September 5, 1867: The Day Abilene Became a Cowtown
On September 5, 1867, Abilene, Kansas, changed forever. That morning, the Kansas Pacific Railway carried its first load of Texas longhorn cattle out of Joseph McCoy’s brand-new stockyards. What had been a forgotten prairie village became, overnight, the “queen of the cowtowns.”
Joseph McCoy’s Bold Gamble
When Joseph McCoy first set foot in Abilene, he found little to inspire confidence. One account remembered:
“Abilene was a small dead place consisting of about one dozen log huts, low, small rude affairs, four-fifths of which were covered with dirt for roofing; indeed, but one shingle roof could be seen in the whole city”.
Still, McCoy believed this was the right place for a cattle market. He bought 250 acres and invested $5,000 to build a sprawling stockyard, offices, a hotel, and even a telegraph line to assure buyers in Chicago that the cattle were on the way.
The Stockyards and Their Promise
The stockyards themselves were ambitious. The Reflector later recalled:
“The pens covered a space sufficient to hold 2,000 head, with a chute and platform 600 feet long for loading into cars”.
Here, the longhorns that had endured months on the trail were finally rested, watered, and readied for the eastbound trains. The economics were staggering: “A steer worth but $2 in Texas would command $30 to $40 when shipped East,” one account explained.
September 5, 1867 – The First Shipment
The Reflector captured the drama of that day:
“When the long-horned steers from Texas first went snorting and clattering into the cars, bound for the East, the great cattle traffic was inaugurated”.
That single shipment proved McCoy right. Texas drovers flooded in, and soon the prairie surrounding Abilene teemed with herds. The town exploded with life — “long lines of cattle, the shouts of cowboys, the crack of revolvers, and the ever-present bawl of the steers” filled its streets.
A Cowtown Like No Other
The transformation was astonishing. The same articles reflected:
“From that day Abilene leaped into fame, and her name became known throughout the length and breadth of the land as the great cattle mart”.
Between 1867 and 1871, more than 1.5 million cattle were shipped from Abilene, cementing its place in history.
Legacy of September 5
Though the cattle trade eventually moved farther west, the significance of that first trainload cannot be overstated. Joseph McCoy became known as the “Cattle King of Abilene,” and September 5, 1867, marked the moment Abilene took its place in the American story.
Today, when we look back at that day, we can still imagine the dust rising from the herds, the whistle of the train, and the hope of a young cattleman whose gamble paid off.