XIT ranch

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Cowboys of the XIT Ranch in 1891.

The XIT Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle that existed from 1885 to 1912. The ranch included 3,000,000 acres, or 12,000 square kilometers, of land in the Great Plains. The ranch border followed the state border with New Mexico for 300 kilometers and stretched from there 20 to 30 kilometers into inland Texas. The ranch area spanned 10 Texas counties: Dallam , Hartley , Oldham , Deaf Smith , Parmer , Castro , Bailey , Lamb , Cochran and Hockley .

In 1879, the Texas government ruled that approximately 3,000,000 acres (12,000 square kilometers) should be sold for the purpose of funding a new state capitol. In 1882 the Texas legislature agreed with Charles B. Farwell and Jon V. Farwell of Chicago, a syndicate run by the Farwells, to which many British investors belonged, to transfer the land if the latter agreed to do so, for 3,000 .000 USD to build the new State Capitol in Austin .

The ranch was established in 1885. Longhorn cattle were kept on the ranch , which had grown from feral Spanish domestic cattle and which were well adapted to the harsh living conditions of the Great Plains . At this point in time, cattle farming had already changed significantly in the United States: In 1873 the first patent for barbed wire was granted, which largely corresponded to today's barbed wire. This led to a drastic change in the Texan pasture economy. Cattle could no longer be driven north across the Great Plains unhindered. As early as 1885, the XIT Ranch had legally fenced off 476,000 acres for 50,000 cattle. At its peak, more than 150,000 cattle were kept enclosed by 2,400 kilometers of barbed wire. In addition, 325 windmills and more than 100 dams were built in the area.

The ranch was not particularly successful economically, as beef prices plummeted in 1886 and 1887. From 1900 onwards, land was gradually sold to satisfy investors. In 1912 the company was closed.

literature

  • J. Evetts Haley: The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1982, ISBN 978-0-8061-1428-6 .

Single receipts

  1. ^ XIT Ranch. In: The Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), 1999 ff. (English, tshaonline.org ). Accessed June 21, 2014.
  2. ^ "Thumbnail History of the XIT Ranch". The XIT Museum . Accessed June 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ "FAIRLAWN: THE FARWELL / McGann ESTATE AT 965 EAST Deerpath" Biography of Charles B. Farwell Accessed June 21, 2014.
  4. ^ "My Turn" [1] History of the XIT Ranch. Accessed June 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ 135 years ago: Joseph Glidden receives US patent for barbed wire. End of the endless space. WDR 2 from November 22, 2009.
  6. ^ Reviel Netz : Barbed Wire: An Ecology of Modernity . Wesleyan University Press, Middletown 2004, ISBN 978-0-8195-6959-2 . P. 32.