Cattle Trails to Cimarron Crossing

Doc Barton Courtesy Ford County Historical Society

"In the summer of 1872, Doc Barton started north from Burnett County, Texas, with 3,000 head of longhorn Texas cattle. His trail outfit consisted of 12 men, and they were on the trail for about three months before they reached Finney County, Kansas, where Garden City is now located. They started from Texas looking for a ranch location, having heard of the fine pasture on the High Plains of what is now Western Kansas. Much of the way, they blazed a new trail and took a roundabout route instead to avoid the Indians on the War Path in numbers along the Cimarron River in what is now southwest Kansas and northern New Mexico. They crossed the Colorado River, went west to what was known as the Concho River, and followed it to the Staked Plains. 

From there, they drove to the Pecos River and followed its course to Horse Head Crossing. After crossing the Pecos, they followed its west side to the North Spring River in New Mexico and gradually swung toward the Raton Pass, crossing the mountains and driving north to the Arkansas River. They held the herd for three months in the Garden City territory and then worked down the Arkansas to where Ingalls is now located.
"That was before the railroad reached Dodge City, although much of the railroad grade was partly completed to the west line of Kansas. Large crews were working on the grade, and a ready market was found for the cattle.
"When they reached what is now Ingalls, Kansas, they found a large corral still standing on the river flats just east of where the present Ingall's bridge now crosses. There were also the remains of Soddies and Dugouts as well as the remains of a few Dobies on the river bottom just north of the corral, for there was the regular campground of the old Santa Fe Trail, which crossed the Arkansas River at what was known as `The Cimarron Crossing' of Arkansas. Doc says the crossing was just west of the north end of the present bridge, although the crossing was not used then and had not been for some time because of the Indians to the south and west. The regular trail went up the Arkansas River, and the Cimarron Crossing was not again regularly used.

Doc Barton Courtesy Boot Hill Museum