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Texas
state line marker and "Compromise of 1850" marker
On Hwy 18 N of
Kermit
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, November 2009 |
History in a
Pecan Shell Cheyenne
had no 19th Century history. The town that was to become Cheyenne was originally
part of the W. F. Scarborough Ranch. In the mid 1920s an oil discovery
was made and was named after the ranch. The Scarborough Field came in 1927 and
the optimistic residents of Winkler County built crude housing in anticipation.
A school was planned but never (thankfully) built. A post office opened in 1929.
In the fickle world of boom and bust towns, Cheyenne was briefly eclipsed by an
upstart town named Leck. This town was also named after an oil field and
fared even worse than Cheyenne, disappearing entirely within a few years.
Cheyenne’s
post office was moved to the recently-arrived Texas-New Mexican Railroad by Mr.
Scarborough and the town seemed to have been given a second-chance. A larger building
was constructed for a store/ post office and this structure was joined by a few
houses and a handful of fledgling businesses.
The Great Depression was
in full swing and by the end of the decade, only a single business remained open.
The population was reportedly a mere 25 on the eve of WWII
and the railroad abandoned its shipping pens in the early 1940s. The final nail
was driven in Cheyenne’s coffin when the post office closed in 1944. |
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"Compromise
of 1850" historical marker & Texas state line marker
Photo courtesy
Gerald Massey,
November 2009 |
Historical
Marker TextTexas
Territorial Compromise of 1850Four
miles east of this site is an official corner post marking agreement of Texas
to give up some of the land won in her 1836 war for independence. It also marks
New Mexico's southeast corner. When Texas was annexed
to the United States, 1846, her territory included 98,300 square miles now in
the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming. After the Mexican
War (fought 1846-1848, over the annexation), anti-slavery forces in the U. S.
sought to trim the size of Texas, a slave state.
To raise money and establish a definite boundary, Texas accepted the compromise
of 1850 and agreed to give up a third of her area in return for payment of $10,000,000.
The money paid debts of the former Republic of Texas, set up a $2,000,000 public
school fund, and erected state buildings, including a new capitol (which subsequently
burned in 1881). By the 1850 compromise, the western boundary of Texas follows
the 103rd meridian south from 36* 30'; near here intersects the 32nd parallel,
then goes west along the parallel to the Rio Grande. The corner marks not only
a peaceable boundary pact, but also shows an unbroken stretch of Permian Basin
lands, unified in geography and common goals. |
1850 Compromise
Marker Post
Photographer's
Note:
It
is on the Texas-New Mexico border, Highway 18, about 50-miles south of Hobbs,
NM, near Cheyenne, Texas. Google Maps and my Street Atlas map both show a road,
Ranch Road-1218, going north of a town, Magwalt, Texas. Only a couple miles north
from the town. It also shows going right by that corner so, locating or trying
to locate that "Marker Post" (see first line of historical marker text
above) should be relative easy. - Gerald
Massey, November 2009
See Ghost
Counties of Texas |
Texas
Territorial Compromise of 1850 historical marker text
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, November 2009 |
1940s
Winkler County map showing Cheyenne N of Kermit
(Above
"N-K" in "W-I-N-K-L-E-R")
Courtesy General Land Office |
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