 Ladies and gentlemen, tonight the makers of Hallmark Cards salute the American dream. One of the men who made that dream come true, Joseph Geeting McCoy on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Here is our distinguished host, Mr. Lion O'Berrymore. Being ladies and gentlemen, the chiseled trail is gone now, lost and forgotten and buried and wheat. Yes, but there was a time when it flung north in all its grandeur. Up out of Texas and across the Red River, slicing the great central plain, opening a path through the westward march of civilization and on to Abilene, to make Kansas City the great stock center of the world, which it is today. Yes, sir, they brought a million head of cattle up out of Texas to Kansas City. And Kansas City sent them on to feed the world. And all this was the dream realized of one man, Joseph Geeting McCoy. Now here is Frank Goss from the makers of Hallmark Cards. When you're choosing the Christmas card you want to represent you in all your friends' homes, isn't it nice to know that good taste costs no more? Yes, you can select a Hallmark card, one that perfectly reflects your good taste and still pay no more. Most important of all, though, is the comfortable knowledge that when you send a Hallmark card, you are also complimenting the good taste of your friends, for to everyone, everywhere. That Hallmark on the back of your Christmas card means you cared enough to send the very best. Lionel Barrymore appears transcribed by arrangement with Metro Golden Mayor, producers of the Technicolor picture, Magumbo, starring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner with Grace Kelly. And now with Tex Ritter singing the traditional Old Chisholm Trail, Lionel Barrymore brings you the true story of Joseph Geeting McCoy on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Well, I woke up one morning on the Old Chisholm Trail, had a ribbon on a heifer and a bull by the tail, kamatai, ayippa kamati, ayay. Who would lie if I... Fame came to Joe McCoy as a canton, but his story actually began in Sangamon County, Illinois, right after the Civil War. And the Billy Sykes, it comes to more that Illinois hospitality. By the way, gun-wred, we don't want to provoke these nice citizens any more than we have to. Good morning, my half-dude. Revoke them, heck, another bunch of farmers stampede these doggies. I'm going to get provoked my own cell. Now, just you calm down, man. But look at them. They got guns. Must be 20, 30 of them this time. Dung out across the road like that. How are we going to get through? Get around the front there. Hold up the hurt. Put on your shotgun. We'll talk you soon. Turn them around, I said. Crump tramping beasts like a plague of locusts. You've got just five minutes to get them turned around. Now, please, my friend. Get to it, cowboy. I'm holding my good gold watch on you. Listen, mister, you've got to understand two things. One, east cattle ain't disease. They're kind of skinny from walking 1,000 miles. But they won't contaminate your stock from there. Your time is ticking out, cowboy. And the two, we can't turn them around. There's a bunch of dairy farmers back in the last town who will shoot us on sight. Four minutes, 20 seconds. If you'll just let us pass through. All we want to do is find a beef market somewhere. Anywhere. Tom, go fetch your rope. Look out there. What are you doing? I'm holding this gun right against your fat belly farmer for now. Now, one move out of you with that mother fundlet. Let's talk this over. Talk it over. Talking's done, mister. All I want to do is sell my cattle. Texas market's gone apart. Through 1,000 miles to Indian country, desert land, off-law territory, she ended up getting hung by a fat belly bunch of Sagamon count of dairy. Now, hold on there, Texas. Stand back, mister. Listen, you'd like to see this fella killed. You can go right ahead. He's a competitor of mine. Joe's. Joe, don't talk like that, Joe. He's just crazy enough to do it. Man's right, farmer. Now, you tell your lynchmark to go on home. Not my mob, Texas. By the way, what's your name? My name's Sugg, Billy Sugg. Mine's McCoy. Joe McCoy. In fact, good morning, you. Oh, don't get at you, Mr. Sugg. Fact is, I'd like to buy your herd. Joe. You mean that? I mean it, Mr. Sugg. I'll give you a fair price. Price, big danger. You'll be extricating me from a very delicate situation. Glad to do it, Mr. Sugg. Now, my farm's just a quarter mile back down the road. Got you. All right, Rick. Property, I don't suppose you two gentlemen will have to go and trample your turnip. What? There by your feet, your good gold watch. You better pick it up. That's why I'm here in Kansas City. They got a million head of cattle down there in Texas with no market. Back in the east, the people are clamoring for beef. But the new farms in eastern Kansas are blocking the way. And you figure there's a way to get them through, huh? Yes. Texas beef could be driven north into Kansas and put on the railroads at some point here. It rests an idea. Shift from there to Kansas City and forward it to the world. Well, sir, the railroad people are pretty hardheaded. But I want you to do all the ranger-like the stuff you'll have to have to put in at your shipping point. Yes, sir, I was just leading up to that. As a cattleman, Colonel, what do you think I'd have to put in? Well, let's see now, son. You'd need a depot. Yeah, naturally. You'd need stockyards to keep them