We are able to do lookups for the publication: Yesterday in Hall County By Inez Baker Covers families in the years between 1870's - 1940.
Additional Lookup's are available for: 1920 & 1930 Census.
Lookup E-Mail: Lookups *Surname Index database coming soon!
Additional Lookups for cemeteries, courthouse, and library records as well as digital photos may be obtained by contacting our new volunteer Billie Cockerham.
The area was originally inhabited by several American Indian Tribes and was among one of the favorite camping places among the
tribes because of the Prairie Dog Fork (Tah-deko Hon-ah-vah) of the Red
River and other tributaries. The natives would often travel here to acquire
salt for both meat preservation and seasoning that was used to mix with
traditional soups and other indigenous recipes.
One particular place around Mulberry & Battle Creeks was the site of a
historic battle between the United States Army and a group of Cheyenne
& Comanche Indians.
This Battle has become known as the First Battle of Palo Duro. Billy Dixon
was a scout on this particular expedition along with Bat Masterson where
several Delawares were used as scouts to locate the villages for the army.
On August 30, 1874, the U.S. Army under the command of General Miles and Lt.
Baldwin upon finding signs of the warriors' horse tracks soon found
themselves in a running battle that lasted for five hours. The Indians
eventually broke ranks and headed off towards Tule Canyon which was once a
traditional stronghold and meeting place. This fight was the first of no
less than 14 significant engagements in what has become known in history as
the Red River War or Buffalo War.
After the forced relocation of the Southern Plains tribes to Oklahoma in the years 1875-76,
the region was soon being crossed by many trails and paths utilized by both
Buffalo Hunters and Cattle Ranchers, such as the Rath Trail. Consequently,
numerous spreads were established in the late 1870's prior to the area
becoming a mostly agricultural-based region in later years.
The first settler here was a man named Jacob Fields whom came here around
1872 while heading west to hunt buffalo. He built a dugout on the south
bank of the Red River which became known as Field's Crossing and later was
known as Bullard Canyon, also called Greasy Neck. Jacob Fields lived at
this location for several years with his family and these folks are known as
perhaps the first permanent settlers here.
As more folks moved to this region, several large spreads came into
existence, including the famous JA Ranch. Sometime around 1876, the JA was
established by Charles Goodnight whose main headquarters was located north
in Armstrong Co.
Sometime around 1878 Leigh Dyer, whom was the brother to the wife of Charles
Goodnight, established the Lazy F which later became known as the Quitaque,
and it extended westward even into Briscoe by around 1882. In 1879 William
R. Curtis established the Diamond Tail in the northeastern section and it
extended into adjacent Donley, Childress & Collingsworth. 1880 brought the
development and establishment of the Shoebar, which was jointly owned by
T.S. Bugbee & L.G. Coleman, and just east of the JA. In 1885 Orville Nelson
established the Bar 96 Ranch and raised only Herefords. Sometime
around 1888 The Mill Iron was established just east of the Quitique Ranch.
Mill Iron was owned and operated by Continental Land & Cattle Company.
It was not long before these large spreads began selling their lands to the
growing number of settlers coming to the region, and the large homesteads
began disappearing as the land was parceled out and sold to prospective
farmers. This eventually led to the change of the region from being a
livestock-oriented economy to one of an agriculture-based economy. In 1887
the Ft. Worth & Denver City Railway arrived and further contributed to the
growing agricultural trend, as safe, direct transportation resulted in
settlers more easily making their way here and so the population began to
grow with the establishment of new towns.
Around 1889, a debate embroiled several local towns. The people whom
settled in Salisbury (which was the oldest town and the only Railroad Stop)
were of the belief that they should be due the honor of the government seat.
There was a certain amount of strife between the towns during these times
and it was decided that a vote should be taken to settle the dispute once
and for all.
In April of 1890 an election took place among the citizens that decided upon
Memphis as the best choice. As a result, Salisbury did not survive long,
and their depot was closed in 1893 and moved to Estelline four years later.
Salisbury was pretty much abandoned sometime around 1898, but the local
school continued to operate for a few decades and was the home of a girl's
champion volleyball team. However, sometime in the 1930's the high school
students were being bussed out for their education and that led to the
eventual decline of the school.
While Memphis was still organizing as the legislative seat, the trains did
not stop in the town as there was no rail depot. To remedy this situation,
the citizens greased the train tracks with lye soap which forced the trains
to stop in the town as they were not able to go uphill on the greased
tracks. This indeed worked! This in fact brought the railroad people and
the city officials together in an agreement to build a depot stop, and in
1891 a brand spanking new Train Depot was built, and in 1892 a courthouse
made of brick was built. Meanwhile, several of the buildings in Salisbury
were brought in, being moved out on wheels and literally relocated.
On January 29 of 1891, citizens of the local area became alarmed that
hostile warriors were about to attack in Collingsworth near the town of
Wellington. This was brought on by a local citizen claiming hearing war
whoops and bloodthirsty yells while observing smoke in the distance. The
fear of an onslaught was relayed by telegraph wire by the train depot to
other areas and the citizens then barricaded themselves to wait for the
soon-to-be attack.
Word was received from Wellington, and soon the news of the impending attack
reached as far as Amarillo where help was solicited to defend the towns &
communities from a hostile attack. In Clarendon the local hardware store
was relieved of its store of guns & ammunition, and several families
gathered at the Mill Iron at a dugout and collected rocks to throw at the
warriors in the event they were attacked.
Upon hearing news of this event, a company of Texas Rangers was mustered to
defend the communities in Collingsworth and upon arrival began to
investigate the circumstances.
