Cochran County, Texas
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Formed From
Cochran County was created from Bexar and Young districts in 1876 but was not actually organized until 1924. At that time Morton was named as the county seat.
The county was named for Robert E Cochran who died in the Battle of the Alamo.
Adjacent Counties
| Northwest "Roosecelt County, New Mexico" |
North Bailey County |
Northeast |
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| West |
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Cochran County, Texas |  |
East Hockley County |
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| Southwest "Lea County, New Mexico" |
South Yoakum County |
Southeast |
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History/Timeline
The county is named for Robert E Cochran who died in the Battle of the Alamo.
- 5,000 to 10,000 years ago Indians hunted in this area.
- August 21, 1876 Cochran County was formed on from lands originally assigned to Bexar and Young counties and was named in honor of Robert E. Cochran, who died defending the Alamo.
- 1700s -1870s, Comanches of the Quahadi or Antelope band took the area in battle; relying on buffalo hunting and raiding of other Indians and whites, they were dominant until the United States Army subdued them.[1]
- 1876 Cochran County was formed by the Texas legislature from land previously assigned to Bexar and Young counties. It was a land of grass, sand hills, mesquite, jackrabbits, coyotes, bison, and pronghorn antelope. Until the 1920s, when farmers began to move into the area, the county's economy was dominated by ranches.... See Ranches below:
- 1877 Nolan expedition Nolan Expedition (1877) There are markers commemorating the graves of 4 Buffalo soldiers who died on the Nolan Expedition of 1877 (see also Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877).
- 1880, a detachment of Texas Rangers led by George W. Arrington stopped at Silver Lake on the way from Yellow House Canyon to New Mexico in search for the legendary "Lost Lakes."
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| Ranch brands. |
- 1924 new farmers had arrived, county was formally organized, and a political struggle arose between Morton J. Smith, a rancher, and the Slaughter heirs. The Slaughter family, having failed on two earlier attempts to secure rail connections to their ranch, founded Ligon (4 miles S of Morton, hoping Ligon would become county seat.) Smith pushed for Morton.. Election, Morton received 79 to 20. Morton was made county seat.[1]
- 1925- Santa Fe Railroad built into the County from Lubbock , new towns of Whiteface, Chipley, Lehman, and Bledsoe sprang up, and Ligon was moved four miles south to become Lehman. The railroad made Bledsoe Cochran County's largest town in the 1920s,then declined as most of the county residents moved to Morton.[1]
Cochran County Historical Commission, the Texas's Last Frontier Historical Museum in Morton, Texas[2]
- 1936, Cochran County was put on the map when oil was discovered west of Lubbock in the Duggan Field.. Duggan had been considered as one of two fields (duggan and Slaughter Field). However the Railroad Commission who controls all oil production ruled the two as coming from one larger reservoir, so called both "Slaughter".[3]
- 1930's Great Depression - Dust Bowl. The county had some of the worst sandstorms ever seen; new sand dunes as high as twenty-eight feet were reported. Nevertheless, the number of farms in the area increased to 431 by 1940,[1]
- 1945 - the high producing Levelland Field, in Cochran and Hockley counties, was discovered..[3]
Nolan Expedition (1877) Morton Cemetery has markers to commemorate (4) Buffalo Soldiers who died in the Nolan Expedition of 1877.
The Nolan Expedition of 1877 was actually 2 expeditions to find the marauding Indians who had stolen captured horses mostly. The 1st division was 24 buffalo hunters led by James Harvey began in May, 1877. 2nd group led by Cast Nicholas Nolan with 60 African American hunters (Company A, 10th Cavalry) left in July. Harvey's buffalo hunters met Nolan near Bull Creek in July and set up a supply base in Lynn County. The first group had searched for the Indians over the Llano Estacado. Later both groups needed water and left to search for water. By July 28 Nolan turned back, and the the Harvey's buffalo hunters turned southwest where they found water. Nolan ’s group marched 38 additional hours before (totaling 86 hours without water) they reached the base Casualties of Nolan's group were deaths of 4 men or missing, 25 horses and 4 mules died. . Later the Harvey's buffalo hunters visited Lubbock, Texas sand found the stolen horses and found the Indians returning to Indian Territory. This was the last of the Indian wars. Nolan Expedition (1877).