in whilst you're waiting shipment. And some sort of exchange building. Then you'd need scales, facilities for feeding and watering. Then there's a hand. You've got to make it attractive, of course. A bathtub and hot water, son. Hot water. And you'd need a hotel for the hands and places where they could relax. Yes, sir. You tell those Kansas City railroad men what you've been telling me. I think you may get somewhere with that idea, yours. Now, I'll tell you what else you would want to have. You're creating lands in the immediate locality of your railroad for whatever stock is fared poorly on the journey. In short, gentlemen, a complete community. Very fancy, Mr. McCoy. Very fancy. And what do you estimate that will cost to build? About $35,000. $35,000. A lot of money. I can raise it. Seems to me you're promoting this entire operation by yourself. In this case, that's the fastest way. And just what do you expect to get out of it? Well, of course, it's always the money, gentlemen. But there's something else. Something I believe you railroad men can understand. It's that indefinable desire to make something big. I don't intend to sound pristine. Oh, we quite understand. You're having the satisfaction of spanning a continent with a railroad. I want the satisfaction of creating a new industry. But going it alone, that could ruin you, McCoy. We'll see. Well, gentlemen, can we do business? I'm not sure, McCoy. It'll take a lot of thought. What's the name of the place you want our depot built? Well, there's a little village by your line about 165 miles west to Kansas City. It has about a dozen log huts. Make a fine shipping center. The name of the place is Abilene. Well, Abilene was a tiny little town. They're funny critters, skittish, like kids in the thunderstorms, like to know daddy's around there somewhere, like to hear daddy's voice. So you sing at them, keep them pass by. Never knew that. Three things I asked my men. Can they ride, can they row, and can nervous critters pass by? They're giving you so much trouble, I never thought you'd really get things to fuck. How's the trail, Rhett? Straight as an hour. Those engineers you give me, boy, they're crack-a-jacks. Look those transits and sighted, them and the cricket shop is a razor. Hundreds of miles and nearly a twist, nearly a kink. What kind of markers did you use? Well, at the streams, we made blazes and cut down trees. Out on the prairie, we threw up mountains of dirt. Lion man could follow that chiseled trail, Joe. You hear that, Billy Tug? I heard. But what I want to know is, did you talk to any cowmen? Yeah. Uh-huh. What'd they say? About Abelene and the railroads and all, like you said, I should. And? I don't know. It's like the spirit's gone out of them. My opinion is they took too many beatings these last few years. You mean they're not coming? Dad, blame it, Joe. I'm just a dumb cow hand when it comes to talking business with those cattle men, and I, I don't know. You ain't in trouble, Joe. In exactly eight weeks, the railroad will have their cars here. We don't have the stock bill. They'll pull the cars out empty. And that'll be the end of it. That'll be the end of it. I build a city. I build a trail. What more do they want? I'm awful sorry, Joe. You're looking forward to that bath, Red? Yep. That's a shame, Red, because you aren't going to get it just now, not this week. What do you mean? Red here is going to show us the brand new chiseled trail, Billy. So come on. Let the three of us get saddled up. Joe, Joe, you mean we're going to Texas? We're going to Texas, and we're going to stomp some gumption into those cameras. Chiseled trail and right into those railroad. Yippie, yippie, yippie, yippie, yippie, yippie, yippie, yippie. Well, most of us, I guess, one of the particular joys of Christmas is hearing from friends we don't see often. That's undoubtedly why Christmas cards are so popular, their choice so important. And just as you dress up when you know you're going to meet someone you haven't seen in a long while, you naturally want your Christmas cards to represent you at your best. That's why you'll find so many discriminating people selecting hallmark Christmas cards. This year, besides the exclusive design that you'll see in the hallmark Christmas card albums, you'll also be able to choose many of these same designs and others painted by the same hallmark artist in boxes. This is a convenient way of selecting your cards. This year in the Hallmark Gold Box series, you'll find original designs by Marcel Bertet, Saul Steinberg, Grandma Moses, Halder, and many other leading artists. So if you're one of those who likes to sign your own name and perhaps add a friendly note right on your Christmas card, then you will want to see all the boxes of hallmark cards. You can do so best right now while stores have the complete assortment. And remember, whether you send Christmas cards imprinted with your name or signed in your own handwriting, you'll want your card to be an expression of your good taste. You'll want your card to have that hallmark and crown on the back to show your friends you cared enough to send the very best. And now Lionel Barrymore brings you the second act of our true story of Joseph Keating McCoy. Old cowboy singing in the tail, his shirt is still come a tie-ye, it's become a T-I-Y. And the text is on the old chism trail, come a whoop. Keating McCoy. Interesting to consider what must have gone on