The 96 Ranch
Colorado City, Mitchell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Cattlemen began settling Mitchell County in the late 1870s, before the arrival of businessmen and farmers. This marker stands on one of the area's important early ranches, the 96 Ranch, founded by James Durham Wulfjen (1845-1933). Wulfjen was a merchant in Round Rock before he visited Mitchell County in 1884. Inspired by the booming ranch economy, he filed on three sections of land, brought in a herd of cattle. And built a cabin near the Colorado River at the site of an old buffalo hunter's camp. He then persuaded his wife Mary Jane (Cocreham) (1854-1950) to give up the comforts of town life and settle on an isolated ranch. On March 11, 1885, at the Mitchell County Courthouse, Wulfjen registered the "96" brand, still used by his descendants. He and his sons increased the size of the ranch to 19 sections (12,160 acres), on which they raised fine Durham cattle and saddle horses. The land is still owned by various members of the family. The Wulfjens helped build a school and church at nearby Seven Wells and contributed to the stability of the ranching frontier. To provide education for their six children and others in the area, they donated funds for schools in Mitchell and Scurry Counties. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the late 1870s, cattlemen were the first wave to settle Mitchell County, and the 96 Ranch became one of its anchor spreads. Round Rock merchant James Durham Wulfjen caught ranch fever on an 1884 visit, filed on three sections along the Colorado River, and coaxed his wife Mary Jane from town comfort to a lonely cabin on an old buffalo hunter's camp. He registered the enduring "96" brand in 1885 and, with his sons, grew the outfit to more than 12,000 acres of fine Durham cattle and saddle horses. The Wulfjens also helped raise schools and a church, knitting a working ranch into a lasting community.
Why it matters
The 96 Ranch shows how the open-range cattle economy turned the West Texas frontier into settled country, with a single family's brand and land passing down through generations.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
When James Durham Wulfjen first saw Mitchell County in 1884, the southern plains were changing fast. Just a few years earlier, this was buffalo country. Through the 1870s, commercial hunters slaughtered the great southern herds for their hides, and by the early 1880s the buffalo were nearly gone. Their old camps, like the one where Wulfjen built his cabin, were still scattered along the rivers.
Cattle filled the vacuum. As the marker notes, cattlemen were the first to settle Mitchell County, in the late 1870s, ahead of the merchants and farmers. The early 1880s brought a full-blown ranch boom across West Texas and the Great Plains. Investors from the East and even from Europe poured money into cattle, and prices for land and herds soared.
The railroad made it all possible. In the early 1880s the Texas and Pacific Railway pushed west through this country. Colorado City became a bustling shipping point for cattle. A rancher here could now reach markets that had been far out of reach only a few years before.
The boom didn't last forever. Hard winters, drought, and falling prices hit ranchers across the plains later in the 1880s. The outfits that survived were often family ranches like this one, which could hold on and grow slowly over generations.
People & events
James Durham Wulfjen (1845-1933) didn't start out as a cowboy. He was a merchant in Round Rock, in Central Texas. On a visit to Mitchell County in 1884, though, the booming ranch economy caught his imagination. He filed on three sections of land and brought in a herd of cattle. Then he built a cabin near the Colorado River, at the site of an old buffalo hunter's camp.
The hardest part may have come next. Wulfjen had to persuade his wife, Mary Jane (Cocreham) Wulfjen (1854-1950), to give up the comforts of town and move to an isolated ranch. Life there meant long distances to neighbors, doctors, and stores. It's easy to overlook her part in this story, but frontier ranches depended on women like Mary Jane. She lived to 1950, long enough to see the open range give way to fences, cars, and paved roads.
On March 11, 1885, at the Mitchell County Courthouse, Wulfjen registered the '96' brand. Registering a brand was how a rancher legally claimed his cattle on an open range where herds mixed freely. His descendants still use that brand today, which makes it a rare unbroken link to the founding years.
With their sons, the Wulfjens grew the ranch from three sections to nineteen, about 12,160 acres. On it they raised fine Durham cattle and saddle horses. Durham was an older name for the Shorthorn breed, prized for improving range herds. The family also built community. They helped raise a school and church at nearby Seven Wells, and they gave money for schools in Mitchell and Scurry counties so that their six children, and their neighbors' children, could get an education.
Its place in the American story
The 96 Ranch captures one of the great turning points in the American West. Within a single decade, the southern plains went from buffalo range to cattle country. The near-extermination of the buffalo, the arrival of the railroad, and the cattle boom of the early 1880s reshaped the region. Wulfjen's cabin, built on an old buffalo hunter's camp, sits right at that seam in history.
The ranch also shows how the 'ranching frontier' became settled country. Popular memory celebrates the cowboy and the trail drive. Lasting settlement came from families who registered brands, bought land, and then built schools and churches. The Wulfjens' gifts to education are the kind of quiet investment that turned scattered ranches into communities.
The registered brand still in use is a striking piece of continuity. Brands were legal property and a family's signature on the open range. The '96' has been in use since 1885, and the land is still owned by members of the family. That makes the ranch a living link between the frontier era and the present, the sort of tie that is increasingly rare as old ranches are sold and divided.
Mary Jane Wulfjen's story is also a reminder that the West was settled by families, not just by solitary cattlemen. Women's work and endurance made frontier ranches possible, even when the records name the men first.
If you visit
This marker stands on land the marker says is still owned by members of the Wulfjen family. That means you're looking at a working, private landscape, not a public park. Enjoy it from the roadside, and don't cross fences or open gates.
Take in the setting: the wide West Texas sky, the rolling range, and the country toward the Colorado River where the first cabin stood. Imagine it in 1884, when buffalo bones may still have littered the old hunting camps. A single cabin then stood for the beginning of everything that came after. If you see cattle or horses grazing nearby, it's easy to picture the fine Durham herds and saddle horses the family raised.
Colorado City, once a booming cattle-shipping town on the railroad, makes a natural base for exploring. Its older downtown and surroundings help you picture the boom years of the 1880s. The area fits easily into a road trip across West Texas along Interstate 20.
For families, this is a great place to talk about how cattle brands work. Ask kids to design their own brand, and explain that the '96' has marked this family's cattle for well over a century.
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
- · James Durham Wulfjen
- · Mary Jane Cocreham Wulfjen
Themes & tags
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