{"id":1455,"date":"2018-12-31T17:20:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2018-12-31T17:20:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:20:17","slug":"glenn-dromgooles-texas-reads-column-appears-weekly-at-lonestarliterary-com-107","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1455","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Dromgoole’s Texas Reads column appears weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n

<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

10.7.2018\u00a0 Historians debate Chisholm Trail in Texas<\/h1>\n

Did the famous Chisholm Trail ever really exist in Texas, <\/span>or was that name just applied generically to the various cattle trails that led from Texas to Kansas?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span>Evidently historians have been debating the question for the last hundred years or so, and Fort Worth historian Wayne Ludwig<\/span> plunges into the controversy in his new book, The Old Chisholm Trail: From Cow Path to Tourist Stop<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Texas A&M University Press, $37 hardcover).<\/p>\n

Ludwig relies heavily on the accounts from the Old Time Trail Drivers\u2019 Association, which unanimously passed a resolution in 1931 \u2014 \u201cto insure uniformity as well as to keep history straight\u201d \u2014 that the Chisholm Trail started north of the Red River and never extended into Texas. What prompted the resolution was a movement, encouraged by the Good Roads Association, to increase tourism traffic by designating Chisholm Trail markers throughout the state, and eventually the notion carried the day. Various cities from south Texas to north Texas now claim to be part of the Chisholm Trail, which made its way into American folklore through the popular poem and subsequent cowboy song, \u201cThe Old Chisholm Trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome along boys and listen to my tale,\u201d the 1870s ditty begins, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you of my troubles on the Old Chisholm Trail.\u201d One man claimed he could sing 149 stanzas of the song, Ludwig reports.<\/p>\n

Beyond the questions and confusion concerning the Chisholm Trail name itself, Ludwig\u2019s account offers insights into life on the cattle trails, the significance of the longhorn in Texas history, and the end of the cattle drive era. If you\u2019re interested in Texas and western history, The Old Chisholm Trail: From Cow Path to Tourist Stop<\/span> is a thoroughly-researched and well-written\u00a0 narrative.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/span>Ranger guns<\/span>: Retired U.S. Army Captain Robert Moser\u2019s<\/span> book Texas Iron: Guns of the Texas Rangers<\/span><\/a><\/span> (Wild Horse Press, $19.95 paperback) is being touted by the publisher as \u201cthe most comprehensive book to date on weapons of the Texas Rangers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moser, an avid firearms collector and Texas Ranger supporter, said that in reading historical accounts about the Rangers, \u201cI wondered what weapons were used.\u201d So he wrote his book \u201cto help bring light to this seldom mentioned area of historical significance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of the eighteen chapters of text in this updated edition \u2014 from the early years of the Rangers to the modern era \u2014 is followed by a companion chapter of weapon photos, well over one hundred in all, most from his own personal collection.<\/p>\n

Readers who study Texas Ranger history, or just like to read about guns, will find plenty of good material in Texas Irons.<\/span><\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Glenn Dromgoole<\/span> writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole 10.7.2018\u00a0 Historians debate Chisholm Trail in Texas Did the famous Chisholm Trail ever really exist in Texas, or was that name just applied generically to the various cattle trails that led from Texas to Kansas? Evidently historians have been debating the question for the last hundred years or so, and Fort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}