As railroads were built further south, the end of the Chisholm Trail was slowly moved south toward Caldwell, while Kansas homesteaders concerned with cattle ruining their farm crops moved the trail west toward and past Ellsworth. Another source reports 440,200 head of cattle were shipped out of Abilene from 1867 to 1871. In 1871, more than 5,000 cowboys herded from 600,000 to 700,000 cows to Abilene and other Kansas railheads. The stockyards shipped 35,000 head in 1867 and became the largest stockyards west of Kansas City, Kansas. From 1867 to 1871, the Chisholm Trail ended in Abilene, bringing in many travelers and making Abilene one of the wildest towns in the west. McCoy encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds to his stockyards. The town grew quickly and became the first "cow town" of the west. The first twenty carloads left September 5, 1867, en route to Chicago, Illinois, where McCoy was familiar with the market. The Kansas Pacific put in a spur line at Abilene that enabled the cattle cars to be loaded and sent on to their destinations. McCoy purchased 250 acres of land north and east of Abilene, on which he built a hotel, the Drover's Cottage, stockyards equipped for 2,000 heads of cattle, and a stable for their horses. In 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railway ( Union Pacific) pushed westward through Abilene. It was not until 1860 that it was named Abilene, from a passage in the Bible ( Luke 3:1), meaning "grassy plains". In 1857, Dickinson County was founded and Abilene began as a stage coach stop, established by Timothy Hersey and named Mud Creek. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. See also: History of Kansas 19th century Joseph McCoy's Drover's Hotel, McCoy's Stock Yard in 1867 1915 railroad map of Dickinson County
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