A History of Crosby County 1876-1977 Page: 15
608 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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I 0
MT. BLANCO
Caprock escarpment, an exposed edge
of foundation-rock, covers about 1 ,4 of
the area of Crosby Co. on the south and
east boundaries. The eastern portion of
this area is known as Blanco Canyon In
the northeastern sections of the canyon
and breaks area, headwaters of the Bra-
zos, White River or Salt Fork of the Brazos
cuts through the breaks.
In this area known as Mt. Blanco, the
first permanent settlers took up residence
on the Texas Plains
This source of clear water plus the trail
route surveyed by U S Cavalry in 1872 led
to development and settlement of the
Texas plains desert
In 1876 just a little over a year after Indi-
ans were driven onto Oklahoma reserva-
tions, H C (Hank) Smith, Judge John
Schimerhorn and three other men, one of
them of Mexican descent, made a pro-
specting expedition through Blanco Can-
yon.
They set up camp In a wide valley close
to the mouth of the canyon. On either side
near the Caprock were scattered caliche
hills, one mesa on the east being of out-
standing portions and beauty This mesa,
in later years, was to become known as Mt
Blanco
The adventurers spent several weeks
prospecting for a building site for a "great
ranch" as conceived by Charles A Tasker,
a young cattleman from Philadelphia, and
an Irishman, Lord Jamison
Returning to Ft Griffin, members of the
expedition made their report and recoi-
mended the spot near where they had
camped as a likely spot for the first building
to be erected and the area surroundings as
a desirable location for the ranch Work
was immediately begun to build and stock
the ranch Summer of 1877, H C Smith
drove the first domestic stock, five to six
hundred head of cattle into Blanco Can-
yon
Tasker's extravagant ways soon led into
financial difficulties and Smith took over
the ranch and uncompleted house to cover
part of the S11,000 debt Tasker had accu-
mulated
Fall 1877, Smith moved his family to Mt
Blanco and completed construction of the
Rock House which was to become a land-
mark of significant historical interest Near-
est neighbors to the Smiths were 50 miles
away in Dickens Co
In 1878 the nearest post office was at Ft
Griffin (Albany), a distance of 175 miles
Months often passed without mail deliver-
ies In 1879 Smith circulated a petition to
secure postal service for West Texas The
petition was granted and the office was
called Mt Blanco
The Smiths' home, a way-station in the
westward movement and the only perma-nent structure for miles around, was cho-
sen as logical location for the office which
was first installed in the center room, first
floor of the Rock House; later it was moved
into the commissary which was within the
rock wall surrounding Smith's home.
Mrs. Smith (Elizabeth Boyle) was
appointed first Postmistress Sept. 13,
1879. She held the office until 1916.
In 1877, during peak years of the great
buffalo slaughter, Paris Cox, a man who
would leave his imprint on history in West
Texas, made his. way onto the Staked
Plains with a party of buffalo hunters.
When camping near the present site of
Estacado (about 22 miles west of the
Smiths) he became engrossed with the
land and began investigating possibilities
of organizing a settlement for his Quaker
brethren.
Cox had heard of the Smiths who had
lust settled at Mt. Blanco. He became
acquainted with them and shared with
them his plans for the Quaker settlement
June 6, 1879, Cox agreed to pay Smith
$3 per acre for breaking 23 acres of land
and for digging a well at $2 per foot in serv-
ice footage and $5 per foot for the part that
had to be walled at a designated location
approximately 22 miles west of the Smiths'
Rock House.
FIRST CROPS
Smith and Charlie Hawse broke the land
with a Cassidy Sulky plow, one of the earli-
est riding models. They planted the sod in
several kinds of crops and vegetables.
1879 proved an excellent year for farm-
ing After harvest, Smith sent samples of
oats, millet, potatoes and vegetables to
Cox When these arrived at Boxley, Ind,
Cox's enthusiasm stirred determination to
come to Texas.
Fall, 1879, Paris Cox and his family
arrived in Crosby Co. With them came
three families -the Hayworths, Stubbs
and Sprays
It is presumed the caravan's first stop in
Crosby County was at Smith's home at Mt.
Blanco since it was a custom to travel from
one outpost to the next. Cox carried on
extensive correspondence with Smiths,
which also would indicate that his first stop
would be at the Smiths'.
Thus began the settlement of the Texas
Plains which would continue over four dec-
ades
From 1880 to 1890 settlers were primar-
ily concerned with survival. The elements
took their toll, some years leaving only
enough crops to get the families by until
the next season. Some moved on to new
frontiers
Those who stayed were caught up in the
movement to organize a county govern-
ment. Hank Smith stated that this move-
ment was favored by the Quakers and
farmers and opposed by the cattlemen.Thus the battle lines of progress were
clearly drawn. In order to organize the
county, it was necessary to get 150 signa-
tures from the Crosby Land District which
emcompassed ten counties.
It took several weeks of travel and much
persuading to get the required number of
signatures.
When the petition was completed, H. C
Smith of Mt. Blanco was delegated by a
mass meeting held at Estacado to take the
petition to Seymour, Baylor Co., to which
Crosby Co. was attached for judicial pur-
poses.
The trip covered more than 130 miles
one way. It required three days' travel.
There were only three houses between
Estacado and Seymour. These were the
Rock House at Mt. Blanco, the 8-Mile
Ranch in King Co. and Weatherly Ranch in
Knox Co.
In the census of 1880, P. L. Krouse enu-
merated seven persons as residents of
Blanco Canyon, Crosby Co. These were:
Mac H. Shanklin, cattleman; George W.
Shanklin, cowboy; George Palmer, cow-
boy; George W. Casway, cattleman; Wil-
liam Andrews, cowboy; Nat W
McCuestion, cattleman; and Lew P.
Krouse, carpenter. The Smiths were not
counted in the 1880 census, which is an
indication that persons could easily be
missed in this sparsely populated area.
In the Census of 1890 for Mt. Blanco the
following persons were enumerated by
Felix Franklin: Joseph Self, laborer on a
stock farm; Margaret Self, housewife; Alice
Self; Jeffery Self; Jessie M. Poe, stock
raiser; Fannie G. Poe, housewife; Albert A.
Poe; Daniel M. Poe; James J. Hammack,
shoemaker; Amanda F. Hammack, house-
wife; Orelanna Hammack, at public school;
Martin C. Potter, farmer; Demerris P Pot-
ter, housewife; Allen A. Potter; Barbara E
Potter; Nellie M. Potter, Fannie Potter,
John F. Sutton, stock raiser; Barbara E.
Sutton, housewife; Martin W. Sutton; Char-
lie W. Sutton; Charles W. Poe, farmer,
Laura A. Poe, houswife; Octava B. Poe;
John W. Poe; William Bromley, farm
laborer, Perunia E. Bromley, housewife;
Anna E. Bromley; John M. Smith, laborer
on farm; Claude M. Tilford, stock raiser,
John T. Viley, bookkeeper; James Brooks,
laborer, stock ranch; James C. Dalton,
laborer, stock ranch; and William A. Sloan,
laborer, stock ranch.
Before Mt. Blanco school was built, two
older children of Hank Smiths' were
boarded at Estacado so they could attend
classes. Before the Estacado school was
organized, Mrs. Smith tutored her children
in their own home.
The site of Mt. Blanco school, which was
the center of the community, was changed
three times.
In an oral history interview with Charlie
McDermett in 1971, he stated he attended15
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Crosby County Pioneer Museum. A History of Crosby County 1876-1977, book, 1978; Crosby County, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91041/m1/19/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .