Ranching and Farming in Hale County
Hale Center, Hale County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pioneer ranchers began to settle Hale County in the early 1880s. Land was plentiful and cheap, but life was hard. Many settlers lived in dugouts. Supplies were freighted from Colorado City until the railroad reached Amarillo. Cattle roamed the free grazing land until round-up time, when they were separated according to brands. Ranchers earned extra income by selling buffalo bones for fertilizer, working on the railroad, or hiring out to larger ranches. Many worked at the Circle Ranch of Col. C. C. Slaughter, which covered land in four counties. Other significant ranches included the Callahan, Barton, and Norfleet ranches. When the public land was gone and free grazing ended, the larger ranches were divided into smaller tracts. The transition from ranching to farming was difficult. By the early 20th century, wheat farming and dairy production began to replace ranching operations. The Dust Bowl and Depression of the 1930s brought new hardships. Soon after World War II, however, a high percentage of the cultivated acreage in Hale County was under irrigation. This allowed for crop diversification with high yields of grain sorghum, corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables, and livestock production. Cotton has become the leading cash crop. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When pioneers reached the High Plains of Hale County in the 1880s, land was cheap but life was brutal — many families lived in dugouts and hauled supplies from Colorado City until the railroad arrived. Cattle roamed free range across huge spreads like Col. C.C. Slaughter's Circle Ranch until barbed wire and land sales carved the open country into farms. The transition from cattle to crops was hard, and the Dust Bowl and Depression tested every family who stayed. Irrigation after World War II finally turned the region into a farming empire, with cotton as king.
Why it matters
This marker captures the whole arc of the American West in miniature — open-range ranching giving way to fenced farms, then to irrigated agribusiness — a transformation repeated across the Great Plains.
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Related people
- · Col. C. C. Slaughter
Related events
- · Dust Bowl
Themes & tags
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