DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Bovina Cemetery, out there in Parmer County. Before there was a city of Bovina, before there was even a post office, there was the XIT Ranch — and the XIT set its southern headquarters right here in this vicinity. That's the kind of operation that leaves a mark on the land, and it did, in more ways than one.
Then came 1898, when the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built through the ranch. A railhead draws people, and people draw a settlement. Now, the settlement that grew up around that railhead picked up a nickname first — Bull Town, they called it, on account of cattle that had a habit of turning up on the tracks.
You can picture it. Train coming through the Texas flats, and somebody's longhorn standing right in the middle of things, unbothered. By January of 1899, the official post office name had become Bovina.
And once the turn of the 20th century brought a boom in cattle shipping, the town's population started to grow in earnest. A real community was taking shape. Now, the city has owned this cemetery since those early days, and for a time it was maintained by the Bovina Cemetery Association.
But here's where the story gets quieter, and a little heavier. Before any of that civic organization, the XIT Ranch had already been using this site — for burying its cowboys. Oral tradition holds that several of those early gravemarkers bore only common names.
Just first names, or nicknames. Dusty. Big Jim.
Names like that. It is believed there were approximately forty such graves. Forty men laid to rest out here on the West Texas plain, marked by nothing more than a name — and now not even that.
All forty are now unmarked. The earliest marked grave that still stands belongs to J.W. McDonald, who died in 1907.
From there, the cemetery became what cemeteries do — a place where generations settle. Veterans of military conflicts dating all the way back to World War I are buried here, alongside generations of area residents from the surrounding country. So when you stand at Bovina Cemetery, you're standin' at a place that holds the whole arc — the ranch era, the railroad era, the town that grew from both.
Cowboys with just a nickname to their name, and a community that kept addin' to the roll ever since. Forty unmarked graves and one that's been marked since 1907, and the ground holds all of them the same.
What the marker says
Prior to the founding of the city of Bovina, the XIT Ranch located its southern headquarters in this vicinity. The Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built through the ranch in 1898, and the settlement became known as Bull Town because of cattle frequently found on the tracks. A community developed around the railhead, and in January 1899 the official post office name became Bovina. Due to a boom in cattle shipping, the town's population began to grow after the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the city has owned this cemetery, which was maintained for a time by the Bovina Cemetery Association. The XIT Ranch initially used this site for burials of cowboys. Oral tradition holds that several gravemarkers initially bore only common names of the cowboys, such as Dusty and Big Jim. It is believed there were approximately 40 such graves, but all are now unmarked. The earliest marked grave is that of J.W. McDonald (d. 1907). Bovina Cemetery is the final resting place of veterans of military conflicts dating to World War I, as well as generations of area residents. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004