Cochran County has a rich ranching history, including the XIT, Surrat and Slaughter ranches. Cochran County remained unorganized for nearly fifty years after its creation. Cochran was one of the last counties in Texas to be organized and the last to be settled, earning it nickname, "Texas's Last Frontier" [4]
As with many Texas Panhandle counties, the large ranches settled first after 1876. By the time the railroads came in approximately after 1888, the smaller farms also came to settle.. Sometimes there was contention between the ranchers and these farmers who moved in.It took (2) elections to name the county seat here. This is not the first county where a large ranch wanted the county seat to be near the ranch. Here in Cochran county there were even two (2) sets of commissioners and judges. It took the court to decide. Sometimes men with rifles guarded the entrance to the temporary courthouse or land office as all feared the other side would kidnap the clerk or steal the county records!!! CourtesyTXGenProject[4]
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| Cochran Co Hist. Museum. |
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| Ranch Brands. |
When reading of Charles Goodnight, the Chisolm Trail or Richard King's ranch, one thinks of cattle and land of the 1800's. The Texas legislature thought of what they could do with all of its land. Here were the descendants of theTexas settlers who fought for the independence wondering just how they could pay all of its bills. The Republic of Texas had no money, but had previously rewarded the fallen heroes with land bounties. Still no money coming in. By 1875 Texas needed a new capitol building, but it was short on cash as it had been for 40 years.. Why not do a GREAT BARTER? Wikipedia:XIT Ranch , XIT Museum History ,
Texas online, XIT Ranch
These new legislators set aside a large amount of its lands to use for the capitol. By 1891 a fire destroyed the existing capital. Time for action. There was an investment syndicate, two brothers from Parmer county. An agreement was reached between the Chicago-based investment syndicate to back the brothers for and survey prior to fencing the XIT Ranch. Wikipedia:XIT Ranch , XIT Museum History , Texas online, XIT Ranch ,
Of this Elijah Wood began building a new capitol building in Austin. The COLLABORATION became one of the grand legends of the state’s cattle heritage.
In 1875, it was proposed that the great state of Texas needed a new capitol building. Short on cash, the state legislature instead set aside 3,050,000 acres in the Panhandle as payment. An investment syndicate from Chicago, with the backing of wealthy and titled British investors, accepted the proposal in 1882 and began surveying the lands of present-day Dallam, Hartley, Oldham, Deaf Smith, Parmer, Castro, Bailey, Lamb, Cochran, and Hockley counties. The land was good for raising cattle, and by 1885, barbed wire fenced the acres known as the XIT Ranch and the first 2,500 head of longhorn cattle arrived in Dallam County. Wikipedia:XIT Ranch, XIT Museum History, Texas online, XIT Ranch
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| cowboys. |
The total cost of building the state capitol, which was completed in April 1888 was $3,744,630.60. The State of Texas assumed $500,000 of the debt.
THE BRAND The most accepted version of how the XIT Ranch got its name is that cowboy Abner P. Blocker, who drove those first longhorn herds to the ranch, created “XIT” as a brand that cattle rustlers couldn’t alter easily. Other theories are that the name stood for the “ten in Texas” (counties) that made up the ranch.
At its peak, the XIT ranch had 1,000 horses, 6,000 miles of barbed wire fence, over 100,000 head of cattle, and 150 cowboys. Some were African American, hispanic vaqueros, and white cowboys who repaired fences, installed new ones, branded cattle, and moved herds to new sources of water.AT night they patrolled the fence lines watching for wolves and two legged (cattle rustlers).The Biggest Ranches
Littlefield and Slaughter Ranches
1901 George Washington Littlefield bought 238,858 acres, including some of Cochran county, for his great ranch; other parts of the county were ranched by C. C. Slaughter. The first headquarters of Slaughter's ranch was established in 1898 near the site of present-day Lehman, but was moved a year later to a site two miles southwest of Morton. For all his interest in cattle breeding to produce crossings of Herefords and shorthorns of record size, Slaughter foresaw other economic developments for West Texas. In 1907 he predicted that "the fertile Plains...will become the breadbasket of the great Southwest."
A political struggle arose between Morton J. Smith, a rancher, and the Slaughter heirs. The Slaughter family, having failed on two earlier attempts to secure rail connections to their ranch, founded Ligon (4 miles S of Morton, hoping Ligon would become county seat.) .
