USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 40
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The present county officials are: J. C. Hall, county judge ; W. J. Chesney, sheriff and tax-collector; W. S. Stoneham, county and dis- trict clerk ; J. B. Holt, tax-assessor ; T. J. Coffee, county attorney ; U.
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D. Wulfjen, commissioner, Precinct No. 1; H. A. Lasater, commis- sioner, Precinct No. 2; E. Barber, commissioner, Precinct No. 3, and S. M. Hallmark, commissioner, Precinct No. 4.
MONTAGUE COUNTY
Montague County was taken from Cooke County in 1857, and organized August 2, 1858. The county was fairly well settled before the war, was credited with a population of 849 in 1860, but as a result of the depredations of that decade its population in 1870 was only 890. During the '70s it began to be settled permanently. In one respect, however, it was still on the frontier, since its northern boun- dary was the Red River, on the north side of which was the Indian Territory, which, without any civil government, offered shelter to many thieves and desperadoes whose depredations of the Texas fron- tier were long a standing menace to the prosperity of the northern tier of counties. To prevent horse stealing from this source during the '70s and '80s a number of vigilance committees were organized in Montague County.
In September, 1866, a correspondent in the county wrote a Dallas paper as follows : "We stand as a breakwater for the protection of the state against the Indians-have done so for years. We will be forced to give up the frontier unless sustained ; sustain us and we will still protect you." In July, 1870, another correspondent wrote that the Indians were all around Montague County settlers, whose exposed situation on the extreme frontier rendered constant vigilance neces- sary, and that very recently attacks had been made on Victoria Peak and Henrietta.
During the decade of the '70s the population of Montague County increased more than 1,000 per cent, and settled conditions prevailed, while a number of towns sprang up. In 1878 the towns and villages in the county were: Montague, the county seat, containing some five or six stores ; St. Jo, Burlington, Red River, Scranton and Forest- burg. These were all rural villages, and the nearest railroads were many miles to the east and south.
The first railroad was the Fort Worth & Denver City, constructed across the southwestern corner of the county in 1882. The railroad gave origin to what is now the metropolis of the county, Bowie, which in June, 1882, was without a single store and merely a station for the surrounding country. Another station established on the railway was Sunset. A report on the county in 1882 mentioned industries and the towns as follows: "There are in the county a number of flouring and sawmills run by steam power, but hardly enough to supply the local demand for flour and lumber. Montague has 500 inhabitants ; St. Jo, 350; Forestburg, 200; Queen Peak, 250; Spanish Fort, a very old settlement, 250; Eagle Point, 150; and Salt Creek Station, 100." The county at that time was a rich stock range, and its live stock in round numbers was estimated at 36,000 cattle, 8,000 sheep and goats, 7,800 horses and mules, and 11,000 hogs.
Beginning with the census of 1870 the population figures for suc- cessive decades have been: In 1870, 890; in 1880, 11,257; in 1890,
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18,863 ; in 1900, 24,800; in 1910, 25,123; and in 1920, 22,200. In 1870 the total property assessments in the county aggregated only $153,- 542; the rapid development of the following ten years was indicated by tax assessment for 1882 as $2,040,472; in 1903, $6,428,005; in 1913, $12,806,265, and in 1920, $14,134,555.
The second railroad in the county was the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, which was built under the name Gainesville, Henrietta & Western from Gainesville to Henrietta in 1887, across the northern half of the county. In 1893 the Rock Island line from the Red River to Fort Worth was opened through Bowie.
The building of railroads has resulted in a general readjustment of population centers. Montague, the county seat, is still without railway connections, and from a population of 795 in 1890 declined to a population of 284 in 1910. The chief city is Bowie, which prof- ited by its relations to the first railway. In 1890 its population was 1,486; in 1900, 2,600; in 1910, 2,874; and in 1920, 5,000. The three other principal towns are located in the northern part of the county along the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and are St. Jo, a town ante- dating the railway, Belcher and Nocona. Other towns are Montague, Ringgold, Stoneburg, Sunset, Bonita and Hardy.