in Joe McCoy's head as his pony ate up the miles of road and precisely as a bullfrog. With that brand new city he'd left behind and this greatest of all trails were his doing. Unless he could persuade the cattlemen of Texas to drive their hurries to Abilene, he was a gone. Doing something big had faded. McCoy was fighting for time. How you doing, Joe? Still pretty sore, Billy. Oh, you'll listen up in time. Oh, I guess I wasn't cut out to be a cowboy. Never rode more than 10 miles of one stretch in my life. Early swim upon in Yandas, Texas. Yee! Pretty like I told you to do, Don. Yes, sir, you signed a contract with our company. Just for your cattle. One day. I'm sorry, sir. The wording of that contract is very explicit. You're bound to deliver. I just hold the train up for 24 hours. But from Texas? That's the risk you took. Now, I'd like to help you, Mr. McCoy, but this train belongs to the stockholders, not me. And unless it's moving, it's losing money. Now, you see my position. Now, break me away! I'm sorry, but I... He lived to see a whole range of city. He helped form the first Cattlemen's Association there. And out of this group, the American cities yearly contribute to the cattlemen and their contribution to the nation's health and economy. This week, the 55th annual American Royal opened in Kansas City. And the president of the United States delivered a major address to the future farmers of America, in which he said... In this developing society in which you are speedily to take a leading part, you must never permit your government to indulge in the fanciful notion that work for the individual is a thing of the past. If, my friends, this is true because, if ever this should become a fact, if work were a thing of the past, all fun and joy in living would be gone. From security, your own opportunity, your own liberties cannot be stowed upon you. As you till your farms, go to school, plan your futures, raise your families, remember that only he can deserve America, who stands forever ready to give America all he has. You know, each generation has its own frontiers to conquer, probably one day. And there are people who say, because they are intangible, but they're also insurmountable. But the vision to dream, the insight to analyze and the courage to act will solve any problem. That is what the men and women who are now working with the Eisenhower Foundation in Abilene, Kansas, have. It started with a hometown's natural pride and its most illustrious citizen. After the war, the people of Abilene wanted to do something to honor the Dwight D. Eisenhower. When they approached the general with their plans, he said he felt that any honors to be given should go to the men and women who served in the war. And knowing these boys firsthand, he said he believed they'd prefer a living monument, something that would grow, keep on growing, and that they would want to feel that because they died and others who came after them would have a better chance to live and to live in a better world. It was from this statement that the idea of the Eisenhower Foundation grew. Its express purpose is to honor all who served in the war and in their memory to foster a greater acceptance of individual responsibility by American citizens. With this objective as the goal, President Eisenhower turned over his personal collection of mementos and medals and trophies. The Eisenhower family deeded their Abilene home and the surrounding land. And here, the friends and town people of Abilene are building a national headquarters of the Eisenhower Foundation, a great national monument designed by the internationally famous architect Welton Beckett and erected to the memory of the Americans who served in the war. The first part has been done. A tangible monument to the American soldiers now begins the much more important work, the living active monument to foster in their memory a greater acceptance of individual responsibility by American citizens. This will be the continuing program of the Eisenhower Foundation. Soon, your help will be asked. Now, when it is, be generous. Generous in your contribution, your time, and most of all in your enthusiasm. The Eisenhower Foundation will be one of our generations bequests to future Americans in honor of those who died that we and all future citizens could live like Americans. While no general solicitation of funds has been made, many checks are already finding their way to Abilene and who would like yours to be among these first contributions or if you would like further information about the plans and purposes of the Eisenhower Foundation? Simply write, the Eisenhower Foundation, Abilene, Kansas. Friendly service. Remember a hallmark card when you'll carry it up to send the very best. Our producer director is William Gaye. Our script tonight was written by Wilbur James. Special musical effects and singing of the old Chisholm Trail were by Tex Ritter. Joseph Geetie McCoy was played by Raymond Burr. Featured in our cast tonight were John Boehner, William Conrad, Harry Bartell, Lawrence Dobkin, and Jack Edwards. This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time. When we present the suspenseful true story of Robert Livingston and how he single-handedly completed the difficult negotiations for the famous Louisiana Purchase on the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Portions of tonight's program were transcribed. This is KMBC, Kansas City, Missouri.