Michael Grauer will provide a detailed history of Trailing Cattle by King Ranch from South Texas
Michael R. Grauer, born in Kansas City, Kansas, on March 27, 1961, is a leading figure in preserving and promoting cowboy culture and art. His unwavering dedication to this cause is truly inspiring. He currently holds the prestigious position of McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture/Curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. His career is marked by curating over 150 exhibitions and the authorship of 65 publications, demonstrating his deep knowledge and passion for the subject. His book, "Making a Hand: The Art of H.D. Bugbee," was awarded the Western Heritage Award for Best Western Art Book of 2020. He resides in Oklahoma City with his wife, Leslie, and continues to actively promote and preserve cowboy culture and history.
Gain valuable insights into the unparalleled history of the Western Cattle Trail from Michael Grauer, a renowned expert in cowboy culture and the curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art at the McCasland Chair. His recount of the narrative of this remarkable chapter in American history will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the Western Trail. In this Brown Bag presentation, you will delve into the fascinating history of The Western Trail, a critical cattle route operational from 1874 to 1897. This historical phenomenon facilitated the transportation of an estimated six to eight million cattle across a vast network of roads, pivotal in establishing renowned ranches in the northern Great Plains region. 
The trail connected crucial locations such as Doan’s Crossing, Dodge City, Ogallala, and Fort MacLeod, spanning nine states, northern Mexico, and western Canada. Surpassing the Chisholm Trail in duration, cattle volume, and distance covered, the Western Trail is a testament to the enduring significance of American cowboy culture and Western history, becoming “The Greatest Cattle Trail of All! Click here to join us at the 150th Anniversary Conference.
Brad Smalley will delve into the historical events that marked the conclusion of the buffalo hunting era, such as the Battle of Adobe Walls and the Red River War, and how these events set the stage for the subsequent economic upsurge with the emergence of the Western Trail and the transformation of the region into a hub for the cattle industry.
Brad Smalley is a fourth-generation Dodge City, Kansas, resident. After receiving his degree in history from Fort Hays University, he dedicated his life to the noble cause of preserving Western history. He was raised on his parents and grandparents' stories of the old-timers who still walked the streets during their lifetimes. Brad's personal connection to these stories and the history they represent gives his work a deep sense of nostalgia. Brad has several years of experience in local and statewide tourism and has played a significant role in researching and producing several books on Western history and lore. Recently, he was featured in the Emmy-nominated second season of 'Gunslingers' on the American Heroes Channel. Brad is the narrator for the Wild West podcast, which is now in the top 2% of podcasts worldwide in over 12,107 cities and 150 countries and territories. Brad lives south of Dodge on the edge of the Western Cattle Trail, where ruts from the cattle drives can still be seen from his front porch.
​​James N. Leiker will delve deep into the recollections and retellings of the Cheyenne Exodus, offering a thought-provoking exploration of its evolving nature over time.
James N. Leiker, a professor of history and chair of the history and political science department at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, is deeply committed to his students. He teaches the United States History Survey courses, African American Studies, and the American West, always striving to inspire and educate.  He is the author of numerous books and articles on Western History, including Racial Borders: Black Soldiers along the Rio Grande (Texas A & M Press, 2002) and The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory (Oklahoma, 2011), a Kansas Notable Book and winner of the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize. In 2009, James N. Leiker demonstrated his commitment to academic development by founding JCCC’s Kansas Studies Institute, a five-year program he directed.  
​Jim serves on the Kansas Business Hall of Fame board and the editorial boards of  Great Plains Quarterly and Kansas History.  Dr. Leiker has been a consultant and participant in several National Endowment for the Humanities programs and was a Fulbright-Hays scholar in Egypt and Israel. He serves on the national College Board committee that prepares the annual College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam for History and the Social Sciences.  Jim earned his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Fort Hays State University and his PhD from the University of Kansas.
James N. Leiker and Ramon Powers, in their work "The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory," explore how this event has been remembered and retold, analyzing the recollections of Indians, settlers, and their descendants, as well as examining local history, mass-media representations, and literature. They draw thought-provoking conclusions about the evolving nature of this story over time.