As one of the rural counties of North Texas, Montague now has a fairly well balanced economic condition. Only a few of the large ranches still remain undivided, while the breeding of improved live stock, dairying, fruit culture, and the diversified crops of the Red River Valley are all phases of progress. At the last census 3,691 farms were enumerated, as compared with 3,571 in 1900. The total area of the county is 594,560 acres, of which 531,057 acres were reported in farms, and about 244,000 acres as "improved land." While thirty years has resulted in the cultivation of nearly half of the total area of the county, live stock interests are more valuable than ever. The enumeration showed 31,429 cattle, about 14,078 horses and mules, 17,979 hogs, and the crops in 1919 were: Cotton, 88,041 acres; corn, 74,841 acres; hay and forage crops, 9,468 acres; oats, 1,381 acres, while wheat and peanuts formed a considerable item in production, and about 1,800 acres were planted in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. The rank of the county as a fruit section is indi- cated by the enumeration of 293,000 orchard fruit trees, while about 10,000 pecan trees were found.
MOORE COUNTY
Organized July 6, 1892, Moore County in 1890 had a population of 15; in 1900, 209; in 1910, 561, and in 1920, 571. That the county has not yet attracted settlers in any considerable numbers is chiefly due to the lack of transportation. The county seat and chief town of the county is Dumas.
For the past twenty years the ranchers have employed windmills to draw water from the abundant underground supply, only for stock purposes and for irrigating small gardens and fruit orchards. The limited agriculture has depended hitherto on the natural rainfall and the usual Panhandle methods of cultivation. The amount of
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"improved land" in 1910 was 22,000 acres, as compared with about 1,700 acres in 1900. In the same period the number of farms increased from 57 to 95. The total area of the county is 589,440 acres, of which 93,278 acres were occupied in farms or ranches in 1900. In 1910 the number of cattle enumerated was 7,017 ; about 1,450 horses and mules ; 1,290 hogs; and 1,759 sheep; in 1920 the number was 24,535 cattle, 2,380 horses and mules, 1,930 sheep. Outside of 2,345 acres planted in kaffir corn and milo maize in 1909, crop acreage was limited to a small amount in hay, oats and wheat. The property assessment in 1903 was $831,651; in 1913, $2,204,116; in 1920, $1,862,070.
MOTLEY COUNTY
The western portion of Motley County lies in the Staked Plains region of Texas, and in many portions its undulating surface is broken and mountainous. Live stock raising, is the principal occu- pation of the people, although there is considerable acreage under cul- tivation. Cotton, alfalfa, and the usual Panhandle staples are grown. Some small orchards and vineyards have demonstrated the possibil- ities of horticulture.
Motley County was one of those created by the act of August 21, 1876, and was organized February 25, 1891. The population figures furnish a measure of the county's progress. In 1880, 24 inhabitants were enumerated; in 1890, 139; in 1900, 1,257; in 1910, 2,396; and in 1920, 4,107. The county seat is Matador, but that town and the entire county have depended upon country roads and the stage coach for communication with the railroad centers. Until recently the nearest raiload points were Paducah on the east and Floydada on the west. The Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railroad has been constructed through a portion of the country. Portions of three or four of the largest ranch holdings in Northwest Texas lie in Motley County, while few farms or ranches in the county have comprised an area of less than a section of land. The total area of Motley County is 659,200 acres. In 1900 only about 8,400 acres were in cultivation, and in 1910 about 37,000 acres. There were 373 farms and ranches in 1910, as compared with 209 in 1900. For many years Motley has been a favorite county with cattlemen, and has been credited with a larger number of cattle than almost any other county in the northwestern part of the state. At the last enumeration 29,605 cattle were reported and 3,889 horses and mules. The status of agriculture in 1909 is indicated by the following figures for acreage: In cotton. 11,941 acres; in corn, 4,106 acres ; in kaffir corn and milo maize, 4,476 acres ; and in hay and forage crops. 3,173 acres. About 10,000 orchard fruit trees were found, and grape culture is also a factor with a number of farmers. In 1903 the assessed value of property was $1,691,064; in 1913, $3,934,941; in 1920, $6,080,147.
NOLAN COUNTY
In 1876 the Legislature defined the boundaries of Nolan County as far out on the West Texas plains and occupied chiefly by the roving herds of buffalo, then being rapidly decimated, and by a few pioneer stockmen. Five years later, in 1881, the Texas & Pacific Railroad
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was built through the northern edge of the county, and until ten years ago was the only railway line in the county. In 1881 the county government was organized, and the county seat was placed at Sweet- water, one of the three railway stations in the county. No farming was attempted at that time, and in 1882 the live stock interests were estimated at about 11,000 cattle, 21,000 sheep and goats, and about 2,500 horses, mules and hogs.
