CHISHOLM TRAIL HERITAGE CENTER LASSOS TOGETHER FUN AND LEARNING
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TAMARA GREGOR
A YOUNGESTER REACHES UP TO TOUCH A COPY OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL. THE CHISHOLM TRAIL RUNS FROM KANSAS, THROUGH OKLAHOMA AND INTO TEXAS AND IS SAID TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR RE-ESTABLISHING TEXAS’ ECONOMY AFTER THE DEVASTATION OF THE CIVIL WAR.”
Interactive and hands-on learning has brought history to life at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center for the past 28 years.
The Heritage Center opened in 1998 with not only the history of the Chisholm Trail, but also arts and culture in the community.
With a mission to educate, celebrate and perpetuate history, art and culture, Executive Director Leah Mulkey said the museum focuses on The Chisholm Trail, the American Cowboy and the American West.
Mulkey said the Heritage Center began to take shape in the early 1990s when Tom McCasland and the McCasland Foundation board focusing on the quality of life in the region. She said the doors to the center opened in 1998 with expansions in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
“ The group began to realize that the Chisholm Trail was fading from history into oblivion,” she said.“ This historic trail connected south Texas with the railways in Kansas. Millions of head of longhorn cattle were herded in the largest man-made migration in history.”
Mulkey said the Chisholm Trail tells the story of men and women who made their place in history and the Trail ties the past to the future.
“ Imagine those Texas cowboys returning home after the civil war; their families were unable to buy flour or cloth because the cattle they raised had become nearly worthless due to overpopulation,” she said.“ Imagine those Mexican vaqueros or Freedmen looking for work or adventure.”
The stories of the past can illuminate the future.
“ Add to our story the Native Americans, both indigenous to the southern plains or the recently relocated tribes to the Territory,” she said.“ Enter Joseph McCoy and his business savvy and boldness to believe he could make money in this brutal land.”