DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker in Archer County has to say about Alex Albright. Now, most pioneer stories out of Texas go something like this: man comes west, raises cattle, the end. Alex Albright had a different idea — and by the time he was done, he had the Czar of Russia and a former President of the United States helping him do it.
Alex Albright was born on September 22, 1861, out in Nebraska, and he grew up in the cattle business — so the land was already in his blood when, in 1890, he came to Dundee. He opened a general store there, which is a solid, sensible thing to do. But Alex Albright was not a man content to stay behind a counter.
He built Elm Lodge Ranch — fourteen hundred acres sitting on Holliday Creek, four miles southeast of Dundee — and he turned his attention to sheep. At first, he raised purebred Lincoln sheep. That would've been enough for most folks.
Not Albright. Somewhere along the way, he set his sights on a breed that most Americans had never even heard of: karakul sheep, all the way from Asia. Now here is where the story takes a turn that you could not make up if you tried.
In 1910, Alex Albright imported those valuable karakul sheep with the help of two men — U.S. ex-President Theodore Roosevelt and the Czar of Russia. Just let that sit for a moment. A rancher on Holliday Creek in Archer County, Texas, working an arrangement that ran through the White House and the Winter Palace.
Whatever doors those two men opened, the sheep came through. And Albright went to work. He built up his flock until he had twelve hundred head of upbred karakul, and that flock went on to take prizes all over the world.
A pioneer American karakul breeder, the marker calls him, and by any measure, that title was earned. Life on the ranch was not without its sorrows. Albright's first wife, Dorothy Jane Duncan, died in 1900.
His second wife, Marie Sahores, stood beside him in the ranching business, and together they raised three daughters — Zella, Ester, and Marie. Alex Albright lived until April 8, 1937. He came to Dundee to open a store, built a ranch on Holliday Creek, and somehow talked a czar and a president into helping him change American ranching.
Out here in Archer County, that is exactly the kind of story the land tends to keep.
What the marker says
(September 22, 1861 - April 8, 1937) A pioneer American karakul breeder. Born in Nebraska; grew up in cattle business. In 1890 came to Dundee; opened a general store. Built Elm Lodge Ranch (1400 acres on Holliday Creek, 4 mi. SE). At first raised purebred Lincoln sheep. In 1910, with help of U.S. ex-President Theodore Roosevelt and the Czar of Russia, he imported valuable karakul sheep from Asia. Later his upbred flock of 1200 took prizes all over the world. Albright's first wife, Dorothy Jane Duncan, died in 1900. Second wife, Marie Sahores, assisted him in ranching business. Daughters were Zella, Ester, and Marie. (1971)