What the Texas Rangers found upon further investigation was not a raid as
presumed, but rather a commotion from some elated wranglers from the Rocking
Chair whom had been ordered to kill a steer for supper. During the cooking
of the beef, the hands had fired off a couple of shots and had hollered
pretty loud in a type of down-home celebration. The smoke that was reported
was the result of an accident which resulted from the carcass of the cow
being burned up which produced massive smoke seen for miles.
The growing fear of Indians was brought about by the rumors of the Ghost
Dance religion being spread among the tribes during this time. Some of the
older citizens claimed that the rumor of an impending attack was the
brainchild of Charles Goodnight, whom many believed schemed up the attack
story for the purpose of discouraging further agricultural development, as
it was diminishing the amount of cattle production.
It took over three days to calm down the citizens and this event has gone
down in history as The Great Panhandle Indian Scare.
Sometime around the early 1890's settlers began living in a community that
was initially named Turkey Roost, for the numerous wild turkeys that lived
at the Creek, with the first post office being established in a dugout.
This old western style town soon prospered - Turkey (as it is now named) is
the second largest town, and it is also home to Bob Wills Day, which is held
in April of each year as a way to honor the famous King of Western Swing.
The beautiful town of Estelline was founded in 1892 by two brothers named
Wright and later was an established railroad depot. This made it a very
important place for shipping livestock in the region and it was soon hailed
as a town of great progress & prosperity. Estelline during these times had
a well known supply house and had established its own banking system along
with two newspapers. The town quickly grew to be over 1,000 in population
prior to 1910. It was hard hit in later years by the Great Depression and
a large fire which destroyed several important buildings around 1940.
Through all these troubles the town of Estelline still remains strong and is
one of the region's unique jewels which has stood the test of time.
In and around the early 1900's, the population was growing at a rapid rate
due to the area's attraction to settlers, and it grew even more rapidly as
the old homesteads began to sell off their lands for large profit to the new
folks coming into the region. These unique circumstances eventually led to
the establishment of the area as a local agricultural hub which was
strengthened by the growing of crops such as corn, as well as by the
increasing need for poultry production during the first decade of the 1900's
which also proved to be important to the economy during these times.
The rich, loamy soils, when blessed with the necessary rain, regularly
produced bountiful crops, and so the area eventually became famous for King
Cotton which has since earned our region the undisputed title of "Cotton Capitol of the Texas Panhandle." The region soon
established itself as a vital trading hub for cotton & other agriculture,
and quickly became one of the more prosperous locations in the region.
In 1910 the population was listed at 8,279. Between 1910 & 1930 there was
excellent growth as indicated by the 1920 census which recorded the
population at 11,137 and by the 1930 enumeration, there were 16,936 people
living here. As early as the 1920's, our towns proved to be progressive and
modern, and this resulted in strong population growth, established the area
as a major cotton producer and proved itself to be an excellent place to
raise families.
This time of prosperity and growth was soon to see leaner times as the
national economy took a mighty blow in 1929 which resulted in the Great
Depression. Hard times soon were to follow as a result of this devastating
economic nightmare. During The Great Depression, the region was hit
tremendously hard, and population estimates from these times show a rapid
decrease in overall population as a result of farmers leaving the area
because of poor economy and devastating crop losses due to the Dust Bowl.
The Great Depression was very hard for many areas, and it was very difficult
here between 1930 & 1940 as population continued a steady decrease. The
1940 Census recorded 12,117 people and from there continued to drop
radically over a period of decades as shown in the subsequent records. In
1950 the population dropped to 10,930 and there was a continued decline in
residents for the next decade to 1960 where the population was recorded as
being 7,322. By the year 1980, the estimate was further reduced to 5,594,
and the most recent data from the year 2000 showed a decrease of -3% since
1990.
The boundaries enclose 904 sq. miles and according to statistics, that
equates to 4.2 residents per square mile as compared to the state average of
79.6 residents. The region is not plagued with the burdens of
overpopulation that has overtaken many communities in the southern United
States, and the folks here have worked hard to retain the area's wonderful
rural charm. This is a wonderful place to live and raise children. The
friendly atmosphere and kind people whom live here make it beyond a doubt
one of the finest places in all of Texas!
Historic Towns Include:
Brice
Cone Springs Ranch (Ephraim)
Deep Lake 1 (Ephraim, Shoe-Bar Ranch)
Deep Lake 2 (Way)
Dothan
El (Elite, TwinButtes)
Elite (Eli)
Elmore (Felix)
Ephraim (ConeSprings, DeepLake l)
ESTELLINE
Felix (Elmore)
Gazelle (RedRiver)
Gipaw
Greasy Neck (Parnell)
Hulver (Nebo, RedRiverValley)
LAKEVIEW
Lesley
Locus (Plaska)
Lodge (Plaska)
MEMPHIS (Pope)
Nebo (Hulver)
Newlin
Ostella (Turkey)
Parnell (GreasyNeck)
Plaska (Locus Lodge)
Pleasant Valley
Pope (Memphis)
Poperanch (Webster's)
Red River (Gazelle)
Red River Valley (Hulver)
Rothwell (Tell)
Salisbury
Settlement
Shoe-Bar Ranch (DeepLake 1)
South Brice
Tampico
Tell (Rothwell)
TURKEY Roost (Ostella)
Twin Buttes (Eli)
Way (Deep Lake 2)
WEATHERLY
Webster's (Pope Ranch)
Low Rolling Plains Region 
Additional Lookups for cemeteries, courthouse, and library records as well as digital photos may be obtained by contacting our new volunteer