Chisholm Trail Traveling Exhibit Opens

A special exhibit created for the Symphony in the Flint Hills Gallery is currently at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. “The Chisholm Trail: Driving the American West” is now on display in the Library building gallery. The exhibit will be open during regular operating hours from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. daily through mid-October, including Labor Day weekend as Abilene celebrates the Chisholm Trail 150th anniversary.

This exhibit celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail which fundamentally changed the American West. From the birth of the cowboy as an icon to the revival of the cattle industry, the Old Chisholm Trail shaped our popular culture.

This original exhibit invites visitors of all ages to explore the Chisholm Trail from its inception in the 1860s to today. Exhibit highlights include an interactive musical exploration of the scores of verses to the cowboy song, “The Old Chisholm Trail,” video and audio clips of movies and songs that reference the Chisholm Trail, and several artistically rendered, life-size longhorn cattle. Younger visitors can create their own brands with the “Brand Your Beeves” interactive station.

“We were looking for a way to tell the story of the Chisholm Trail in our Cottonwood Falls Gallery as well as create a traveling exhibit on the topic. We partnered with Flint Hills Design and Lost Trail Soda to create this unique display that incorporates wood, metal and leather – items commonly associated with the time period,” said Christy Davis, executive director of Symphony in the Flint Hills. “This exhibit gives us a unique way to share the story with many communities in this anniversary year.”

This exhibit travels to the Kauffman Museum in Newton, December 14 – April 3, 2018; and Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, September 20 – November 13, 2018.

Story by Samantha Kenner / Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum