The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-03-13
PAN HANDLE Of TEXAS
Transformation That Has Been
Going on There.
FIRST RANCH IN 1874
New York Paper Tells of Its
Wonderful Resources.


is so marked and so singular transfer
nation going on IS IN the Panhandle re
gion OF Texas. The Panhandle as it i:
popularity known, embraces the countie:
0 in the extreme northwest of the state
Hitherto it has been, and still is gener-
} ally known throughout the country as q
vast expanse OF brown level, fit only fol-
the pasturing of cattle. Panhandle aud
desert have long been interchangeab bic
terms. Until the first ranch was locat-
} ed in the Panhandle forty miles south
east OF Amarillo in 1874, while white
settler could not be found here. 1t was an
open country, inhabited by great herds Of
buffalo, mustangs, antelope, and other
wild animals. Herds of wild antelope can
stiIl be seen, protected as they are by
state law. and a few mustange hold forth
in the remote sandhnls. But the wild
J buffalo long since were exterminated in
this their last stronghold in the United
States.
Then came the ranchmen. They brought
from, or were granted by the state for
various services huge tracts of land. upon
which they started cattle ranches. One
OF these ranches, the Y. l. T. ranch. own
cd by the Farwell syndicate. included
100000 acres and various thousands of
acres in extent. Nobody wanted the land
except the ranchmeh. The prospective
settler who had ideas of using the land
for other than cattle purposes went away
discourse ed. He saw that the river beds
were dry most of the year, and except for
the rainfall Turing the summer he learned
that the only visible water was in the
| h0Ta H.,
already pre-9mpted as something of in
calculable value and their supply was
previously guarded 1t did not seem pos
sible that above or under ground there
could be enough water most of the year TO
/ mature single tree or a single crop. Nor
did it seem less than absurd to believe
that the time would never come when
| the Panhandle would be anything more
than a cattle country. The wild climate,
! the perennial pasturage, and the wide
ranges seemed TO make it exclusively a
/ cattle country. The buffalo and other
| grass dried on the ground after the ma
ture of hay, and made a never-ending
/ and nutritious forage, and the cattle could
roam whittier they would wherever the
! feed tempted them. AS the greatest de-
| feet here was the lack Of grass near wa
! ter, the plan was to send twoyear-old cat
! tie to the ranges of Montana and Dakota
/ for two seasons Of grazing and then trail
or ship them to the market. This plan
| also afforded an outlet for the surplus
cattle and guaranteed for the remaining
cattle more abundant pasturage.
Long after settlers were rushing to what
at various times were unoccupied sections
of the country. the Panhandie<was passed
by coEtemptuously as u country of no
value except for cattle. Tales of the ex-
perience of parties travelling by wagon
through the Panhandle accentuated this
prejudice Tragical accounts would be
forthcoming from time to time Of different
bands of these travellers who had per-
ished of thirst. These unfortunates had
no means Of knowing that at some Of the
exact spots where they finally lay down
to die water could be found six feet from
the surface.
This important discovery, that water
could he had by simply digging for it. is
a revelation of only the last few years.
At some places abundant water IS struck
fifty and ffty-ive feet below ground; at
other places from one hundred to two
hundred feet. 1t is soft water and Of
excellent ard refreshing quality. Where
this vast underground supply comes from
is a mystery Some say its source is the
mountain region of Colorado. and others
ascribe different sources. Whatever the
real scientific explanation. the under
ground flow of water IS found nearly ev-
erywhere that n tapping is made. the
depth seeming to depend upon the eleva- /
ton of the ground al the particular bOr- .
ing place. in a section here that passed /
through five years ago there was not at (
that time a single windmill. At that iden- 4
teal place, in the heart Of the Stalled
Plains. there are now eighty-seven wind /.
mills Where Eve years ago nothing but
dried grass could be seen stretching as far
as the eye could reach, unrelieved by a
solitary bush or tree. each windmill is 4
ROW surrounded by an island grove of ;
trees and other vegetation. leafless. Of /
course. at this season. There are SKIN .
expanses where the windmill cannot be \
seen, hut this is because the knowledge .
that water can be obtained for the mere I
effort is comparatively new, and because .
settlers have not Yet pushed their way I
there.
Along with the discovery Of this great 1
supply Of underground water. other I'M
portant facts have been disclosed by a /
series OF individual experiments. Until 4
few years ago it was accounted 50 impos-
sible 20 raise cropS Of any kind in the .
Panhandle that the irving Of Il was
waved of as pure waste Of time The
standing argument WAS that there was
not sufficient moisture There was moth
ing 10 prove that crops could not b.
raised except the fact that il had never
been tried and this was held PROOF con
elusive But some OF the more intelligent
Of what were then the few residents hsre
residents who were not Cattlemeu--re-
solved 10 experiment. Il was demonstrate
o5 that a number u forage and food prod
ucts could be raised successfully. Old
timers stoutly insisted that not oniy
would nothing grow. but wheat l5ast of
all But wheat has grown and grown
well. The average th-eshiag Of wheat
s0wn for pssturage Ter the last fou- years
has been fourteen bushels 10 the acre.
Rye. oats. IrdiAa corn. ard cotton have
also done well. and IN Deaf Smith county
alone fully ten thousand acres cf wheat.
rye. ard oats were under cultivation last
year Where I'VE years ago not YES
uSe o. psoish-iEehea l4tso tc-4i- % seen
Tor hundreds az miles Il Is now a fairly
sight. considering tie extent -
the country. - see p,oughed land Above
all. Kas.ir corr. almost the equal of n
dan corn for feeeisg cattle ard h1Ss
thrives wonderfully well The climate
conditions seem exactly appropriate for
their rroduc-c1-
The conseQ uence OF these innovations =
that the conditions In the Panhandle are