The population of the county 'in 1880 was 640; in 1890, 1,573; in 1900, 2,611 ; in 1910, 11,999; and in 1920, 10,868. The rapid increase of population between 1900 and 1910 was accompanied by correspond- ing development of business and resources. About 1903 construction work was begun on the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad at Sweetwater, and in 1905 that road was placed in operation from Sweetwater north to the Red River. In 1911 the Texico-Coleman division of the Santa Fe, known as the Pecos & Northern Texas, gave the county another trunk line and increased the importance of Sweet- water as a railway city. Since then the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad has been built from Toscoe in this county, about fifty miles to the northwest.
In 1882 Nolan County's aggregate assessed values were $908,276; in 1903, $2,345,845 ; in 1913, $8,267,676; and in 1920, $8,258,198. While the ranchmen have in recent years been giving a great deal of time and attention to the improvement of their stock, diversified farming has also attracted enterprise and capital, and the county now pro- . duces a large amount of the staple crops. The total area of the county is 563,200 acres. The last census reported 385,578 acres included in farms and ranches, and about 93,000 acres in "improved land." In 1900 the county had 293 farms, and by 1910, 1,160 were enumerated. The live stock reported at the last enumeration was: Cattle, 7,978; horses and mules, 3,506; sheep, 2,448. Though a West Texas county, cotton is the chief crop. In 1919, 32,699 acres were planted in that staple ; 21,713 acres in kafir corn and milo maize ; 7,334 acres in hay and forage crops ; and 2,008 acres in corn. About 26,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated in 1910.
Outside of Sweetwater the chief towns are Roscoe, the starting point of the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad ; Hylton, an inland vil- lage in the southern part of the county ; and Decher, Dora, Nolan and Olga.
SWEETWATER
Sweetwater is now one of the leading railroad centers in this sec- tion of the state, and is growing as an industrial and commercial city. In the vicinity are found some large deposits of gypsum, and considerable quantities of the manufactured product are shipped. Sweetwater in 1900 had a population of only 670 and was a small town, but by 1910 its population was 4,176, and in 1920 it had a popu- lation of 6,000. It has a modern high school and three ward schools, six churches, three banks, with a capitalization of $280,000 and $2,000,- 000 deposits. There is one mill and elevator, one tractor and truck factory, one large cotton seed oil mill, one refinery, one large planing mill, one marble works, one cement block factory, one large machine
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shop, three trunk lines of railroads, one of which maintais shops and division. There are two saddle shops, two mattress factories, one broom factory, one candy factory, three cotton gins, one compress, three wholesale groceries, one large heavy hardware, two distributing implement houses, one mail order house, two wholesale rubber houses and three automobile accessory houses.
There will be another refinery after the first of the year and one large gypsum factory.
OCHILTREE COUNTY
This county, on the northern border of the Panhandle, was organ- ized February 21, 1889. With the nearest railroad forty-five miles distant, its development has been hindered by lack of transportation. but in spite of this situation many thousands of acres are now in cultivation in the staple Panhandle crops and a substantial class of farmer settlers have located in this section since the beginning of the present century. The extension of the Santa Fe across the county has greatly improved conditions. The county in 1890 had a popula- tion of 198, in 1900 of 267, in 1910 of 1,602, and in 1920, 2,331. The county seat is at Ochiltree, and other small centers of trade and popu- lation are Wawaka and Grogan. The surface of the county is largely a level plain, with Wolf Creek the only important stream. It is esti- mated that 95 per cent of the area is tillable, and the statistics of crop production in recent years indicate great possibilities in the near future. The total area of the county is 570,240 acres, and 225,779 acres were reported in farms at the last census. Between 1900 and 1910 the number of farms rose from 71 to 264, and the amount of "improved land" from about 2,600 acres to about 53,000 acres. The live stock enumeration in 1910 comprised 10,717 cattle, about 3,800 horses and mules, 3,711 hogs, and 10,715 poultry : in 1920, 22,462 cat- tle, 4,792 horses and mules. In 1909, 10,378 acres were planted in hay and forage crops; 8,663 acres in wheat; 7,404 acres in kafir corn and milo maize; 2,075 acres in corn; 1,972 acres in oats. About 3,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated. The valuation of property in 1903 was $606,926 ; in 1913, $1,515,291, and in 1920, $4,176,420.
