Earth
Earth, Lamb County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Before white men entered this region in late 19th century, nomadic Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa Indians followed the buffalo from water hole to water hole. A favorite Indian camp was at a spring (5 miles W), near which the Springlake Headquarters of the XIT Ranch were located in the 1890s. William Electious Halsell (1850-1934) purchased Springlake Division in 1901. Halsell and his son, Ewing Halsell (1877-1965), established the 300,000-acre Mashed O Ranch in 1902. When the economic base of the High Plains began to shift from ranching to farming, and other large ranches were being sold for the plow, the Halsells, in 1923, offered a portion of their land for sale to new settlers. Sale of fertile rangelands attracted many farmers from the Midwest, where land prices were soaring. The Halsell family selected this site for a new settlement in August 1924, built a hotel, cotton gin, and school, and named it "Fairlawn". When the post office opened in 1925, the names "Fairlawn" and "Tulsa" were rejected, and "Earth" chosen. Marshall Kelley was appointed first postmaster. Earth soon had several churches and business enterprises. Earth was incorporated in 1946, and continues to serve an area rich in agricultural diversification. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before settlers arrived, Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa people followed the buffalo across this stretch of the High Plains from water hole to water hole, favoring a spring that later anchored the XIT Ranch's Springlake headquarters. The Halsell family assembled the 300,000-acre Mashed O Ranch here in 1902, then in 1923 began selling rangeland to Midwestern farmers as the plains shifted from cattle to the plow. When the new town's post office opened in 1925, the names 'Fairlawn' and 'Tulsa' were rejected in favor of 'Earth.'
Why it matters
Earth's story compresses the whole High Plains arc — Indigenous hunting grounds, giant cattle ranches, and the farm settlement that broke them up — into one oddly named town.
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Related people
- · William Electious Halsell
- · Ewing Halsell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Spring Lake
Earth, TX
Long before fences crossed the High Plains, this spring on the Llano Estacado drew Native hunters who camped and watered here while pursuing the great buffalo herds. In 1882 Tom Lynch trailed cattle up from New Mexico and the surrounding country turned to open range, and after the Capitol Syndicate acquired the land the site became headquarters of the largest division of the sprawling XIT Ranch. The State of Texas raised this marker in 1936 during the Texas Centennial to fix that layered history in place.
Lamb County Sand Hills
Springlake, TX
This 130-mile chain of dunes is a natural landmark with deep human history: archaeological evidence shows people lived here some 6,000 years ago. Comanches later camped among the hills, drawn by game, vegetation, shelter from the wind, and water, and the old Indian trails they followed were adopted by Spanish explorers and, later, Anglo-American settlers. Early ranching left the dunes largely intact, though intensive modern farming and industry have since taken a heavy toll.
Sod House Spring
Earth, TX
On the treeless High Plains of West Texas, water meant survival, and this spring long served as an Indian camp and watering place. In 1876 buffalo hunters George and John Causey and Frank Lloyd raised the first sod house here—giving the site its name—in what became the region's first permanent settlement. A cattle camp followed in 1882 before the great Capitol Syndicate, which built the Texas Capitol in exchange for three million acres, absorbed the land.
One of the Trails of Col. Ranald S. MacKenzie
Fieldton, TX
In the summer of 1872, Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie of the U.S. Army marched 240 men and eight officers along the draw near this spot as part of the Army's campaign to force Native peoples off the Texas frontier. His swift, secret movement toward New Mexico aimed to break up a network of traders who paid Indians to raid settlers' cattle and horses. The track his soldiers beat across the plains served later scouts and settlers and is still remembered as Mackenzie's Trail.