(named after Jesse Chisholm) established during the American Civil War for supplying the Confederate army. This trail ran to the west of the settled portion of Kansas, making it possible to use the trail without creating hostility from the Kansas homesteaders. McCoy advertised extensively throughout Texas to encourage cattle owners to drive their cattle to market in Abilene. By 1870 thousands of Texas longhorn cattle were being driven over the Chisholm Trail to the shipping center at Abilene. By 1871 as many as 5,000 cowboys were being paid off during a single day, and Abilene became known as a rough town in the Old West. Due to their long legs and hard hoofs, Longhorns were ideal trail cattle, even gaining weight on their way to market. One story says that McCoy bragged before leaving Chicago that he would bring 200,000 head in 10 years and actually brought two million head in 4 years, leading to the phrase "It's the Real McCoy" Later life McCoy was also the author of Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest, which was published in 1874. Joseph McCoy died in Kansas City, Missouri on October 19, 1915. In 1967, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. References Bibliography External links People of the American Old West People from Sangamon County, Illinois American cattlemen 1837 births 1915 deaths People from Abilene, Kansas