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John Simpson Chisum left a trail across the American West so wide
that a blind scout could follow it. Although his track can be
picked up effortlessly, the gaps and sketchy information about the
man leave us with but half of the story. John Chisum's life story
seems to have been defined by his association with Billy the Kid
and a singular, epic cattle drive across the barren expanses of
West Texas to New Mexico. Ask anyone on the street about John
Chisum and they are apt to bring up The Chisholm Trail. In an
unlucky twist of historical circumstance the totally unrelated
Chisholm Trail which covered roughly the same path as the Kansas
Trail, the Abilene Trail, or McCoy's Trail and was named for Jesse
Chisholm would be forever confused with John Chisum's Western
Trail. Perhaps the noted historian Harwood P. Hinton, Jr. said it
best over a half century ago when he penned "A definitive biography
of John Chisum may never be written, for there is quite a paucity
of information not only concerning his life but also his stock
dealings, which spanned the Southwest for thirty years." Not at all
unlike the saga of legendary personalities of the American West
such as Billy the Kid the story of the life and times of John
Chisum has become "so contaminated with hypothesis and folklore
that what remains of his story is little more than a blurred
picture of a misrepresented and uninterpreted individual ... living
in the shadows of a bygone era." John Chisum did nothing in a small
way. He rarely missed an opportunity to advance his own purposes.
He built a cattle empire in New Mexico that was, at the time,
second to none. To shamelessly borrow a line from Walter Noble
Burns' book The Saga of Billy the Kid, John Chisum knew cows.
Clifford R. Caldwell has continually cultivated his interest in
Western History since boyhood. After a stint in United States
Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and a thirty-five year career
working for several Fortune 500 Corporations, Cliff is now retired
and free to pursue his interests as a historian and writer. Cliff
has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and is the author of
several book and published works, including Old West Tales, Good
Men, Bad Men, Lawmen; Dead Right, The Lincoln County War; Guns of
the Lincoln County War and his most recent work, A Days Ride From
Here. Cliff is a member of Western Writers of America, Inc. and the
Wild West History Association. When not deeply involved in writing,
Cliff volunteers some of his time doing research for the Peace
Officers Memorial Foundation of Texas and is a member of the Kerr
County Historical Commission. He and his wife Ellen live in the
Hill Country of Texas, near Mountain Home.
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