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.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The LX Ranch came to the Texas Panhandle at a turning point. For generations the Southern Plains had been the homeland of the Comanche, Kiowa, and allied peoples, and the region was home to vast buffalo herds. In the mid-1870s the U.S. Army's campaign known as the Red River War forced the tribes onto reservations in Indian Territory. At the same time, commercial hide hunters were slaughtering the buffalo on an enormous scale.
That double catastrophe for the Plains peoples opened the Panhandle to cattlemen almost overnight. The marker is blunt about the timing: the LX herd arrived in 1877, three years after the Indians were expelled, while the buffalo were still being wiped out.
This was the heyday of open-range ranching, before barbed wire and railroads had tamed the plains. Cattle grazed unfenced grass by the thousands, and cowboys trailed them north to railheads in Kansas or on to new ranges in the northern territories.
People & events
The LX began with two businessmen, W. H. Bates and D. T. Beals, who had been merchants and ranchers on Colorado's Arkansas River since 1870. When conditions there grew too crowded, they moved their herd and brand south to the open Panhandle. The ranch stretched about 1,000 square miles, running from near present-day Dumas down toward Amarillo and roughly twenty miles wide.
In 1884 the partners sold out to the American Pastoral Company, Ltd., of London. This was a sign of the times, when British and Scottish investors poured money into Western cattle ranches. The sale covered more than 210,000 acres, 45,000 cattle, and 1,000 horses.
The ranch's cowboys are the heart of the story. Allie Bates and John Ray left their names on geological maps of the region. Charles Siringo went on to write about his cowboy life in one of the earliest cowboy memoirs, and later became known as a detective who tracked down cattle rustlers. When Potter County was organized in 1887, the 38 LX cowboys voted as a bloc to make Amarillo the county seat. The company began selling off its holdings in 1906.
Its place in the American story
The LX tells the story of the American cattle kingdom in miniature: a brief, spectacular boom built on grassland only recently taken from Native nations. Open-range ranching lasted barely a generation. Fencing, railroads, harsh winters, and falling beef prices soon broke up the great ranges.
The ranch's links reach far beyond Texas. Its cattle went north to Dodge City and on to Montana and Wyoming, and its owners were Colorado businessmen and later London investors. The Western cattle boom was financed and marketed through a web of national and international capital.
The cowboys' part in founding Amarillo is also a reminder that ranch hands were more than hired riders. On the thinly settled plains, a single ranch crew could decide where a county's government would sit. Amarillo, today a major city, owes its county-seat status to a unanimous vote by men who worked cattle for a living.
If you visit
The marker stands north of Amarillo, on the broad, wind-swept High Plains that the LX once grazed without fences. Stand there a moment and picture the country before highways, when a single ranch stretched from here to beyond Dumas.
This stop fits naturally into a Panhandle road trip. Amarillo is the region's hub, and the drive between Amarillo and Dumas crosses much of the old LX range. The Canadian River breaks nearby offer rugged scenery, a reminder that this land is more varied than the flat tableland suggests.
If you enjoy cowboy history, look for Charles Siringo's writings before or after your trip. His firsthand accounts bring the open-range era to life in a way no marker can, and they add depth to this spot on the map.
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
- · 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
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