This Week in the West: How Jesse Chisholm Talked His Way Into Western History

This Week in the West · Mar 2, 2026 · 6m

🤠This Week in the West

🎙️ Episode 70: How Jesse Chisholm Talked His Way Into Western History

📢 Episode Summary:

This week on This Week in The West, we remember Jesse Chisholm, the man whose name became permanently attached to one of the most famous cattle trails in American history. Yet Chisholm himself was not a cowboy or cattle baron. Born around 1805 to a Scottish father and a Cherokee mother, he grew up between cultures on the expanding American frontier. Fluent in numerous Native languages as well as Spanish and Plains sign language, Chisholm built his reputation as a trader, guide and…