reeves?
How did vast herds of wild cattle develop in South Texas?
What were the "long drives"? What ended the "long drives"?
Who was Jesse Chisholm?

[ Help ] [ Table of Contents ] [ Biographies ] [ Oklahoma Today ] [ Resources ] [ Search ] [ Sights and Sounds ] [ Timelines ] [ Student Activities ] [ Crossword Puzzles ] [ Quizzes ]