Texas State Travel Guide: 1988 Page: 99
276 p. : col. ill.View a full description of this book.
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Ilk.1 1* General-Cal Farley's Boys Ranch is a
nationally known home for boys and girls
who benefit from guidance, affectionate
discipline, and education in a ranch setting.
Established in 1939 by the late Cal Farley,
Texas businessman and world welterweight wrestling champion of the 1920s.
The first boys who came to the ranch lived in the abandoned courthouse
of Old Tascosa (see below) that is now the Julian Bivins Museum (also
below). Founded and expanded by private donations, the ranch today covers
10,600 acres. Facilities includes a chapel, clinic, schools, fine arts and audito-
rium, visitors center, and 23 homes for children.
More than 400 boys and girls help operate the ranch, attend school and
vocational classes, and enjoy a year-round program of athletics. A popular
annual event is the Boys Ranch Rodeo, Labor Day weekend, featuring com-
petition among youths of all ages. Although some 80 percent of the young
people were headed for trouble before coming to the ranch, most remain
and graduate from the fully accredited Boys Ranch High School, entering the
Alamo replica is centerpiece for Alamo Village in BrackettvilleMap C-9
;'At
-..f
y
J~adult world as useful, self-reliant citizens. Visitors are welcome at the ranch;
open daily 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Boot Hill Cemetery-When Tascosa (below) was the wide open, riotous
cowboy capital of the 1880s, gunfights were traditional means for settling dis-
putes, and its cemetery was an essential part of the town. The boys maintain
the cemetery today. U.S. 385.
Julian Bivins Museum-Housed in the former Oldham County
Courthouse, name honors Panhandle rancher whose donation of land formed
the nucleus of Boys Ranch. Artifacts from Indian and prehistoric Panhandle
cultures, cowboy and pioneer items, photos and documents about Boys
Ranch history. Open daily year round, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Old Tascosa-Pioneer settlers in the early 1870s built adobe huts and irri-
gation ditches along area creeks. After 1875, village became a supply and
shipping point for several huge Texas ranches, including the famed XIT and
LIT. Bustling town was known as "the Cowboy Capital of the Plains"; became
county seat when Oldham County was organized in 1880. The famous and
infamous-from Kit Carson to Billy the Kid-once strode its rough plank
sidewalks. But as with many Texas cow towns, decline set in when the open
range was girded with fences, and the railroad bypassed the site. It was
deserted by the 1930s.
BRACKETTVILLE
Pop. 1,742 Alt. 1,110 Map R-12
General-Established as supply village for
adjacent Fort Clark in 1852. Fort was one of
, the most historic military posts in Southwest.
Over the years, many infantry regiments and
most of Army's cavalry units saw duty at
Fort Clark. Deactivated in 1944, property is now resort development (see
below). Town also became trade center for surrounding ranches and irrigat-
ed farms. Seat of Kinney County. Hunting in area for white-tailed deer, wild
turkey, javelina, and upland game birds.
Alamo Village-Western family recreation center built around movie set
for John Wayne's "The Alamo," filmed in 1959. Set was one of the largest and
most complete ever constructed in the U.S. The Alamo replica, built by
adobe craftsmen from Mexico, overlooks a complete frontier village of the
1800s. Operated by Shahan Angus Ranch, set includes a cantina-restaurant,
trading post, Indian store, authentic stage depot, old-time jail, bank, saddle
shop, and other typical Old West structures. During summer months visitors
see regular country/Western shows-often interrupted by shoot-outs
between frontier lawmen and desperados. Set still used for movies, televi-
sion, and commercials. Open daily at 9 a.m.; 7 miles north on R.M. 674;
admission. 210/563-2580.
Fort Clark Springs-Site of Fort Clark, established in 1852. Notable military
officers who served here include Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie, Generals George
C. Patton and George C. Marshall. Fort deactivated in 1944. Today a resort-
retirement community open to public offering motel, restaurant, RV park,B
R
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EBoy's Ranch in Tascosa
BOYS RANCH
Pop. 550Alt. 3,176
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99
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Texas. Department of Transportation. Texas State Travel Guide: 1988, book, 1988; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1203617/m1/101/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.