Great Western Cattle Trail

1874-1886: John T. Lytle, founder

The Great Western Cattle Trail - also known as the Dodge City Trail and the Old Texas Trail - was utilized from 1874 for the movement of cattle to markets East. The trail began at Bandera, Texas and ended, most often, in Dodge City, Kansas. The entire trail extended from southern Texas to the Canadian border. Between 10 and 12 million cattle were driven north from Texas into Dodge City. It was the western branch of the Chisholm Trail.

• The Great Western Cattle Trail, by Ethel Taylor
• The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail, by Gary and Margaret Kraisinger
• On the Trail Blog: Frontier History Bandera (TX) Bulletin
• On The Trail Western Trail Ride 2004 Blog, by elderbob - the blog boss; 650 miles from Bandera, TX to Dodge City, KS
• Great Western Cattle Trail, 1890 Painting by Barbara Vaupel; Oklahoma State Senate Art Collection
• Cattle Men and Drives , by Ida Ellen Rath, Early Ford County, Kansas
• Doan's Crossing, the Red River
• Red River Valley Museum, Vernon, Texas [archive.org copy here]
• Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas
• Red River Valley Museum, Vernon, Texas
• Texas Cattle Trails PBS The West
• Western Trails: An Online Journey Colorado Digitization Program

Related Kansas Trail History

• WWW-VL: US: American West History
• Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest, McCoy's Historic Sketches, 1874, KanColl
• Chisholm Trail History, Kansas Heritage Group
• Dodge City Cattle Trails & Tales, Kansas Heritage Center, Dodge City
• Dodge City History, Cowboy Capital, FCHS
• Ford County Historical Society, Dodge City
• Kansas Timeline Old West Kansas
• Kansas Historic Trails; Old West Kansas
• Mueller-Schmidt House (1881) Museum, Old West Cattleman's Mansion, Dodge City
• Old West Kansas Forts From Ft. Leavenworth to Ft. Dodge, KS
• Old West Photograph Gallery, FCHS, Dodge City
• Pioneer Trails From U.S. Land Surveys Kansas Heritage Group
• Rath Trail, by Ida Ellen Rath; biography of Charles Rath, Indian trader, merchant, buffalo hunter
• WWW-VL: History: US Civil War 1861-1865