A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965 Page: 30
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Armstrong County
century to sponsor the marking of all
such historic spots as rapidly as
possible. Therefore, on April 13, 1946,
a few officials of the Society, headed
by its president, Mr. Newton Harrell,
and other friends and patrons, gathered
at the Old Home Creek Camp for the
purpose of commemorating the seven-
tieth anniversary of the founding of the
JA Ranch by placing a suitable monu-
ment on the original headquarters site.
All detailed preparations fo r the
occasion had already been made by the
Harrell family. Mr. Newton Harrell
had purchased a beautiful, but plain
granite stone, and had provided a solid
concrete base upon which it was placed.
On the stone shaft is a bronze plaque
that bears the following inscription:
OLD HOME RANCH
The First Ranch in
the Panhandle of Texas
Established Here by
Charles Goodnight
November 1876
Mrs. Ed Harrell and her grandson,
Ed Harrell, had ridden on horseback
from Pony Springs, six or seven miles
distant, the evening before, across the
rough brakes country, to assist Lucian
Ridley, Walter Neely, Pete Sutton,
Walter Cehlier and Terrill Christian
prepare the chuck-wagon dinner which
the Harrells provided for the occasion.
Water, clear and cold, which had been
flowing out of the south wall of the
Palo Duro from time immemorial into
the Home Creek Springs, had been
hauled. Saddle horses had been pro-
vided by the Harrell, Doshier and Chr-
istian families to bring all guests to the
site from the rim of the canyon. Every
necessary detail had been arranged by
the hosts to make the occasion a suc-
cessful and pleasant affair.
There was much visible evidence
reminiscent of the olden days. As the
visitors stood on the south rim of the
Palo Duro they beheld one of the beauty
spots of the Texas Panhandle which
has never been marred by the hand of
man. The north wall of the canyon
screens off entirely the busy marts of
Amarillo and Claude, as well as the
prosperous stock farms on the uplandsto the north of the Palo Duro. Looking
down into the valley below, the HomeCreek camp, surrounded by mesquite
thickets*, was scarcely visible. Just
below the Home Creek camp the Red
River bends slightly toward the north-
east and gives one abeautiful telescopic
view for miles down the steep-wall d
canyons. Looking toward the north the
canyon widens forming a considerable
valley along the river bed where well.
bred Hereford cattle, bearing the
Harrell Triangle Tail brand, were
quietly grazing, as the JA herd~ grazed
in days gone by. The rough breaks
country beyond is studded with rows of
cottonwood, hackberry, cedar, and
other vegetation native to the valley,
almost hiding from view the land marks
where only the trained eye can locate
Pony Springs Camp on Dry Creek, and
the Harrel headquarters on Rush
Creek. The visitors were again re-
minded of the old days as they rode
down into the canyon along the winding,
unbeaten trails, Indian fashion, on alert,
sure-footed ponies, to the Home Creek
camp three or four miles below. Upon
arrival the horses were all unsaddled
and turned loose in the corrals, except
one. This was Al, the favorite steed
of Mrs. Ed Harrell which was bedecked
with a sidesaddle, and whidh Mrs.
Harrell always uses in riding over the
ranges of the ranch. The pony itself
has a rather historic pedigree; it re-
presents the fifth generation of a pony
which Mrs. Harrell bought from Ed
Harrell when she was Miss Sammie
Barks. "Ed Harrell had to marry me
to get the pony back," she laughingly
told the crowd. (Those present for the
occasion were: Mr. and Mrs. Newton
Harrell, Mrs. Ed Harrell II, 0. H.
Finch, Hermon C. Pipkin, Floyd V.
Studer, C. J. Mapes, Jr., Mr. and
Mrs. Forrest Doshier, Carroll Dos-
hier, George Doshier, Mr. and Mrs.
Terrill Christian, Horace (Chub)
Baker, Harold Bugbee, Lucian Ridley,
Walter Celder, Pete Sutton, Forrest
Bennett, Walter Neely, Roy Ranson,
Boone McClure, and Mr. and Mrs. L. F.
Sheffy.)
For more than an hour the cameras
of Floyd Studer, Newton Harrell. Her-mon Pipkin and Boone McClure clicked
around the old site*, while Harold Bug-.
bee was busily sketching several30
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Armstrong County Historical Society. A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965, book, 1965; Hereford, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91040/m1/38/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .