The Old JA Ranch
Canyon, Randall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1876, veteran Texas cattleman, Charles Goodnight entered Palo Duro Canyon by way of an old Comanche Indian trail near here, to establish the first ranch in this area. In 1877, Goodnight in partnership with Englishman John Adair moved farther down the canyon to lay out headquarters of the JA Ranch. This pioneer venture became one of the greatest cattle operations in the world, taking in more than a million acres of land and grazing 101,023 head of cattle. Goodnight had became acquainted with the Palo Duro as a scout and guide for Texas Rangers during the Civil War. He knew that the canyon, fenced in by the overhanging caprock, was an ideal spot for a ranch: it furnished water and shelter in the winter and the adjacent plains provided ideal grazing in the summer. Upper division of this ranch (the park area) was reserved for the purebred, of JA herd. The vast lower end of the JA was ranged by longhorns - gradually being improved by better blood. In 1887 the Goodnight-Adair partnership was ended. Adair retained the JA which, in the hands of his heirs, is still one of the great ranches of Texas. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1876 veteran cattleman Charles Goodnight entered Palo Duro Canyon by an old Comanche trail and founded the first ranch in the region, having learned the canyon's sheltered value as a scout for the Texas Rangers during the Civil War. Partnering with Englishman John Adair in 1877, he laid out the headquarters of the JA Ranch, which grew into one of the world's greatest cattle operations—over a million acres and more than 100,000 head. When the partnership ended in 1887, Adair's heirs kept the JA, still a great Texas ranch today.
Why it matters
The JA Ranch stands as a monument to the open-range cattle empire that defined the Texas Panhandle and the American West.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Charles Goodnight
- · John Adair
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of an Early Barbed Wire Fence in the Panhandle
Canyon, TX
In the treeless Texas Panhandle of the 1880s, fencing meant barbed wire — the practical version perfected by Illinois inventor Joseph F. Glidden by 1876 and marketed in Texas through agent H. B. Sanborn. In 1881 real-estate investors Jot Gunter and William B. Munson strung a line fence on this site to enclose a 240,000-acre horse pasture, part of a transformation that ranchers resisted, cowboys resented, and merchants welcomed. Barbed wire ended the open range, cut off the old cattle trails, and ultimately saved the industry by allowing controlled breeding and feeding.
T Anchor Ranch
Canyon, TX
In the fall of 1877, cattlemen drove some 400 head to Spring Draw and raised a two-room log cabin, seeding one of the Panhandle's great open-range operations. Under the firm of Gunter, Munson & Summerfield, cowboys strung the area's first barbed wire around 240,000 acres and, in 1882, moved more than 10,600 cattle in what was called the largest drive on record. Through strikes, drought and blizzard the T Anchor endured, and when Randall County organized in 1889 six of its first officers were ranch hands, before the land was broken into smaller farms and ranches after 1902.
Amarillo Livestock Auction
Amarillo, TX
This market grew up to serve ranching, the Texas Panhandle's first permanent industry, in a region transformed between 1874 and 1878 as Native peoples were forced out, buffalo herds destroyed, and cattle ranches established. Longhorns were once trailed to Dodge City, but the railroad's arrival in 1887 made Amarillo the nation's largest rural cattle shipping point. The Western Stockyards, founded in 1904, evolved into the Amarillo Livestock Auction, which opened in 1935 and grew into one of the country's busiest cattle auctions.
Bivins Home
Amarillo, TX
Cattleman Lee Bivins built this classically styled brick-and-stone town house in 1905 at the height of his Panhandle ranching empire. Beyond his vast cattle interests, Bivins helped open the region's oil and gas fields and served as mayor of Amarillo until his death in 1929. His widow, Mary Elizabeth Gilbert Bivins, later gave the home to the city.