Wichita County
Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed from Young Land District; created February 1, 1858; organized June 21, 1882; named for the Wichita Indians who formerly resided here; county seat, Wichita Falls
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Carved from the Young Land District in 1858 and formally organized in 1882, Wichita County took its name from the Wichita people who had long lived along these rivers of North Texas. The gap between its creation and organization reflects how sparsely settled the region remained until railroads and settlers pressed westward after the Civil War. Wichita Falls became its seat, anchoring the county's growth.
Why it matters
The county's naming and founding trace the westward push of Anglo settlement across lands home to the Wichita and other Native peoples, a pattern repeated across the American frontier.
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First County Officials
Wichita Falls, TX
The first Anglo-American settlers reached Wichita County in 1856, but frontier conflict with Native peoples—for whom the county was named—delayed its formal organization until 1882. That year residents finally seated a full slate of officials, from Judge James S. Akers and Attorney Robert E. Huff down to the inspector of hides and animals. The roster captures the moment a raw frontier district became a functioning county.
Felix L. Lindsey
Wichita Falls, TX
Born in Kentucky in 1847 to a mulatto mother and a full-blood Creek father, Felix Lindsey carried food to Union troops as a boy during the Civil War before joining the U.S. Army in 1882 with the 10th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers" at Fort Davis. His unit pursued Geronimo across Arizona in 1885, where he was wounded three times before a leg injury ended his career in 1893. He then settled in Wichita Falls, married, raised nine children and ran a cleaning business until his death in 1939 at age 92.
Lake Creek Cemetery
Scotland, TX
In the late 1800s this part of Archer County was open range, opened to settlers only after the U.S. government forced Native American tribes onto reservations in Indian Territory. Homesteaders and ranchers clashed over the land even as the county organized in 1880, and around 1900 the McDonald family buried a visiting relative—remembered only as Grandma Crisp—in what became the Lake Creek community cemetery. Deeded to the county in 1908 and later cared for by a descendants' association, it holds generations of area residents and military veterans.
Tom Lloyd Burnett
Iowa Park, TX
Son of the noted rancher Burk Burnett, Tom L. Burnett was raised on the famous 6666 Ranch and became a leading cattleman in his own right, running the Triangle Ranch and range land across several North Texas counties. A civic leader and philanthropist, he was known for his friendship with Native people, including the celebrated Comanche chief Quanah Parker, and for his backing of area rodeos, which earned him the nickname the "Rodeo King." He died at his residence on this site in 1938.