CV Ranch and Cee Vee Community
Paducah, Cottle County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The CV cattle brand was first registered in 1850 in McLennan County by Claiborne Varner. In 1856 his brother in law, J. Wes Sheek, and Sheek's stepbrother Charles Goodnight took the CV herd westward. Sheek bought Goodnight's portion of the herd in 1869, and later moved the cattle to Cottle County. The CV Ranch was established in the northwest corner of Cottle County in the 1880s and originally contained 47,000 acres. The ranch became a large operation under various owners. By 1889 the CV Ranch was purchased by Mill Iron ranch owner Col. W. E. Hughes. The ranch house was located 65 yards west. Following Hughes' death in 1918, his granddaughter Annie C. S. Hughes divided 37,000 acres of the ranch into smaller farms and sold them in 1927-28. The community of Cee Vee developed here and contained four stores, a blacksmith, barber shop, cafes, four churches, and a cotton gin. Cee Vee Mercantile store was located on this site. A post office was granted July 4, 1928. A school was built in 1929. By 1935 about 100 families had settled in Cee Vee. However, drought, the depression, and World War II caused many people to leave the area. By the 1990s about 20 families remained. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The CV cattle brand dates to 1850, and the herd it marked passed through the hands of famed cattlemen — including Charles Goodnight — before reaching Cottle County. Established in the 1880s across 47,000 acres, the CV Ranch was later broken up and sold as small farms in the late 1920s, giving rise to the community of Cee Vee with its stores, churches, school, and cotton gin. Drought, the Depression, and World War II thinned the population until only a handful of families remained by the 1990s.
Why it matters
The CV Ranch and Cee Vee trace the full arc of the Texas range — from open-range cattle empire to farming community to near-abandonment — that defined the settlement of the West.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The CV brand began in 1850, when Texas was still a young state and cattle raising was spreading across its central prairies. Over the following decades, cattlemen pushed herds westward, following grass and open land onto the frontier.
By the 1880s, the Rolling Plains below the Texas Panhandle were becoming ranch country. With Native peoples forced from the region and the buffalo herds destroyed, large ranches claimed enormous tracts. Operations covering tens of thousands of acres became the defining feature of the landscape.
In the early twentieth century that world began to change. Railroads, rising land values, and demand for farmland led many big ranches to be divided and sold in smaller parcels. Cotton farming spread across the region, and small farming communities took shape where cattle once roamed. Then the droughts and hard times of the 1930s tested those communities severely.
People & events
The story starts with Claiborne Varner, who registered the CV brand in McLennan County in 1850. In 1856 his brother-in-law, J. Wes Sheek, and Sheek's stepbrother, Charles Goodnight, took the CV herd west. Goodnight would go on to become one of the most famous cattlemen in American history, known for blazing cattle trails and building great ranches in the Texas Panhandle.
In 1869 Sheek bought out Goodnight's share of the herd and later moved the cattle to Cottle County. In the 1880s the CV Ranch was established in the county's northwest corner, originally covering 47,000 acres. It passed through several owners, and by 1889 it had been bought by Col. W. E. Hughes, owner of the Mill Iron ranch. The ranch house stood just 65 yards west of this marker.
After Hughes died in 1918, his granddaughter Annie C. S. Hughes divided 37,000 acres into smaller farms and sold them in 1927 and 1928. Almost immediately the community of Cee Vee grew up, with four stores, a blacksmith, a barber shop, cafés, four churches, and a cotton gin. The Cee Vee Mercantile stood on this very spot. A post office arrived on July 4, 1928, a school in 1929, and by 1935 about 100 families lived here. Drought, the Depression, and World War II then drew many away, and by the 1990s about 20 families remained.
Its place in the American story
Few places capture the whole arc of the western range as neatly as Cee Vee. In one spot you can trace a cattle brand from the 1850s frontier, through the westward push of legendary cattlemen, to the great ranches of the late 1800s, to the farming towns of the early 1900s.
The ranch's breakup reflects a pattern repeated across the West. As big spreads were divided and sold, the open range gave way to family farms, and cotton and crops replaced cattle over much of the land. For a brief moment, communities like Cee Vee flourished.
Their decline tells an equally American story. Drought, the Great Depression, and World War II emptied rural communities across the Plains as people left for cities, defense jobs, and military service. Cee Vee's shrinking population is part of the long transformation of rural America, and of the many small towns that now survive mostly in memory.
If you visit
Stand at the marker and use the inscription as your guide. The Cee Vee Mercantile once stood right here, and the old ranch house was just 65 yards to the west. Try to picture the busy crossroads of the late 1920s: wagons at the cotton gin, children heading to the new school, neighbors gathering at the stores and churches.
The wide, open country all around is the real attraction. Its big skies and long horizons explain both why cattlemen prized this land and why life here could be so hard when the rains failed.
This is remote ranch country in Cottle County near Paducah, so plan ahead for long distances between services. Cee Vee pairs well with a slow drive across the Rolling Plains, where ranch history and quiet, fading towns reward curious travelers who take the time to stop and read.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Charles Goodnight
- · Claiborne Varner
- · J. Wes Sheek
Themes & tags
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