The Cheyennes' journey has often been described using melodramatic stereotypes, with the most recent versions depicting "noble savages" attempting to reclaim their birthright. However, Leiker and Powers deconstruct and surpass these stereotypes, emphasizing that history is a complex tapestry of narratives, never simple. They point out that the Cheyennes' flight left both white and Indian bones scattered along its route from Oklahoma to Montana. According to them, the descendants of the Cheyennes and the settlers they encountered are all Westerners who require a nuanced understanding of history to make sense of the bones and arrowheads scattered across the plains.
Leiker and Powers portray a rural West where diverse peoples, both Euro-American and Native American, seek to preserve their heritage through memory and history. This book is a compelling read for anyone living in the contemporary Great Plains or seeking to understand the West. Click here to learn more about The Northern Cheyenne Exodus.
Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, historians for the Western Trails Association, will present "Their Journey to Researching the Western Cattle Trail" in an informal discussion.
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Margaret and Gary Kraisinger have created their second book, 'The Western Cattle Trail 1874-1907: It's Rise; Collapse; and Revival,' documenting cattle trails from South Texas to Canada. The Hutchinson News
Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, in 1967, started their mission to uncover the historical significance of the Western Cattle Trail, a vital artery in the history of the American West. Their research, supported by detailed maps, resulted in two books documenting the location of the most extensive cattle trail system out of Texas from 1874 to 1897. Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, in 1967, started their mission to uncover the historical significance of the Western Cattle Trail, a vital artery in the history of the American West. Their research, supported by detailed maps, resulted in two books documenting the location of the most extensive cattle trail system out of Texas from 1874 to 1897. Their second book, published in 2015, The Western Cattle Trail, 1874-1897, Its Rise, Collapse, and Revival, presented the cattle system, with its numerous feeder and splinter routes, from south Texas to Canada, involving nine states. ​This book was honored with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Wrangler Award for Best Nonfiction in 2016 and the Six Shooter’s Award from the Wild West History Association for Best Book in 2016.  
Gary is an alumnus of Fort Hays State University and Emporia State University with an undergraduate degree in history and a graduate degree in cartography.  Margaret holds an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree from the same 
universities in English and Business. 
Michael Miller, an expert in Western history and the American cattle industry from Tarrant Community College (Texas), will present his research topic, "The Last Cattle Drive."  
Michael Miller, an expert on the XIT Ranch, the Capitol Syndicate, and the American cattle industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century will present his research topic, "The Last Cattle Drive." Contrary to the widely held notion of the demise of the cattle trail around 1885, many Texas and Southwestern cattle operations continued to trail thousands of cattle to northern ranges in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, and even Canada well into the 1890s. The Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company, owner of the famous XIT Ranch, contracted to drive their first cattle into the region in 1889. The company undertook its own trailing operation in 1890, first shipping nearly 10,000 cattle to Wendover, Wyoming and then driving the beeves, nearly all two-year-old steers, onto range the company acquired in Montana.
 A falling out with the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad convinced the company to drive the cattle all the way from Texas in 1891, a practice the company continued until 1897. That year, top hand and trail boss John McCanless, affectionately known as “Scandlous,” managed to push through nearly 2,500 head. This was the XIT’s last trail herd and, perhaps, among the last ever driven to Montana in that era. “The water and land was all fenced,” McCanless reported. “I had a pretty hard time getting through in ’97.”
Michael M. Miller, author of XIT: A Story of Land, Cattle, and Capital in Texas and Montana (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020), is an expert on the business and politics of the Gilded Age cattle business. Focusing on the huge Texas Panhandle operation, his book comprehensively explores the evolution of “open range” operations and a fading trail industry toward a more modern, slimmer, and scientific approach to stock raising. His dissertation at the University of North Texas, focused on construction of the Texas statehouse and its payoff to the Illinois capitalists that built the magnificent structure – three million Panhandle acres. His 2015 article in Montana The Magazine of Western History on the ranch’s operation in Montana, “Cowboys and Capitalists,” won the 2016 Spur Award for Best Western Short Nonfiction from the Western Writers of America, Inc. His reviews of ranching-related books have appeared in several academic publications. Currently, Miller shares his knowledge and enthusiasm teaching history at colleges and universities around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Miller supports the Western History Association, the Montana Historical Society, and the Texas historical community.
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