cattle trail from San Antonio, Tex., to Abilene, Kans.: important from 1865 until the 1880s
Origin:
after Jesse Chisholm (1806?-68), U.S. frontier scout who established it
See Chisholm Trail in American Heritage Dictionary 4
A former cattle trail from San Antonio, Texas, north to Abilene, Kansas. It was important from the 1860s to the 1880s, when it fell into disuse following the expansion of the railroads and the introduction of barbed-wire fencing.