The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929 Page: 60

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

all done in the forenoon and they are free to do whatever they
please in the afternoon.
PART IV
THE FUTURE OF THE J A RANCH
Anything that may be said as to the probable future of the
J A Ranch will be more or less guesswork, because no one really
knows. When the writer asked Mr. T. D. Hobart, the present
manager of the J A Ranch and one of the two executors of the
property, what the probable future of the J A Ranch would be,
he said, "That is just what we would like to know." He also
stated, "Nature has really determined what its future will be. The
tillable land will ultimately be sold to farmers and it will be put
into cultivation and the land which is not tillable will probably
be cut into a number of smaller ranches and continue to be used
for grazing purposes." Mr. Kent, the present superintendent of
the ranch, is of the same opinion as Mr. Hobart as to the probable
future of the ranch. However, both of these men stated that there
was a possibility that a part of the ranch, that part lying along
on either side of the Palo Duro Canyon, might be turned into a
private or state park. It was the wish of Mrs. Adair that this
be done.
The property today belongs to the Adair heirs but has not been
divided up. When Mrs. Adair died, December 22, 1921, she left
a will in which she designated what should be done with the
property. The major portion of it was left to her son, James
Wadsworth Richie, and his heirs. The rest of it was left to
others of her relations, friends, servants and institutions. The
will designated Henry C. Coke of Dallas and T. D. Hobart of
Pampa as executors of the will, without bond, and gave them ab-
solute authority to handle the property and dispose of it just as
they would do if it were their own property. A copy of the will
on this point reads as follows: "I hereby generally declare that
my intention is that my said American Trustees . . . shall in
all respects have absolute power to manage and deal with all of the
property comprised in this my last will as if they were absolute
owners thereof." The will stipulates that the property is to be
sold as soon after her death as is possible and the proceeds to go