The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado the western frontier library series book 34 kindle edition by haley, j. The old famous ranches of texas include the massive xit ranch in the texas panhandle. Twothirds of the ranch had been sold by 1906, and by 1912, the last xit cattle had been sent to market. What the xit ranch of texas constituted when it was published was a detailed, multifaceted history of not only the giant ranch, but also an allencompassing history of. How texas traded land for a state house and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. During the reign of the ranch, the herd varied between 125,000 and 150,000 headexcluding ranges in montana to which the ranch had expanded.
In 1879, the state of texas was looking for funds with which to build the capitol building. The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano. The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado the western frontier library series book 34 english edition ebook. Find the xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado by haley, j evetts at biblio. In 1879 the sixteenth texas legislature appropriated three million acres of land to finance a new state capitol building and appointed a capitol board composed of the governor, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, and land commissioner to sell the land and contract for the building. Evetts and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Starting in 1901, the capitol freehold land and investment companyas the xit ownership was knownbegan selling land and by 1950 had completely liquidated. Texas state historical association tsha, 1999 ff englisch, aufgerufen am 21. There are varied exhibits ranging from the history of the xit ranch and how it funded the state capitol in austin, how the cowboys lived and drove cattle north. It has been more than 30 years since a book has come out on the famous xit ranch of texas. And the greatest of these was xitthe xit ranch of texas. The xit ranch was located in the western edge of the texas panhandle.
And it was the largest fencebuilding project in american history. This was the xit ranch, composed of a vast body of land. Frantz 1981, paperback, reprint at the best online prices at ebay. The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado the western frontier library series by haley, j. Xit ranch the handbook of texas online texas state. This history of the xit ranch is very much a history of texas, and indeed of the entire american west. See more ideas about texas history, texas and west texas. I tell them the xit was a cattle ranch, and this was the main office for it. Evetts haley, the xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado chicago. The matador ranch is the third historic texas ranch that once had more than a million acres inside its fence lines.
Nordyke s cattle empire 1949, which is written more like a novel, remains the standard account. Among the famous ranch brands of texas are the t anchor, ja, diamond tail, 777, bar c, and xit. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The massive king ranch in southeast texas, south of present day corpus christie, the waggoner ranch which was in northern texas near the oklahoma border and the ja ranch in the palo duro canyon area south of present day amarillo one of the interesting. Historys caretaker at first i kept the xit office open every day, but no one stopped. Its three million acres sprawled from the old yellow house headquarters, near what is now lubbock, texas, northward to the oklahoma panhandle, in an irregular strip that was roughly 30 miles wide.
This worthless piece of land became the fabled xit ranch. Hortense warner ward, cattle brands and cow hides dallas. This is a free museum in downtown dalhart, though donations are welcome. This was anciently the territory of the querecho indians and teyas. The xit ranch in the 1880s was the largest range in the world under fence and it all laid in the texas panhandle. The xit ranch of texas is more than the history of the worlds largest ranch. Evetts and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. James evetts haley after the publication of his book on the history of xit ranch. Some may call it a legend, others a figment of someones imagination, but the story of the xit ranch is true. In these classic works, haley argues that, contrary to popular perception, ranchers and railroads played a major role in encouraging farmers to.
The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado. In the late 1920s, the farwell estate commissioned j. And the early days of the llano estacado the western frontier library series volume 34 9780806114286 by haley, j. The final piece of xit land was conveyed to another owner in 1963. Later, the elenora was renamed the throckmorton ranch and mount albin became the flat top ranch. Thumbnail history of the xit ranch the xit ranch in the 1880s was the largest range in the world under fence and it all laid in the texas panhandle.
Appropriately named the xit museum, the historic venue is sponsored by the dallamhartley county historical association and archives a remarkable collection of xit ranch artifacts and interpretive exhibits. Life on the xit ranch of texas 1 by cordia sloan duke and joe b. It is also a history of the texas panhandle, the santa fe trail, native americans, and the texas longhorn. Now texas writer dede casad brings this mystique of this historic. The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano jstor. Xit ranch sells its last head of cattle nov 02, 1912. Xit ranch texas early days llano estacado abebooks. The texas legislature appropriated the remote panhandle acreage to. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado the western frontier library series.