Government Offices
1st Courthouse in Morton, Texas.1926
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| 1926 |
Then the courthouse was remodeled. Looks like an entirely different courthouse
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| 1926 Courthouse REMODELED. |
Geography
Cochran County is located in the Panhandle Plains area of Texas.
It was a land of grass, sand hills, mesquite, jackrabbits, coyotes, bison, and pronghorn antelope. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 775 square miles (2,010 km2), of which 775 square miles (2,010 km2) is land and 0.09 square miles (0.23 km2) (0.01%) is water. Cochran County lies on the high plains of the Llano Estacado. The western border of the county lies along the border of Texas and New Mexico.
- The center point of the county is 33°35' north latitude and 102°50' west longitude, some fifty miles west of Lubbock. Cochran County covers 783 square miles of level prairie with elevations varying from 3,500 to 3,800 feet above sea level; loamy or sandy soils predominate.
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| adjacent counties |
Airports
Hospitals
Lakes
- Silver Lake, mostly in Hockley County
Major Highways
- State Highway 114
- State Highwat 125
- State Highway 214
Railroads
- WTLR - West Texas& Lubbock Railroad , terminates at Whiteface.
Local Resources
- Cochran County Historical Commission, the Texas's Last Frontier Historical Museum in Morton, Texas
Agriculture
- cotton, sorghums, wheat, and cattle. Cattle range comprised almost 191,500 acres of county land, and the
- county had a feed lot
- horse-meat packery.
Minerals Oil, Gas In 1990, it was almost 8,266,000 barrels. The cumulative total was more than 428,357,000 barrels by 1991.
Protected Areas
Demographics
In 2000, there were 3,730 people, 1,309 households, and 1,017 families residing in the county. with a population density of 5 people/sq mi (2/km²). T The racial makeup of the county was 64.48% White, 4.53% Black or African American, 0.83% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 27.35% from other races, and 2.55% from two or more races. 44.13% of the population were Hispanic .
The median income for a household in the county was $27,525, and the median income for a family was $31,163. About 21.40% of families and 27.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.20% of those under age 18 and 11.70% of those age 65 or over.
Cotton, sorghum, wheat, peanuts, and sunflowers were the chief agricultural products.
Politics - Most voters in Cochran County supported the Democratic candidates in virtually every presidential election from 1896 through 1964; the only exception occurred in 1928, when Republican Herbert Hoover carried the area. The area’s sympathies began to shift in 1968, when Democrat Hubert Humphrey won only a plurality of the county’s votes, and in 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon easily carried the area. Democrat Jimmy Carter won most of the county’s votes in 1976. Thereafter, however, the Republican candidates carried the county in every presidential election from 1980 through 2004.
Cities
- Morton (county seat) (population 1,885)
Unincorporated Towns
- Whiteface (420)
Festivals
- Buffalo Soldier Day in June
- Last Frontier Trail Drive in June
Schools
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| Rockin Schoolhouse |
- Morton Independent School District
- Sudan Independent School District
- Whiteface Independent School District
Public Schools
- Morton High School (Grades 9-12)
- Morton Junior High School (Grades 6-8)
- Morton Elementary School (Grades PK-5
- Whiteface High School (grades 7-12)
- Whiteface Elementary School (grades PK-6)
Historical Census
Census
| Census year | Population |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1900 | 26 |
| 1910 | 602 |
| 1920 | 504 |
| 1930 | 1,263 |
| 1940 | 5,354 |
| 1950 | 4,339 |
| 1960 | 8,032 |
| 1970 | 7,344 |
| 1980 | 8,299 |
| 1990 | 8,786 |
| 2000 | 7,322 |
| 2010 | 7,879 |
| 2014 est. | 8,286 |
Notables
County Resources
Cemeteries
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- Whiteface Cemetery
- Morton Cemetery where 4 buffalo soldiers are buried (died without 86 hours without water, while searching for Indian raiders)
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc13
- ↑ Cochran county TXGenProject
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://texasalmanac.com/topics/business/history-oil-discoveries-texas
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://cochrancountytx.com
- Nolan Expedition (1877)
- Girlstown
- The Biggest Ranches
- TxGen
- TxGen site
- obituaries
- FindaGrave cemeteries
- FamilySearch
- Cochran county cemeteries
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