The Spade Ranch
Smyer, Hockley County, Texas
Marker Inscription
[Spade brand in title] Founded by Isaac L. Ellwood (1833-1910), inventor who made a fortune in barbed wire, and bought (1889) from veteran cattlemen D. H. and J. W. Snyder an 8 x 25-mile range (128,000 acres) in Hale, Hockley, Lamb and Lubbock counties. This range was used for Spade-branded calves from Renderbrook Spring, his southmost ranch, in Mitchell County. He continued buying South Plains land until Spade Range was 54 miles long. Headquarters (originally in Lamb County) was moved to South Camp (3/10 mi. N of here) after farm-land sales in 1920s. Ellwood's descendants still own and operate the Spade. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Isaac Ellwood, who made a fortune as one of the inventors and manufacturers of barbed wire, bought this vast South Plains range in 1889 from the veteran cattlemen D.H. and J.W. Snyder. Branded with the "Spade," the ranch was first stocked with calves from Ellwood's southern Renderbrook Spring holdings and eventually stretched fifty-four miles across several Panhandle counties before farmland sales moved its headquarters in the 1920s. Ellwood's descendants still own and operate it today.
Why it matters
The Spade ties together two forces that remade the American West—the barbed wire that fenced the open range and the great cattle ranches that defined Texas.
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Related people
- · Isaac L. Ellwood
- · D. H. Snyder
- · J. W. Snyder
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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