Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-02-20
PERRYT0N ] j D c {.
CAME WHEN LAND.
GIVEN BY STATE
n,y staff corrcrpondnsn

UIMIII INV A8NtAA tAaNHE VIZ ANN' AA"N -
there were no homes In ochiltree
county when Judge Geo. 81. Perry. for
whom the town OF Perryton has bcen
named, first came west In lss6 and
built a hume within three miles Of
what Inter became the town 81 Ochil'
uee and was until recently the county
seat.
what made me come west; Well.
that's hard 10 say. II Was something
az nm accident" laughed the Judge
when questioned. Il vas living In Iowa
early IN SO and came west on a hunt.
ing trip. I got 10 Garden city and
mt q party 81 men there and pcne'
tI1fed into the north plains country
with them. II looked good 20 me and
I stayed. taking mp a section OF land.
as permitted then"
Judge Perry IL probably the first
man who ever stuck pillow into the
rich sosi a Ochiltree county. lie had
hardly hauled tire timhers for hts
home from Dodge City. before he yok.
"a up his oxen and began an attempt,
20 cnitivae. His efforts met with
sonse success and he has continued
% farm until recent years, although
~ one time he had little" herd Of
five hundred head 81 cattle.
Hack In the early days there were
sim q few buffalo 10 ~ found IN the
norfh plains country. hut the Indians
had gone and the "nestors' lived In
peaca Il was In SO before the county
was organized. at which time W. }
Todd, now q Canadian. was elected
Asige ana yudge Perry served a.
o1<fk and later as county Judge.
Prior 90 organization 81 the county.
however. the first store was erected
on the site Of the former town u
ochIltree by T. A. Meade. who also
Pat up a home. For the next few
years many people came into IA,
county.
The settlers Ia the early nincties
ali wanted 90 grow Indian corn" said
fhe Judge. "and Indian corn Is one 81
the fsw crops. Ike cotton. which will
nol grow In this country. They made
fzilnres. many o. them iosi heart. and
their teams could b. seen hauling their
prairie schooners east after they had
given the new country only q hall
trial For ten years but few people
vere left on thu north plains. most OF
Their bring caitlemsn. but | continued
60 grow some crops of feed stuffs.
sticking Il out for the first year or tive
and then being well satisfied with ~
suits"
Like all q the north plains country,
t,he furry occasloned by the beginning
Of construction on the Enid ochiltrc,
aad Western railroad. Of which Judgs
Parry was president. doubled lant
valnss in this county and brought ~
many new people. Thirteen miles q
ran were laid from Dalhart. thirty five
mics OF she road were graded. anc
then the appearance u survoyinl
party In the southern PAR, Of Hans
ferd county put the idea into the hcads
q farmer stockholders Who wers
buiid.ng the line that a foreign cor
poration was going 20 give them a rail
roat without the necessity % the pay
rn<nt q bonus and they stopped ray
Ing assessments on their own line
The company went into bankruptcy bul
Ire foreign cooperation failed 70 build
isasinr the county without o rail lins
untli she Santa Pc began operations
N 1915.
Most Of the settlers attracted by IN,
expectation Of having a railroad. re
fnained Ia the county and n stead,
growth ct In. but with the buillini
q the Santa Fe line. tha town q Cray
OKLA. agreed b cast i,s fortunes Will
the town of ochiltree. and the two. al
mosr overnight. moved the homes Gn'
business structures 10 the new site. ]
was not long before the county sea
was removed TO Perryton BY a vote O
more than Gin 20 one
Judge Perry. since he first sci;ied q
ockiitree county IN iSse. his isen
believer IN the fu,ure ~ 'h'- --c.io
q the country. He Is si.n a belle, e.
as attested by his cCliia i.si .. h
te1est IN the forefront - tho IN
foster progressive movements q. N
benefit q all OF the ciiis. - G. z. con
munity.
II was he who handed the ncEofin
tons between the Spearman ir,erey
and the people q Ochilirec and era
which resulted IN the town q PeTry
ton. ana the people showed their dee
appreciation q the manner In whlc
he handed these negotiations by nan
inE The town sitter him IN most unan
nous fashion.
No account Of the Industrial develol
fnent q ochlliree county could /
eonpiete without mention Of the ma
who has been always a leader and
worker In the interest o. the hlghe
development Of that county.