PERRYTON
Perryton is the county seat of Ochiltree County, a beautiful little town with two good churches and a school building. A bond issue has recently been authorized of $175,000 for a new and commodious school building. It has three banks and the usual complement of commercial houses.
OLDHAM COUNTY
About three-fourths of the entire area of Oldham County was set aside and granted as a portion of the 3,000,000 acres given to the syn- dicate of capitalists who furnished the money for the building of the state capitol at Austin. As late as ten years ago it was stated that three-fifths of the county was held in immense pastures, and the pro- cess of breaking up the large ranch holdings into farms has gone forward more slowly in Oldham County than in many other sections
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of Northwest Texas. For this reason, largely, the county, though in area one of the largest, has a very meager population, farming is practiced in only a limited way, and the agricultural settler has made less inroad against the ranchers than in other parts of the Panhandle. On account of these general conditions, the amount of "improved land" at the last census was only about 12,600 acres, and in 1900 the census reported about 11,500 acres of such land. The number of farms increased from 23 to 87 between 1900 and 1910. The total area of the county is 987,520 acres, of which 513,855 acres were occupied in farms and ranches in 1910. As a stock range Oldham County has furnished immense numbers of cattle and other live stock to the Texas aggregate. More than thirty years ago the number of cattle was reported at about 33,000 and about 25,000 sheep. The last enumera- tion showed 43,005 cattle and 1,595 horses and mules. The limited acreage in crops is indicated by the report for 1909, showing 2,709 acres in hay and forage crops, 1,401 acres in wheat, and 693 acres in kafir corn and milo maize. In 1882 the assessed value of taxable property in the county was $443,875, of which more than three-fourths was represented by live stock; in 1903 the property valuation was $900,247 ; in 1913, $3,616,758; and in 1920, $4,126,876, indicating that the greatest progress economically has been made within the last 10 or 15 years.
Oldham had one of the first county organizations in the Panhandle, a local government having been organized, with Tascosa as the county seat, in December, 1880. The population of the county at the Federal census of that year was 287, and at the election in the fall of the same year 187 votes were polled, which indicates that practically all the residents were males and of voting age and other qualifications. At the census of 1890 the county had a population of 270, a decrease; in 1900, 349; in 1910, 812, and in 1920, 709. After the construction of the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway across the northern corner of the county in 1888, a railway station was established called Tascosa, but was several miles from the county seat town of Tascosa, which was on the north side of the Canadian River. During the present century the Rock Island Railroad was constructed across the southern border of the county. There are several other towns besides the county seat, including Adrian, Vega and Wildorado.
During the years before the railroad came Tascosa was one of the most notorious towns in Texas, a supply point for the various cattle outfits operating in the Panhandle, and a center for periodical revelry and dissipation for the cowboys. Among all the old-timers who fol- lowed the trail across the Panhandle during the '70s and '80s Tascosa has associations so as to classify it with such larger and more notor- tious cattle towns as Fort Dodge, Abilene and Fort Worth.
VEGA
The present county seat is located on the Rock Island Railroad, which passes through the southern part of the county. It has a popu- lation of 250, two churches, one modern high school building, two hotels, three general stores, one bank, a lumber yard and a drug store
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PALO PINTO COUNTY
This county has always been a center for cattlemen, its abundant water supply and its rugged surface affording excellent winter quarters for live stock. Many of the old-time cattle kings of Texas had their headquarters at different times in Palo Pinto County. In the wave of migration that crossed North Texas during the early '50s settlement went beyond Parker into this county, and as a result of the movement an act of Legislature on August 27, 1856, created a separate county terri- tory. The act directed that the chief justice of Bosque County, from a portion of which and from Navarro County the territory was taken. should organize the local government. The county was organized April 27. 1857. The act creating the county directed the -county officers to select the county seat and lay off a town, and "the county site shall be called Golconda." That name, so far as can be ascertained, was never confirmed and had no place in the county's geography. In 1858 the Legislature donated 320 acres of public land for county site purposes, and the county seat acquired the name Palo Pinto. Such settlers as occupied the county during the '50s were in such exposed position with reference to the hostile Indians that the county was practically depopu- lated in the years between 1860 and 1870. The Texas Almanac for 1867 said briefly that the county was "principally devoted to stock raising, though Indians keep the inhabitants in constant alarm." Permanent progress began in the '70s, when some of the land was cultivated to wheat and cotton, and the limits of the cattle range were first intruded.
