R. Dick Bussell
Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1845-1935) Famed hunter, in 1870s killed buffalo on this square; was one of the first men to hunt commercially. Came to Texas in 1874. In 1887, helped to survey the townsite here, where he became lifelong resident, operating a livery stable and wagon yard. Is buried in local cemetery. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
R. Dick Bussell embodied the raw frontier economy of the 1870s Texas Panhandle, when commercial hunters slaughtered the great southern bison herd for hides shipped east. Arriving in 1874, he later traded the rifle for the surveyor's chain, helping lay out the Canadian townsite in 1887 and settling into town life as a livery and wagon-yard operator. His long life bridged the vanishing open range and the arrival of settled community.
Why it matters
Bussell's career traces the Panhandle's transformation from buffalo range to fenced, platted town — the westward-expansion story compressed into one man's lifetime.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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