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History in
a Pecan Shell
Originally settled by shepherds and freighters from New Mexico, the area
was named Atascosa (boggy) for the swamp-like area where the Canadian
River meets the local creek (also named Atascosa). The abbreviated name resulted
in ‘Tascosa. The town found itself as a terminus of the Tascosa-Dodge City Cattle
Trail in the late 1870s as the large ranches that formed in the region used the
town as an assembling point. The activity drove the original settlers back to
the tranquility of New Mexico.
The town’s first business was a blacksmithing
operation owned by Henry Kimball, followed by a general store and a post office.
In 1880 the county was organized and Tascosa became the county seat. A stone courthouse
was constructed, even while dancehalls and saloons were building at an alarming
rate. In need of a cemetery, the town’s first Sheriff (Caleb Willingham) shot
the town’s first villain, who then became the first cemetery occupant.
Tascosa
was soon known as the “Cowboy Capital of the Plains,” and with good reason.
Lawmen and outlaws either became long-term residents or quickly left. Those who
tarried often became permanent residents of Boot Hill.
The Fort Worth
and Denver City Railway passed through this part of Oldham County around 1887,
necessitating a move of two miles across the river. In 1890 the residents of both
Old and New Tascosa reached 350.
By 1915, the Panhandle
was adding new towns which bled
population from Tascosa. An election was held that year to create a new county
seat and Vega won. Tascosa was left
with a population of about 15 people. The last to leave was Frency McCormick,
the widow of Tascosa’s first saloon. The woman held out until 1939, the year that
opened the door for the establishment of Boys Ranch. |
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Former
courthouse in Tascosa , now the Julian Bivins Museum
Recorded Texas Historic
Landmark
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Photographer's
Note
"The 1884
Oldham County courthouse is now the Julian Bivins museum, named for a local rancher
who donated 120 acres of land to Cal Farley for his Boys Ranch." - Terry
Jeanson |
1884
Oldham County Courthouse Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Historical
Marker Text
Tascosa
Courthouse, 1884
Served
12 counties in Panhandle. Site
of trials for killings that had filled Boothill Cemetery. Until 1915 Oldham County
seat. Many years headquarters, Julian Bivins Ranch. Birthplace of Cal Farley's
Boys Ranch, 1939.
Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark |
Tascosa
Texas Centennial Marker in front of the courthouse
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Texas Centennial
Marker TextTASCOSACowboy
capital of the Texas Panhandle,
1877-1888. "Billy the Kid" and cowboys from many ranches added to its liveliness.
Made famous by wild west fiction. Its name is a corruption of Atascoso (boggy)
first given to nearby creek. County seat of Oldham County, 1881-1915.
|
Boot
Hill Cemetery Centennial Marker
US 385 at Boy's Ranch
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Texas Centennial
Marker Text
Boot
Hill Cemetery
Along
with law-abiding and God-fearing men and women were buried here, often without
benefit of clergy, men who "died with their boots on". The name was borrowed from
a cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas, while it was a resort of buffalo
hunters and trail drivers. |
Photographer's
Note:
According to
a map at the entrance to the cemetery, Bob Russell (bottom right) was the first
person buried here after being killed in a showdown with Jules Howard in 1879.
His widow selected the site. Fred Leigh (See "The
Duck Fight" by Mike Cox) is buried beside him. - Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Boot
Hill Cemetery seen from below.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
| "The
graves of Boys Ranch founder Cal Farley, his wife Mimi and their beloved dog Cricket
in front of the old courthouse." - Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 photo |
Tascosa
Stories
From
Tascosa
and Boothill by Mike Cox ( "Texas
Tales" Column)
"Tascosa, like most of the people
in its cemetery, did not live to enjoy old age. When the Fort Worth and Denver
Railroad cut across the Panhandle,
the tracks did not come to Tascosa. The once lively – and deadly – cowtown faded
away as the nearby railroad town of Amarillo
grew.
In 1893, a flood on the Canadian
River destroyed the bridge leading into town as well as many buildings. That
was the last straw for Tascosa, which soon lost its county seat status to Vega.
Today, all that remains of old Tascosa – now the home of Cal Farley’s Boys
Ranch – is the rock building that once served as courthouse and a hill-top collection
of lonely graves."
more |
From Sam
Houston Medley by Mike Cox ("Texas
Tales" Column)
Tascosa, now the site of Cal Farley’s
Boys Ranch northwest of Amarillo,
had the reputation of being one of the toughest towns in Texas during its heyday
in the early 1880s.
Bonham poet and all-round character Macphelan Reese
told this story in 2000:
A dusty cowboy (so bow-legged they’d have to
bury him in a base fiddle case) rides into Tascosa, already high enough to have
a nose bleed, and ties his horse in front of one of the town’s numerous saloons.
Tromping
inside, the drover orders a beer and drinks about half of it before noticing that
the floor is covered in sawdust. He observes to the bartender: “I’ve been in saloons
all over this country and I ain’t never seen one with sawdust on the floor.”
The bartender replies: “That ain’t sawdust, that’s last night’s furniture.”
more |
Remembering
old Tascosa by
Delbert Trew
From the files of The Tascosa Pioneer, published from
June 1886 through 1888, all issues contained in the archives of The Panhandle-Plains
Museum, we found the following tidbits of information telling of everyday life
in the Panhandle at that time. (In Trew fashion of course.) more |
1940s
Oldham County map showing Tascosa (Above 'M' in 'OLDHAM')
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
1907
Oldham County Postal map showing Tascosa
(Above 'M' in 'OLDHAM')
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. | |
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