RonnieAdventure #0497 - Texas 2021 Part I

The town of Texhoma (population: 926 Oklahoma, 364 Texas) is a divided city that is partially in Texas and partially in Oklahoma; thus, its name, "Texhoma." Students graduating from Texhoma High School can attend Texas or Oklahoma Universities and pay in-state tuition for either. 

Stratford (population 2,017) is the county seat for Sherman County, which is named for Sidney Sherman. Sherman was living in Kentucky in the early 1800s, but after the fall of the Alamo he sold his business interests and recruited and equipped 52 men with Kentucky rifles to go to Texas and help fight in the Texas Revolution. On their trip to Texas they carried a flag depicting Lady Liberty with a sword and a ribbon reading "Liberty or Death." The Texans were victorious in the battle of San Jacinto and Sherman is credited with the rallying cry "Remember the Alamo."  

The first Sherman County seat was in Coldwater (a ranching community), but at a controversial election it was voted to move the county seat to Stratford (a growing railroad community). After the vote, at 1 AM in the morning, the official county records were secretly moved from Coldwater to Stratford and placed under heavy guard. A lawsuit was filed against Stratford, but the suit was dismissed and the county seat remained in Stratford.

"Happy State Bank" is also located in Stratford. I liked the Bank's name, so I included a picture of the building.

Conlen (population 69) is now home to the 20-foot tall bow-legged cowboy named "Big Tex" (no relation to "Big Tex" in Dallas). In the 1950s, "Big Tex" was created as part of the Cowboy Café entrance in Dalhart; but when the Cafe closed, "Big Tex" was moved to Conlen to become a tourist attraction. 

Dalhart (population 7,930) is known as the "XIT City" because of its relationship with the historic XIT Ranch. The massive XIT Ranch was 200 miles long and 20-to-30 miles wide, containing over 3,000,000 acres of land. 

In 1882 a syndicate of investors agreed to build a Texas State Capital Building in Austin in exchange for the large tract of land controlled by the State of Texas. At its peak, the ranch had 150,000 head of cattle, over 1,500 miles of barbed wire fence, and a crop irrigation system. The syndicate paid $3,224,593.45 to construct the capitol building.

In the fall of 1889, cattle prices crashed and the ranch was unable to sell its cattle. Then, cattle rustling and predators led to further losses. By 1901 the ranch could not meet its payroll, so the syndicated began selling off large land parcels to pay their operating costs. The last of the cattle were sold in 1912 and the remaining lands were placed in a real estate trust until they were sold in 1950. 

The XIT Ranch museum is located in Dalhart, along with the Empty Saddle Monument that recognizes the contribution of the XIT cowboys to the history of the region. 

Located directly across the street from the XIT Museum is a large bronze bust of  James R. Fox, Jr. The bust was made by the People's Republic of China and donated to the City of Dalhart where Fox was born. In order to support China against the Japanese during WW II, Fox volunteered to fly for Pan American Airways transporting supplies to China over the dangerous Hump Route. His plane crashed and he was killed while flying a missions in 1943. 

Hartley (population 540) was the original county seat for Hartley County, but the frame courthouse was put on wheels and moved to Channing when the XIT Ranch established its headquarters there. Today Hartley is known for the large concrete grain silos located adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Channing (population 363) was formed in 1891 as headquarters for the XIT Ranch. By 1990 there were two stores, a post office, lumber yard, and school. A brick courthouse was constructed in 1906 and the original courthouse that had been moved from Hartley was converted into the once famous Hotel Rivers. The hotel and six other buildings were destroyed in 1931 when a fire swept through town. 

Channing had a brief moment of renewal during a scene in the 1988 movie "Midnight Run," when actors Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin stopped at "Red's" corner bar in the movie.  

Dumas (population 14,691) has name recognition from the Phil Baxter song "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas."

Located in front of the courthouse is a monument dedicated to the 19 firefighters that lost there lives in the 1956 Moore County Disaster. The disaster ranks third in the United States (behind September 11, 2001) in the total firefighter deaths for a single fire. The exposition at Valero Energy's McKee Refinery was so intense that bystanders a quarter of a mile away receive severe burns.

Also located in Dumas is the Window on the Plains Museum. The museum contains a research and archives center that features extensive displays centered around farming, ranching, industry, business, family life, and wildlife. Although not part of the museum, The Art Center is housed in the same building. 

In the 1880s Tascosa (now a ghost town) was the capital of ten counties in the Texas Panhandle and an economic rival to Dodge City, Kansas.

Tascosa was established in 1876 and reached its peak in 1888 by serving cattle ranchers for a hundred miles in every direction. The town was a popular rendezvous for cowboys who frequented the saloons, gambling houses, brothels, and dance halls. There was reported to be a lack of churches in Tascosa. 

Billy the Kid, members of "The System" (a group of cattle rustlers), and several gunfighters spent time in Tascosa because there were no lawmen in town or the surrounding area. Then, in the spring of 1884, Pat Garrett came to area as the newly appointed Captain of the Texas Ranger Division to put an end to rustling and re-branding of cattle. He deputized some gunfighters that were less than ideal citizens to help him and they soon stopped the rustling. With his job completed, the Rangers were disbanded and Garrett left for New Mexico. Since the gunfighters were no longer Texas Rangers, they went back to their hard drinking, carousing, and quarrelsome ways, and were often quick to draw a gun for any excuse. The Ex-Rangers soon became known as "Barroom Gladiators."

When one of the saloon girls dumped her boyfriend Lem Woodruff (a member of "The System") and took up with Ed King (Ex-Texas Ranger), King started taunting Woodruff. 

On the night of March 21, 1886, Ed King, John Lang, Frank Valley, and Fred Chilton rode into Tascosa for some partying. Valley and Chilton went into the Equity Saloon while Lang took care of the horses. Someone called to King from the alley and when he walked over to see who called him, Lem Woodruff shot him in the face and King fell dead. Woodruff ran into the Jenkins Saloon while Lang ran into the Equity Saloon to get Valley and Chilton. The three of them ran around to the back of the Jenkins Saloon just as Woodruff and four of his friends (Louis Bousman, Charlie & Tom Emory, John Gough) ran out of the back door. Gunfire erupted immediately. During the gunfight, Valley, Chilton, and a bystander were killed and Woodruff and Charlie Emory were wounded, but survived. Lang ran down the street in a hail of bullets that went all around him, but he was not hit. The deceased were buried at the Tascosa Boot Hill Cemetery. 

After the gunfight, Woodruff, Bousman, Charlie & Tom Emory, Gough, and Lang were all charged with murder, but they were all acquitted. After the trial most of them ended up in other jails, but Lang went on to become the Amarillo Town Sheriff, served in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, elected mayor of Haines, Oregon, and represented his district in the Oregon State Legislature. 

Although the Tascosa Big Fight at Jenkins Saloon is little known today, for a long period of time the Fight was more famous than the Gunfight at O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.               

About two years after the Big Fight at Jenkins Saloon, the population of Tascosa started to decline. The railroad bypassed Tascosa and other towns were established along the railroad to bring supplies to ranchers in the area. In 1915 the county seat was moved south to Vega, which was located along the railroad. The townsite of Tascosa was purchased by Julian Bivins and in 1939 the Bevins Family donated the land to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch to help troubled boys and girls ages 5 to 18. 

Today, the Jenkins Saloon site is the parking lot for Cal Farley's Boy's Ranch Visitor Center, and just north of the Visitor Center is an open grassy area and a chapel.