In January 2007, a group met together in the old county jail building on the square in Montague, Texas, for the purpose of identifying area visual artists and finding out what kind of art was being produced in and around the area once known as the Chisholm Trail.

The enthusiasm generated from this first meeting led to the formation of the Chisholm Trail Art Association.  Made up of artists and art lovers from all walks of life, the group includes professional artists, photographers, and hobbyists who are passionate about creating and promoting art.

The Chisholm Trail Art Association pays homage to its namesake, the Chisholm Trail.  Although only in existence from about 1867 to 1885, the Chisholm Trail provided for the greatest migration of livestock in world history, moving more than five million cattle and a million mustangs from southern Texas through modern-day Montague County, across the Red River and into Kansas, where the livestock was shipped by rail to market. **

                * Ref. Wayne Gard, "The Chisholm Trail; with Drawings by Nick Eggenhofer"
                                    (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954)
                       Donald E. Worcester, "The Chisholm Trail"
                                    (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980).