Old Dewey Lake
Crosbyton, Crosby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Once an important landmark for early surveys of this area, Dewey Lake got its name after surveyors returned from here to headquarters and found, to their embarrassment, they had not yet named this site. Gallantly, they decided to call it after land office employee Miss Dewey. Lake Shore was site of Texas Ranger Camp "Roberts" (1879-1882) and the "Stag House," barracks for the cowboys of the Two Buckle Ranch. Surveyors often camped here, too. The lake disappeared in the 1880s after two creeks eroded its shores, forming a new channel which drained the lake basin. 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Old Dewey Lake served as a key landmark for early surveyors of the South Plains, reportedly named for a land-office employee, Miss Dewey, after crews realized they had forgotten to name the site. Its shores hosted Texas Ranger Camp Roberts from 1879 to 1882 and the "Stag House" bunkhouse for cowboys of the Two Buckle Ranch. The lake itself vanished in the 1880s when eroding creeks cut a new channel and drained the basin.
Why it matters
The lost lake captures the frontier world of surveyors, Rangers, and open-range ranching that briefly ordered the West Texas plains before settlement transformed them.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Two-Buckle Ranch Headquarters, Kentucky Cattle Raising Company
Crosbyton, TX
In 1884 a group of Louisville distillers, organized as the Kentucky Cattle Raising Company, built the headquarters of their vast Two Buckle Ranch near Silver Falls, spreading cattle and crops across some 145,000 acres of West Texas. Under managers who experimented with cross-breeding, the operation passed in 1901 to the C. B. Livestock Company and later owners, who added barns, tanks, and a dam over the decades. The headquarters site has been preserved as a living record of the region's ranching heritage.
Texas Ranger Campsite
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In 1879 the Texas Rangers established Camp Roberts near here, the first Ranger station in the Panhandle, home to Company C of the newly formed Frontier Battalion. Commanded by the hard-riding Capt. G. W. Arrington, the small force—never more than 28 men—patrolled a vast, arid territory against raiders, outlaws, and rowdy cowboys. Each Ranger supplied his own horse, guns, and gear, living a spare, mobile life until the local Indian threat faded and the company moved on in 1882.
Main Supply Camp on Historic Mackenzie Trail
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