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ELLSWORTH -- "End of the Trail" for the Kansas 150th Anniversary Cattle Drive will be Sept. 24 in Ellsworth, but the fun begins Saturday just south of the Kansas-Oklahoma border.

The 200-mile cattle drive will start Saturday when a mixture of 200 Texas Longhorns and other horned cattle are gathered in a pasture south of Caldwell.

A group of at least seven drovers will round up the herd at sunrise on Labor Day morning, with plans to drive them through Caldwell at 9:30 a.m., said Dennis Katzenmeier, of Ellsworth, one of the event organizers.

Plans are to end the journey with 400 head, he said, but extreme drought conditions in southern Kansas prompted the herd to be smaller at the beginning.

"As we get into grass country, we will add them," Katzenmeier said.

From Caldwell, the cattle will be driven northwest to Kingman on the old Ellsworth/Cox Cattle Trail. Several cow camps will be staged along the way, and the public is welcome.

The drive will include a trail boss, Mike Clover, of Kingman, who is in charge of two chuckwagons, four "cookies," seven drovers, seven "guest" drovers, a string of horses and the cattle. Guest drovers may sign on with the outfit for one week or the entire three weeks. For information, call Clover at (620) 532-3455, email him at mike@kansas cattledrive2011.com or check the website, kansascattle drive2011.com.

Ellsworth businessman Jim Gray will map the trail along the way and post his "Trail Diary" on the website.

The herd will be driven through Kingman at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 9. Then it's on to Ellinwood, where a procession is planned for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 17.

The only cow camp not open to the public is the first stop in Ellsworth County.

"It's out on the range and hard to get to," Katzenmeier said.

Special events are planned at each town and several of the cow camps. Check the website for details.

Once in Ellsworth on Sept. 24, the cattle are scheduled to hit the end of the trail at 4 p.m. with a parade north on Douglas Street, through downtown Ellsworth.

A number of activities are planned beginning Sept. 23, including music entertainers, a Texas Hold 'em poker tournament, food booths, re-enactors and other western attractions. The National Drovers Hall of Fame is hosting the Ellsworth celebration along with the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce.

An "End of the Trail" concert will start at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Ellsworth High School Performing Arts Center. The concert will feature Barry Ward, Judy Coder and the Prairie Rose Rangers. The master of ceremonies will be cowboy poet Geff Dawson, of Alma.

The herd will be loaded onto semitrailers on the morning of Sept. 25.

"It would be nice if they could be loaded onto a railroad cattle car like the good ol' days," Katzenmeier said. "They don't have those anymore."

-- Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by email at tunruh@salina.com.

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