Evetts haley to write its colorful history, the xit ranch of texas 1929. They were wellcontained within the 1500 miles of fence. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers. Also covered is the transition from ranching to farming in that region. The transformation of the xit ranch texas history and. The xit ranch was a real ranch in a real part of texas with real cowboys managing it. The acquisition of three million acres of rangeland in the panhandle, the construction of a state capitol building, and the creation of the xit ranch is a big, fantastic story that could only happen in texas. The first cattlemostly longhornsarrived on the xit ranch in 1885. Established in 1882, the xit ranch was owned by members of the capitol.
A guide to the james evetts haley and xit lawsuit scrapbook. The ranch also had 325 windmills and 100 dams to regulate the water supply. But during that time cattle prices began plummeting and the ranch was plagued by wolves, cattle rustlers making life on the ranch extremely tough. University of oklahoma press, 1953 dlc 53008818 ocolc1848529. Haley laboriously documents the sources that he needed, some of them obscure and in dusty minutes, but the xit ranch fills the texas panhandles early history with a stirring and memorable quality seldom accorded modern history writing. Xit ranch of texas and the early days of llano estacado.
The almost forgotten last major texas cattle trail sylvia gann mahoney 54. The book will be valuable not alone to the schools and the students therein, of texas history, but also to every. In the 1880s the xit ranch grew to become the single largest cattle operation in the old west spanning more than three million acres. This is the wild story of how texas traded land for their texas capitol building. And the greatest of these was xitthe xit ranch of texas it was not the first ranch in west texas, but after its formation in the eighteeneighties it became the largest single operation in the cow country of the old west and covered more than three million acres, all fenced. The xit was established at a time when traditional ranches preferred the old openrange concept with huge pastures and little fencing. The development and operation of this pastoral enterprise and its relation to the history of texas is the subject of this great and widely discussed book by j. Readers would be well served to supplement this book by reading classics on panhandle ranchers such as j. On this day, the xit ranch of texas, once among the largest ranches in the. People come to the door and say, we seen this from the road. And the greatest of these was xit the xit ranch of texas. The land was set aside for a chicago syndicate that would construct the new building. Haleys first book and is typical of his fine research and writing. Xit museum dalhart 2020 all you need to know before.
See more ideas about ranch, texas history, texas panhandle. Xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado. The xit museum, located in dalhart, texas, documents the the history of the xit ranch as well as the local history of the dallamhartley county area. The xit ranch extended from the northwest corner of the texas panhandle south for more than 200 miles along the new mexico border, covering parts of 10 counties across the sparsely settled staked plains. The destruction of the old capitol building by fire on november 9, 1881, made construction of the. At one point the ranch had over 150,000 head of cattle. Many people have been under the impression that the capitol syndicate was an english concern, but it. After visiting the texas property for the first time, they divided the land into three ranches that swenson named after his children. In contrast, the xit divided the vast 3,050,000 acres into seven divisions under the supervision of range and wagon bosses and used 6,000 miles of barbed wire in fencing the outside boundaries and divisions. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. This is the paper that inspired annes ten in texas novel. The book was meticulously researched from original ranch records.
The xit ranch of texas and the early days of the llano estacado 34 by j. The romance of the xit ranch, enhanced by the spreads sheer size, lives on in western lore. Evetts haley 1977, paperback, reprint at the best online prices at ebay. One of the most fascinating chapters in texas history has virtually been lost in modern times, especially for the 21st century texas reader. During the 1880s, the ranch was the largest ranch in the world under fence. A ranch the size of the historic xit deserves a museum all its own, a courtesy provided by the plains trail region community of dalhart. Finding a home on the range in the panhandle town of.
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