DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker for Garza County has to say — and friend, this one's got a story worth slowing down for. Garza County was created in 1876, but creation and organization are two different things, and this county sat waiting, attached to Borden County from 1891 all the way through 1907, before it finally got around to standing up on its own two feet. When the day finally came, it came in style.
July 8, 1907, out at the OS Ranch — that's where Garza County organized itself. Now, to make it official, you needed seventy-five ballots. Seventy-five.
And according to legend — and I want you to hear that word, legend, because the marker uses it too — even the horses voted to get there. I'll let you sit with that a moment. The horses.
Voted. Whether that says something about the ballot count, or about Texas in 1907, or just about how badly folks wanted a county of their own, the marker doesn't say. But it says the horses voted, and I'm not one to argue with a county marker.
With the organizing done, the first court was held under a tent. Not a courthouse — a tent. Canvas and determination, that's what Garza County started with.
The first actual courthouse didn't get built until 1908. And the marker takes a moment — a sincere one — to name every man who stepped up as a first county official. So I'm going to name them, because they earned it.
J.M. Boren, County Judge. O.B.
Kelly, Sheriff. H.B. Murray, Clerk.
B.F. Wilks, Treasurer. D.W.
Stiles, Tax Assessor. M.L. Harkey, County Attorney.
A.L. Duren, Justice of the Peace. Marion McGinty, Constable.
H.C. Callis, Hide and Animal Inspector. And the Commissioners: Sam C.
Wilks, Jobie Davies, J.L. Barrow, and W.V. Roy.
Thirteen men — plus, apparently, some very civic-minded horses — standing up a county out of open ranch land. The marker calls them pioneer men, and it dedicates itself to their memory in sincere appreciation. I'd say that appreciation is well earned.
It's a long way from a tent to a courthouse, and somebody had to be the first ones willin' to try.
What the marker says
Created in 1876, attached to Borden County 1891-1907. Organization came July 8, 1907 at the OS Ranch. According to legend, even the horses "voted" to gain the required 75 ballots. First court was held under a tent; first courthouse built in 1908. It is to the memory of these pioneer men who became the first county officials that this marker is dedicated in sincere appreciation for the part they played in the organization and development of Garza County: J.M. Boren, County Judge; O.B. Kelly, Sheriff; H.B. Murray, Clerk; B.F. Wilks, Treasurer; D.W. Stiles, Tax Assessor; M. L. Harkey, County Attorney; A.L. Duren, Justice of the Peace; Marion McGinty, Constable; H.C. Callis, Hide & Animal Inspector; Commissioners: Sam C. Wilks, Jobie Davies, J.L. Barrow, W.V. Roy. (1965)