Editing Jesse Chisholm (section)

==Career==
In 1826, Chisholm became involved in working for a gold-seeking party, who blazed a trail and explored the region to present-day [[Wichita, Kansas]]. In 1830, Chisholm helped blaze a trail from [[Fort Gibson]] to [[Fort Towson]]. In 1834, Chisholm was a member of the [[Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition]], who first contacted the southern Plains Indians on behalf of the United States federal government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH067.html |title=CHISHOLM, JESSE (ca. 1805-1868) |last=Hoig |first=Stan |website=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |access-date=August 23, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024044554/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH067.html |archive-date=October 24, 2014 }}</ref>

In 1836, Chisholm married Eliza Edwards. They resided in the area of her father's trading post on the [[Little River (Canadian River)|Little River]] near its confluence with the [[Canadian River]] in Indian Territory. Chisholm worked as a trader.

[[Image:Chisholm monument in Bandera, TX Picture 092.jpg|250px|left|thumb|<span style="font-size:100%;">Monument to Jesse Chisholm in [[Bandera, Texas]]</span>]]
Fluent in thirteen Native American languages and Spanish, Chisholm served as an interpreter and general aid in several treaties between the [[Republic of Texas]] and local Indian tribes and between the United States federal government and various tribes after Texas was admitted to the Union. This diplomatic work spanned 20 years between 1838 and 1858.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fch32 |title=CHISHOLM, JESSE |last=Richardson |first=T. C. |website=The Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=August 23, 2014 }}</ref> During this period, Chisholm also continued in the Indian trade, trading manufactured goods for peltry and cattle.

He mostly remained neutral during the [[American Civil War]]. Many residents of the Indian Territory feared they might be massacred, either intentionally or as an accident of war, if either side attempted to contend for control of the territory. Chisholm led a band of refugees to the western part of the territory. For some time, they suffered privation, as trade had also dried up during the war.

At the war's end, Chisholm settled permanently near present-day [[Kingfisher, Oklahoma]], and again began to trade in the Indian Territory. Chisholm built up what had previously been a military and Indian trail into a road capable of carrying heavy wagons for his goods. This road later became known as Chisholm's Trail. When the Texas-to-Kansas [[cattle drives]] started, the users of the trail renamed it the [[Chisholm Trail]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rossel |first=John |date=February 1936 |title=The Chisholm Trail |url=http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-the-chisholm-trail/12670 |journal=Kansas Historical Quarterly |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=3–14 |access-date=August 23, 2014}}</ref>