Joseph G. McCoy, Promoter of Chisholm Trail

Who sent the first Texas herd to Abilene? Joseph McCoy gave his answer in 1874: a herd sold in Indian Territory to Smith, McCord and Chandler while still on the trail reached Abilene in the summer of 1867. Most later writers credit Wheeler, and McCoy conceded that Wheeler's herd was the first to arrive over the trail thousands of others would follow. The Handbook of Texas sets out the dispute and warns that trail estimates are rarely documented. McCoy is both a source and a party to it.

What the plaque says

Joseph G. McCoy, Promoter of Chisholm Trail (1837-1915) Livestock broker from Illinois, whose pioneering in cattle markets helped Texas rebuild the economy which had been wrecked in 1861-1865 by Civil War. Cattle had increased greatly in wartime. Texas had no market; long drives were necessary, so that until Texas could get better railroads her $5 longhorns could be sold in the north at $25 to $30 or more. McCoy founded first adequate market for Texans, by securing cattle cars and building loading pens at the railroad in Abilene, Kans. This was near upper end of trail started by Indian scout and trader Jesse Chisholm, and used by Texans on drives through Oklahoma to Kansas. He had part of Chisholm Trail surveyed and marked to aid the cattlemen. This was the best known of several cattle trails from Texas over which some 10,000,000 beeves were driven from the state during the years 1866-1884. The M. K. T. Railroad reached Denison in Dec., 1872, giving Texas its own north-bound cattle shipping outlet. McCoy moved here 1873 and helped establish on this site the Atlantic & Texas Refrigerating Co., to benefit ranchers by shipping dressed beef. The state of Texas owes much to the initiative, vision, courage and leadership of Joseph G. McCoy. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site — 1.0 mi
  The small frame house beside the Katy tracks in Denison where Dwight Eisenhower was born in 1890, bought by townspeople in 1946 and given to Texas in 1958.
• Eisenhower State Park — 5.1 mi
  A bluff-top park on Lake Texoma opened in 1958 on land leased from the Corps of Engineers, in the Red River country of Fort Johnson, Colbert's Ferry and the Butterfield stages.
• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge — 13 mi
  A 1946 refuge on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, laid over land bought for Denison Dam and the site of the vanished railroad town of Hagerman, now a winter stop for geese.
• Choctaw Cultural Center — 15 mi
  The Choctaw Nation's history told from the Chahta side at Calera, with galleries from Nanih Waiya to the Trail of Tears and the reservation today, a living village and daily stickball.

More markers nearby

• L. A. Washington, Jr. and wife Martha A. — steps away
• Site of Terrell High School — 0.5 mi
• Site of Saint Francis Xavier Academy — 0.5 mi
• North-South Railway Connection — 0.5 mi