Abilene << AB uh `leen` >>, Kansas (pop. 6,460), a city in east-central Kansas, is a railroad shipping center for crops raised in the east-central part of the state. Abilene is the seat of Dickinson County.
Between 1867 and 1872, cowhands drove longhorn cattle over the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, where the stock was loaded and shipped to Eastern markets. Probably the biggest year was 1871, when 5,000 cowhands and 700,000 head of cattle came to Abilene from Texas. Wild Bill Hickok became famous as a “two-gun marshal” of Abilene.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower grew up in Abilene. The city is the site of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home. This complex also includes the Place of Meditation, where Eisenhower is buried. The city has a council-manager form of government.
