Lost Trails of the Cimarron

by Harry E. Chrisman

Lost Trails of the Cimarron is Harry Chrisman’s folk history of nineteenth-century Cimarron country - southwestern Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and the neutral strip of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Buffalo hunters entered the area in violation of the Medicine Lodge Treaty, followed by cowboys and settlers who formed a vast economy based on grass and beef, the beginnings of prominent cattle ranches such as Westmoreland-Hitch Outfit. Chrisman details the history of the outlaws and ruffians of "No Man’s Land" and trail drives to Dodge City and beyond. Numerous illustrations accompany the anecdotes and stories of various frontier personalities.

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1964

Reviews

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1961 this book is by a man who knew the trail herders and settlers of southwestern Kansas, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. He tells the stories Hollywood would never bother with, but give the true feel of the land, changing times, and people brave enough to stick it out in a hostile environment.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever wandered Where Hooker, Oklahoma got it's name, here's your source. The author was a newspaperman in Liberal, Kansas, in the 1950s and had the chance to meet and interview some of the Old Time Cowboys, the ones who knew the real stories. And here he shares some of the goods.

[Wampus Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for its invaluable in-depth reporting on a time that has been so highly fictionalized in film and TV. I do have to warn that it carries prejudices and attitudes that would widely now be considered wrong and distasteful, though I am sure even then some would object to characterizations of any who are not non-white male in it. And you can see the seams tying together chapters that were originally news columns.

It does evoke its time and place perfectly.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, as a child, I spent many hours listening to my grandfather recount and sing about his adventures as a cowboy in “No Man’s Land” at the turn of the 19th to the 20th Century. Without those memories I might have found the book a bit tedious — so many names, rivers, and places tumbling all over each other! The book definitely needed better maps and some sort of timeline. That said, the stories and people are great fun and very interesting. The old-fashioned and folksy style of the author adds to the charm.