DUANE
Duane's take
Now, the marker tells it like this, and I'm just gonna pass it along to you straight. Way out here in Culberson County, before there was a fence post or a brand or even a name for any of it, these lands belonged to movement itself — nomadic Native American tribes roaming through in the nineteenth century. And as late as 1881, in the mountains west of this very site, one of the last battles between Texas Rangers and Apache Indians played out.
That's not ancient history. That's practically within living memory of the man who would put his mark — literally his mark — on this land forever. James Monroe Daugherty came into this world in 1850.
He came to Texas from Missouri as a small child, in 1851. Now you think about that for a second — this is a place where battles are still being fought in 1881, and here's a boy who arrived just thirty years before, barely old enough to remember the trip. By the time he was fourteen years old, he was riding as a Confederate express rider.
Fourteen. The Civil War had a way of handing boys responsibilities that would make a grown man hesitate. When the war ended, Daugherty went home to Denton County, and he found something that suited him — cattle.
He took to the cattle business the way West Texas takes to sky: wide open and without apology. He made drive after drive, and by 1872 he had purchased his first ranch. He was a charter member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association — not a late joiner, not a follower, a charter member.
And that empire of his just kept growing, spreading across ranches in several states, the kind of operation that takes a map and a ledger and a whole lot of nerve to manage. Then in 1890, he cast his eye out here to Culberson County and purchased the land that would become the Figure 2 Ranch. He founded it.
His brand, his ground. By 1905 he had taken up residence here, and he didn't just run cattle — he ran civic life too. When Culberson County was created in 1911, Daugherty served as one of its first commissioners.
He helped build the county the same way he built everything else — from the ground up. But time has a way of wearing on even the most formidable men. Daugherty's health began to fail, and in 1933 — with the weight of that failing health on him — he sold the Figure 2 Ranch.
The man he sold it to was James Marion West, Sr., of Houston, born 1871, a legendary millionaire businessman who didn't exactly need another piece of property but apparently wasn't in the habit of passing up a legendary one. West never lived at the ranch. But he visited often.
And the property stayed in his family — holding together, holding on — all the way until 1992. Two families, more than a hundred years, and ground that was already old when the first fence went in. That's the Figure 2 Ranch, and now you know whose boots walked it.
What the marker says
The lands which now lie within the boundaries of the Figure 2 Ranch were occupied in the 19th century by nomadic Native American tribes. One of the last battles between Texas Rangers and Apaches Indians occurred in the mountains west of this site in 1881. James Monroe Daugherty (18501942), who came to Texas from Missouri as a small child in 1851, served as a Confederate express rider at age 14. Following the Civil War he returned home to Denton County and became interested in the cattle business. He participated in numerous cattle drives and by 1872 purchased his first ranch. He was a charter member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. As his empire grew, Daugherty acquired additional ranches in several states. In 1890 he purchased land here and founded the Figure 2 Ranch. Taking up residence here by 1905, he was active in local politics and served as one of Culberson County's first commissioners upon its creation in 1911. Due to his failing health, Daugherty sold the Figure 2 Ranch in 1933 to legendary millionaire businessman James Marion West, Sr. (1871-1941) of Houston. Although West did not live at the ranch, he visited often and the property remained in his family until 1992.