The _X (LX) First Ranch in Potter County
Amarillo, Potter County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established by W. H. Bates and D. T. Beals, Colorado merchants and ranchers on the Arkansas River since 1870. "Crowded conditions" there resulted in moving herd and brand to the Panhandle of Texas in 1877 -- three years after Indians were expelled from this region. LX cattle were being driven to Dodge City for shipment to market or to ranges in Montana and Wyoming as the buffalo were being exterminated in the area. The ranch extended from present cities of Dumas (30 mi. N) to Amarillo (20 mi. S), and was 20 miles wide--1,000 square miles of open range. The ranch was sold in 1884 to the American Pastoral Company, Ltd., London. Ownership included 210,597 acres of land, 45,000 cattle and 1,000 horses. Famous LX cowboys included Allie Bates and John Ray, whose names are on geological maps, and Charles Siringo, author of Western Americana and cattle rustler detective. Potter County was organized on Aug. 30, 1887 by 53 qualified electors. By unanimous vote of the 38 LX cowboys, Amarillo was elected the county seat. In 1906 the Pastoral Company began liquidating. Heirs of large purchasers now own the properties. (1971)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1877 by Colorado merchants W. H. Bates and D. T. Beals, the LX was one of the great open-range cattle operations of the Texas Panhandle, spreading across roughly 1,000 square miles between present-day Dumas and Amarillo. LX cattle were trailed north to Dodge City and on to the newly opened ranges of Montana and Wyoming as the buffalo vanished. A British firm bought the ranch in 1884, and when Potter County organized in 1887, the 38 LX cowboys voted to make Amarillo the county seat. Among its hands was Charles Siringo, later famous as a cowboy author and detective.
Why it matters
The LX embodies the brief, dramatic era of open-range ranching that followed the removal of Native peoples and the destruction of the buffalo, and its cowboys literally voted the city of Amarillo into being.
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Related people
- · W. H. Bates
- · D. T. Beals
- · Charles Siringo
- · Allie Bates
- · John Ray
Related events
- · Organization of Potter County (1887)
- · Cattle drives to Dodge City
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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