Joseph "The Real" McCoy

“The Real McCoy.” You’ve all heard the saying. But where does it come from?

Cowboy, cattle baron, and founder of the cattle trade in Kansas, Joseph McCoy was born on Dec. 21, 1837 in Illinois to David and Mary McCoy. He went to Knox College and married Sarah Epler in 1861. Towards the end of the Civil War, McCoy decided to go into the mule and cattle business.

McCoy studied and noticed how some of the more profitable markets up north, like Chicago, were selling cattle at $30-$40 a head. He realised that there could be some business potential there. He bought some land on the Union Pacific rail and set up a small village with a bank, hotel, a saloon, and a cattle yard, and he named it Abilene, KS. Abilene was the “first rail” head, and was extensively advertised in Texas. The advertising worked, and after one year, McCoy had 35,000 heads of cattle come through Abilene. In year two McCoy brought in 75,000 heads, and the year after that it had doubled.

By 1871, McCoy was elected Mayor of Abilene, and hired James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok to be marshal. By October of the same year, the citizens of Abilene were getting tired of the lawlessness and rowdiness that the cattle drive brought.(Even then some of that might be because Hickok spent most of his time at the saloon gambling and trying to swoon women, and not doing his job.) And so, in October of 1871, the town fathers told Texans that there was no more cattle driving in town, and McCoy dismissed Hickok in December. 1871 was the last big year for Abilene, with over 40,000 heads shipped through there.

Joseph McCoy was a cowboy, cattle baron, and founder of the cattle trade in Kansas. He founded Abilene KS, and shipped over 2 million cattle heads in 4 years, and a story says that McCoy bragged before leaving Chicago that he would bring in 200,000 in 10 years.