General Ranald Slidell MacKenzie The Old MacKenzie Trail by "Larry" Chittendon Stretching onward toward the sunset, o'er prairie, hill and vale, far beyond the double mountains winds the Old MacKenzie Trail. Ah, what thoughts and border memories does that dreaming trail suggest, thoughts of travelers gone forever to the twilight realms of rest. Where are now the scouts and soldiers, and those wagon trains of care, those grim men and haggard women and the echoes whisper - where? Ah, what tales of joy and sorrows could that silent trail relate: tales of loss, and wrecked ambitions, tales of hope, of love, and hate: Tales of hunger, thirst, and anguish tales of skulking Indian braves, tales of fear, and death, and danger, tales of lonely prairie graves. Where are now that trail's processions, winding westward sure and slow? Lost: ah, yes, destroyed progress, gone to realms of long ago. Nevermore shall bold MacKenzie, with his brave and dauntless band, guide the restless, roving settlers through the Texas borderland. Yes, that soldier's work is over, and the dim trail rests at last, but his name and trail still lead us through the borders of the past. The MacKenzie Trail first crossed by General Ranald Slidell MacKenzie, 4th United States Cavalry, in 1871 in quest of warring bands of Indians. Erected by the state of Texas with funds appropriated by Federal government to commemorate one hundred years of Texas independence. - 1836 - 1936
Mackenzie, Gen. Ranald Slidell & The Old McKenzie Trail
The roadside stories worth pulling over for.
Mackenzie, Gen. Ranald Slidell & The Old McKenzie Trail is a historical marker in Plainview, Hale County, dedicated in 1936. It is one of 39 historical markers documented in Hale County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 43 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 34.1870, -101.7037 near Plainview. The nearest cataloged historic site is Slaughter, Colonel C. C. (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Montgomery Ward Building, Texas Land & Development Company, Former Office Site of, and Hale County Courthouse.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5189005389. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
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