Two-Buckle Ranch Headquarters, Kentucky Cattle Raising Company
Crosbyton, Crosby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Headquarters for the Two Buckle Ranch was built near this site, at Silver Falls in 1884 by the Kentucky Cattle Raising Company, which had been founded two years earlier by a group of Louisville, Kentucky distillers. Claude Tilford was hired by the company to manage the 145, 240-acre ranch. A variety of grain and hay crops were grown. The ranch's cattle operation featured cross breeding and separation of breeding stock. In 1901 the C.B. Livestock Company bought 90,000 acres of the land and used the established headquarters for its -N- Ranching and plains land development operations. A dipping vat was built in 1912 and was used by all area cattlemen to combat Texas cattle fever. Since the 1915 breakup of the C.B. Livestock Company, succeeding owners have continued to add to and preserve the original headquarters site. A barn, garage, concrete storage tank, as well as a dam across White River were added during the 1920s. Over the years, this land has been home for a number of families who have contributed to Crosby County's ranching heritage. The Two Buckle Ranch Headquarters is a historic member of this early West Texas Industry. 1984
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1884 a group of Louisville distillers, organized as the Kentucky Cattle Raising Company, built the headquarters of their vast Two Buckle Ranch near Silver Falls, spreading cattle and crops across some 145,000 acres of West Texas. Under managers who experimented with cross-breeding, the operation passed in 1901 to the C. B. Livestock Company and later owners, who added barns, tanks, and a dam over the decades. The headquarters site has been preserved as a living record of the region's ranching heritage.
Why it matters
Great absentee-owned ranches like this one show how outside capital and industrial-scale cattle raising transformed the open plains of West Texas.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The early 1880s were the peak years of the great cattle boom on the Great Plains. Once the bison herds were destroyed and the Southern Plains tribes forced onto reservations, enormous stretches of West Texas grassland were opened to ranching. Cattle prices were high, and investors far from Texas saw the open range as a place to get rich.
The result was a wave of large ranches funded by outside money, many of them owned by corporations instead of families. Eastern, Midwestern, and even British investors created cattle companies, bought or leased huge tracts, and hired experienced managers to run them on the ground.
Crosby County, on the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado, was part of this transformation. Where the White River cuts through the land near Silver Falls, there was water, which is the most valuable resource in plains country. That made it a natural spot for a ranch headquarters.
People & events
The story starts somewhere you might not expect: Louisville, Kentucky. In 1882 a group of Louisville distillers founded the Kentucky Cattle Raising Company, putting money made from whiskey into Texas grass. Two years later, in 1884, the company built headquarters for its Two Buckle Ranch near Silver Falls.
To run more than 145,000 acres, the company hired Claude Tilford as manager. This was not just a matter of turning cattle loose. The ranch raised grain and hay, and its cattle operation used cross-breeding and kept breeding stock separate, which shows a deliberate effort to improve the herd instead of just growing it.
The land changed hands in 1901, when the C.B. Livestock Company bought 90,000 acres and used the existing headquarters for its ranching and land development work. In 1912 a dipping vat was built there, and the marker says cattlemen from all over the area used it to fight Texas cattle fever. After the C.B. company broke up in 1915, later owners kept the headquarters going and added a barn, a garage, a concrete storage tank, and a dam on the White River in the 1920s. Through all of it, families made their homes on this land.
Its place in the American story
Two Buckle shows a big part of the American West that is often left out of cowboy legend: the money behind it. Much of the plains cattle industry ran on capital from distant cities, and a ranch started by Kentucky distillers is a perfect example of how the frontier tied into the national economy.
The dipping vat links the ranch to one of the most important agricultural stories of the time. Texas cattle fever, spread by ticks, caused huge losses and led to quarantines and fierce disputes over moving cattle. Dipping cattle in vats to kill the ticks became central to the long national campaign against the disease, and a shared vat like this one shows neighbors working together on a common problem.
The ranch's later history follows the larger arc of the plains as well. Huge early ranches were often split up, and land companies turned parts of them into farms and towns. The move from a 145,000-acre corporate ranch to land development and family operations is the story of how West Texas went from open range to settled country.
If you visit
This is big-sky country. The land around Crosbyton sits where the flat High Plains begin breaking toward the rough country to the east, and the White River near Silver Falls brings a welcome change in scenery. As you drive, imagine one company controlling land stretching well past the horizon in every direction.
If you can see the headquarters area, look for signs of its many eras: features from the original ranch, the improvements from the 1920s like the barn, storage tank, and dam, and the general layout of a working ranch built around water. Keep in mind that ranch land in this region is often private, so enjoy it from public roads and respect any fences and gates.
The marker is a good stop on a West Texas road trip focused on ranching history. Take a moment to think about the long chain of people connected to this place, from Louisville investors to hired managers, cowhands, neighboring cattlemen at the dipping vat, and the families who have lived here since.
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
- · Claude Tilford
Themes & tags
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