A history of Deaf Smith County, featuring pioneer families Page: 14 of 174
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History
Deaf Smith County
PioneersThompson broke all records on the Kansas City market
for Panhandle stuff with 14 cars of whitefaces at a little
over $28.
,.
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'~""~~ ~~ 11i..... ~:i: .'While cattlemen resisted the breaking out of the sod,
vowing they came here to rest and watch the cattle grow
fat on native grass, early settlers soon were reporting
amazing records in the production of field crops and
vegetables.
The one big question was water-windmills had proved
they were adequate for home use in pumping water from
the underground supply. Early in the twentieth century
Hereford was known as the "Windmill City," with some
400 windmills busily pumping away as a dominant part
of the landscape.
Gardens and orchards were planted, and soon county
residents were bringing in samples of lettuce, celery,
potatoes, and almost every other kind of garden produce
and fruit to show the skeptics what the virgin soil would
produce.
The question of water was answered rather decisively
in a test well on the G. R. Jowell ranch at the stock
pens east of town in February, 1905. The 10-inch well
was 100 feet deep and produced 188 to 280 gallons of
water per minute. It remained for the test wells put
down by D. L. McDonald in 1910 to establish irrigation
as a part of the agriculture picture to any great extent.
The local paper proclaimed farming possibilities in an
issue during March of 1902: "The success of kaffir corn
and milo maize in this county has long passed the experimental
stage, and we are already producing as fine
l. ,:U ,. .Wheat
was starting its challenge of the range
in 1903, and visitors were driven through the
fields to see the wheat in shocks.crops of both as can be produced anywhere.
In 1905 the newspaper was advocating the threshing
of kaffir. One man, it reported, could cultivate and
harvest 100 acres of kaffir or maize, with a possible
yield of 3,500 bushels; at 50 cents per bushel,
this would give an income of $1,750., leaving a net profit
of $1,000 after he had bought a thresher for $750. In
addition, the shredded stalks could be used for feed.
The first cuttings of alfalfa were yielding abundantly,
and farmers were trying other crops. F. J. Axe from
about five miles south of Hereford had included in his
1905 planting a large acreage of forage, several acres
of peanuts, 15 acres of cotton, and some Indian corn.
Hereford's first car load of wheat was shipped in 1903
by J. N. Askren. His 100 acres of dry land wheat produced
16 bushels per acre. Farmers planted 500 acres of
cotton in 1904, and a $2,500 gin was built here that fall.
Good yields of Irish potatoes were reported, with and
without irrigation, as early as 1903, when J. D. Curtsinger
brought in a sack of Tennessee Triumphs of excellent
size.
J. R. Robinson reported 40 bushels to the acre on his
50 acres of corn in 1906. R. H. Norton broke the record
on the production of alfalfa seed here with 10.21 bushels
per acre in September, 1910. Fruit sold on the street
by the wagon load was grown in local orchards, and many
a prospector took samples home to show what was being
done in Deaf Smith County.
City Was Incorporated, 1906
Increasing population soon brought to young Hereford
the problem of forming a city government. In a hotly
contested election local residents voted incorporation on
Feb. 13, 1903, by a vote of 60 to 51. On April 10 the
first city officials were elected. They were: Ross W.
Davis, mayor; F. B. Fuller, A. J. Lipscomb, S. Loveless,
Ira Aten, and L. W. Ricketts, aldermen; and W. G. Ross,
marshal.
Letters from neighboring towns were published in the
local paper, congratulating Hereford on her foresightedness.
Losers in the incorporation election were not
satisfied, however, and in June, 1903, C. G. Witherspoon
circulated a petition seeking to have the incorporation
annulled. By a vote of 84 to 41 the corporation was dissolved.
Neighboring townspeople were just as free
with their criticism of the backward step.
The town was incorporated for the second time in
1906 under a special charter, and Judge L. Gough was
named mayor. His first proclamation was a clean-up
order backed by prizes for homes showing the greatest
improvement. It was reported that 90 percent of the
people cooperated. First prize went to Mr. and Mrs.
S. J. Dodson. Listed on the honor roll were: Dr. Houser,
J. T. Inmon, W. B. Dameron, Judge Baker, Mrs. Davis,
H. C. Myrick, H. B. Webb, G. M. Suggs, R. E. Cook,
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Patterson, Bessie. A history of Deaf Smith County, featuring pioneer families, book, 1964; Hereford, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16011/m1/14/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Deaf Smith County Library.