Kansas 150th Anniversary Cattle Drive Kicks off 200 Miles of Trailblazing on September 3, 2011

TOPEKA, Kan., Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- "Head 'em up and move 'em out!" Trail Boss Gil Favor's famous words from TV's "Rawhide" will once again echo over the plains as the Kansas 150th Anniversary Cattle Drive gathers south of Caldwell, Kan. the weekend of September 3-4, for the historic 200-mile trek north to Ellsworth.

Drovers will be gathering 400 head of Texas Longhorn cattle just south of the Kansas border in preparation for the Kansas 150th Anniversary Cattle Drive. The town of Caldwell, the "Border Queen," will be celebrating its 140th birthday in conjunction with the drive commemorating the 150th anniversary of Kansas' statehood.  The weekend-long celebration will include a Saturday evening performance by the Diamond W Wranglers along with guest host, cowboy poet Geff Dawson.

The "doggies" will get rollin' Labor Day morning (Sept. 5) as the cowboys point the cattle north, trailing the herd through downtown Caldwell on their way to Ellsworth.  In authentic fashion, the trail boss will be in charge of two chuck wagons, four "cookies," seven drovers, seven "guest" drovers, a string of horses, and, of course, a great herd of longhorn cattle.

The route follows the old Cox Cattle Trail, originally blazed in 1873, to the Kansas Pacific Railhead in Ellsworth. Modern cowboys will trail cattle on the very same route used by original drovers, bed down the cattle on historic grounds and camp at the very same cow camps that made the cowboy famous over a century ago.

On September 9, the cattle drive will arrive in Kingman in conjunction with the town's 150th Anniversary Blow Out with the Prairie Rose Rangers performing on September 10.  On September 12th, the herd leaves Kingman driving northward for another five days before reaching the Arkansas River and Ellinwood on September 17.

On September 17, cattle drive will trail down Ellinwood's Main Street as part of the town's 150th Kansas Anniversary Celebration, featuring performances by songstress Judy Coder and Geff Dawson as emcee.  The final leg of the cattle drive will leave Ellinwood on September 19, traveling into the beautiful Smoky Hills. Drovers and cattle will reach their destination as they cross the Smoky Hill River and enter the end-of-trail cattle town of Ellsworth. In Ellsworth, Geff Dawson will host a full compliment of Western entertainment with The Prairie Rose Rangers, Judy Coder and Western singer/songwriter Barry Ward.

Cowboy historian Jim Gray will be keeping a digital "Trail Diary" along the way, and fans can follow the adventure from the website; www.kansascattledrive2011.com.

The Kansas 150th Anniversary Cattle Drive has been named one of American Cowboy Magazine's Best of the West Top 101 Western Events. For more information visit www.kansascattledrive2011.com.

For more information visit The Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism at www.TravelKS.com, or call 785-296-2009. Find Kansas on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TravelKS and on Twitter at  @TravelKS.

SOURCE The Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism