John Chisum

Who was John Chisum?

John Simpson Chisum was a wealthy cattle baron in the American West in the mid-to-late 19th century. Born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, Chisum's family moved to Texas in 1837, with Chisum finding work as a building contractor. He also served as county clerk in Lamar County. He was of Scottish, English and Welsh ancestry.

Chisum got involved in the cattle business in 1854 and became one of the first to send his herds to New Mexico. He obtained land along the Pecos River by right of occupancy and eventually became the owner of a large ranch in the Bosque Grande, about forty miles south of Fort Sumner, with over 100,000 head of cattle. In 1866-67, Chisum formed a partnership with cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving to assemble and drive herds of cattle for sale to the Army in Fort Sumner and Santa Fe, New Mexico, to provide cattle to miners in Colorado as well as provide cattle to the Bell Ranch.

Chisum died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on December 23, 1884, aged 60. He was unmarried and left his estate worth $500,000 to his brothers Pitzer and James. While living in Bolivar, Texas, he lived with a young slave girl named Jensie and had two daughters with her. The relationship is described in a book entitled Three Ranches West. Chisum had an extended family living with him at the South Springs ranch in Roswell, and this family, along with hired help, often numbered two dozen at the main ranch headquarters. Chisum's niece, Sallie, daughter of his brother James, became a beloved figure in the area where she lived until 1934. Sallie kept a diary or journal that has become famous and of historical importance because she wrote in it to some extent about both Billy The Kid and his slayer, Pat Garret, both of whom she knew. She and her uncle John are honored by statues to their memory in Roswell and Artesia.