In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Ellsworth Cutoff of the Chisholm Trail, enthusiasts gathered last weekend for the annual Chisholm Trail Conference.

“It was great because there was a lot of other venues they could have chosen,” said Dennis Katzenmeier, chairman of board of the National Drovers Hall of Fame and president of the International Chisholm Trail Association.

“When it hit Ellsworth, we were the end of the trail,” he said. “Not only did we have cowboys and cow herds coming in, we had bushwhackers and rail people. It (1873) was a huge year.”

The conference, which was Oct. 20-21, included a slate of wellknown speakers including western music artist R.W. Hampton, film producer Ken Spurgeon and historian Dr. Michelle M. Martin.

“They did an exquisite job of presentation,” Katzenmeier said.

Martin spoke about trail bride Mary Olivette Taylor Bunton’s experience on the Chisholm Trail.

“Learning about the women of the trail was all new,” Katzenmeier said. “I didn’t realize how brave some of these women were. Some of them had husbands die and took the trail themselves.”

Ellsworth resident Colby Richard participated in cowboy poetry Saturday afternoon.

“Cowboy poetry is about trying to connect a feeling,” he said. “People who have never heard it before can connect with it.”

Russell resident Katrin Kilder enjoyed learning about Ellsworth’s history.

“Learning the drovers weren’t gunmen was interesting,” she said. “About the only time they took a gun out was to shoot a horse if he broke his leg.”

Katzenmeier said the term “drover” originates from Europe.

“When they drove cattle in Europe, they would drive droves,” he said. “The guy driving the droves was called a drover. So when they started driving from Mexico to the United States, they drove.

“Drover is very unique to the driving aspect of moving cattle. Drovers are cowboys but are not bronc riders, are not rodeo riders.”

One perk for conference attendees was a guided tour of caves on Katzenmeier’s land.

“I have Indian petroglyphs on my ranch and cattle swales. I took everybody that wanted to attend to view the petroglyphs,” he said. “Over the hill a little bit is a washout where the cattle came through.”

Wichita resident Mary Lou Rivers, national treasurer for ICTA, enjoyed that portion of the experience.

“There was one 94-year old man walking up and down the dry beds,” she said. “He wanted to get up and touch the walls, and he did!”

Nancy Lawrence, Wichita, is also with the ICTA.

“My favorite part is the camaraderie,” she said. “We get to see each other once a year. We get to get together and talk about the trail. You learn something new every time you come.”

Saturday morning included an open house at the National Drovers Hall of Fame historic insurance building.

“National Drovers Hall of Fame was established to save a signature building in Ellsworth,” Katzenmeier said. “It was a banking building. In 1883, the cattle industry was booming and drove the banking market. We took a bank building that was part of that history and wanted to save it.”

The Ellsworth cutoff of the Chisholm Trail cuts off in Enid, Okla., and travels to Pond Creek, Okla., into Kansas to Kingman and Ellinwood before it reaches Ellsworth “They started to come to Ellsworth in ’71,” Katzenmeier said. “By ’72, there were more cattle. In ’73, Abilene shut it off.

“William Cox was an agent for the railroad. He was told to survey a trail from Ellsworth to the Chisholm Trail. It had probably been used before anyway. He left on 16th of April, 1883, arrived with his service area on May 1, 1883, which completed the survey. Then cattle started diverting off the Chisholm on the cutoff. 1883 was our big boom year. This is a very, very unique part of our history — it’s when the cowboy was born.”

The 2024 conference will be in Dodge City and celebrate the anniversary of the Western Trail.

For more information, visitnationaldrovershalloffame. org or chisholmtrailassn. com.