Old Texas Trail

The bronze sponsor plate set in the ground before the stone names the families of John B. Kendrick and Colonel C. F. Coffee among its backers, and both men first came up this trail as hired hands. Coffee left Georgetown, Texas, in 1871 driving 1,500 head to Cheyenne for the Snyder brothers at a third of the profit, brought his own herd to Box Elder Creek in 1873, moved 3,000 cattle to Hat Creek in Nebraska in 1879, and ended as a banker. The back of the stone carries twenty-three ranch brands and four longhorns instead of words.

What the plaque says

In Memory of the pioneer cattlemen who passed this way on the Old Texas Trail 1866 to 1897. This plaque placed by the Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming 1948 Old Texas Trail Over this trail, from distant Texas, passed the greatest migration of men and cattle in the history of America. 1866 1897

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Laramie National Historic Site — 12 mi
  Old Bedlam, the officers' quarters of 1849, survived the auction that scattered the rest of the post; an 1875 Army bridge still crosses the river.
• Register Cliff State Historic Site — 20 mi
  The first camp out of Fort Laramie, where the oldest date on the rock reads 1829 and three emigrants never left.
• Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site — 22 mi
  The clearest wagon ruts on the trail, worn by iron tires and cut deeper by travelers who hacked at the ledge to get their wagons over.

More markers nearby

• To All Pioneers — steps away
• Oregon Trail — 2.2 mi
• The Grattan Fight — 3.1 mi
• Oregon Trail — 3.2 mi