A report on the county seat for 1882 enumerates the stock interests, in round numbers, as 28,000 cattle, 5,000 horses and mules, 6,000 sheep. and about 6,000 hogs. From the same report other factors in the county's economic condition were described as follows: "The Texas & Pacific Railroad, which reached the county in 1880, runs through its southern part, and has three stations, Sparta, Strawn and Gordon, with respectively 50,200 and 350 inhabitants. Palo Pinto, the county seat, is beautifully located on Little Eagle Creek, and has about four hundred inhabitants. In this county are located a number of mineral wells, around which a town of about two thousand inhabitants, known as Mineral Wells, has grown up within the last two or three years. The town is surrounded by mountains and the scenery is picturesque. Coal of good quality has been discovered in the county, and two mines have been opened, the yield from which is about ninety tons per day."
During the decade of the '70s the one principal village, Palo Pinto. had aspirations to become a station on the Texas & Pacific Railroad. In 1876 the business directory of the town shows six dry goods stores, several saloons, two blacksmith shops, one wood shop, six lawyers, five physicians, two schools, and a Masonic Hall. The railroad never came to Palo Pinto, and its chief distinction is yet as the seat of county govern- ment. Outside of Palo Pinto the only postoffice in 1876 was Grand Ranche, a noted headquarters for cattlemen, located in the south part of the county, on Palo Pinto Creek, about two miles east of present town of Santo.
In 1860 Palo Pinto County had a population of 1,524. Conditions were such that no separate enumeration was made in the county at
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the census of 1870. In 1880 the population was 5,885; in 1890, 8,230 : in 1900, 12,291 ; in 1910, 19,506; in 1920, 23,421. In 1870 the assessed values of taxable property was $275,548; in 1882, $1,708,475; in 1903, $3,852,326; in 1913, $10,865,370; in 1920, $14,748,820. Palo Pinto has an area of 613,120 acres, and the last Federal census reported 472,842 acres occupied as farms or ranches, with about 105,000 acres in "im- proved land." There were enumerated 1,921 farms in 1910, as compared with 1,271 in 1900. Live stock interests are: Cattle, 30,053; horses and mules, 6,500; hogs, 1,907 ; goats, 1,823. In 1909, 31,655 acres were planted to cotton, 7,918 acres in corn, 4,253 acres in hay and forage crops. and a smaller acreage in kaffir corn and milo maize and in oats. Con- siderable attention is paid to fruit growing in the county, and the last census enumerated about 67,000 orchard fruit trees, about 13,000 grape vines, and over 14,000 pecan trees. The mineral resources of the county have for many years been a valuable asset. Coal is mined at Thurber. Strawn, Lyra and Mingus in the southern part of the county, and a natural gas field has been developed beginning two miles south of Mineral Wells and extending to the town of Brazos. Other gas fields have been found in various parts of the county but have not been developed com- mercially. Probably the greatest single factor in drawing wealth to the county are the famous mineral waters at Mineral Wells, which has at- tained the reputation of being one of the most noted and popular health resorts in the Southwest. There are more than fifty mineral wells, the chief city of the county has developed around them, besides the thousands of people who reside temporarily at Mineral Wells because of its health and resort advantages, a large industry has been built up in the shipping of the waters over many states. Mineral Wells in 1890 had a population of 577 ; in 1900, 2,048; in 1910, 3,950; and in 1920, 9,018.
About the year 1891 the Weatherford, Mineral Wells & Northwestern was constructed to Mineral Wells, thus placing that health resort within easy communication with the main railway system of Texas and the permanent growth of the city dated from that event. Within the present decade what is known as the Gulf, Texas & Western Railroad has been constructed south from Jacksboro to a connection with the Mineral Wells & Northwestern at Salesville.
MINERAL WELLS
In 1879 a postoffice was established called Ednaville. In the same year Captain Lynch dug the first well. It proved to be strong mineral and unfit for use. In 1882 another well was sunk, now known as the original Crazy Well. The name was changed to Mineral Wells in this year.
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