Hansford Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Out on the high plains of Hansford County, there is a piece of ground that holds more history than most places three times its size. They call it Hansford Cemetery, and it was the first burial ground ever set aside in this county.

The first. One cemetery for the whole county, and it held that distinction alone until 1928. That is a long time to be the only place a county sends its dead.

Now, the earliest grave dates to 1890, and it belongs to Mrs. Alfie P. Magee, wife of the first sheriff.

Think about that for a moment. The wife of the very first sheriff of Hansford County. Whatever that frontier life looked like out here, whatever it cost, she was among the first to face it and the first to be laid to rest in this ground.

You don't get more foundational than that. And she was not alone for long. Buried here too are the Cator brothers, founders of something called the Zulu Stockade.

The marker doesn't explain it and neither will I, but I will tell you the name alone earns its place in any campfire conversation. The Zulu Stockade. And then there are the Wright brothers, early ranchers in this county, men who worked this land when working it meant something altogether different from what it means today.

No paved roads to town, no guarantee of anything. This cemetery received all of them. It received the first and the last and everyone in between, for decades, as the only official cemetery in the county.

And here is the part that lands the story flat on its feet. It is still in use. The same ground where Mrs.

Alfie P. Magee was laid to rest in 1890 is still receiving Hansford County's dead. Some places just hold on.

What the marker says

First burial ground set aside in this county. Earliest grave (1890) was that of Mrs. Alfie P. Magee, wife of the first sheriff. Also, buried here: the Cator brothers, founders of Zulu Stockade; and the Wright brothers, early ranchers. Only official cemetery in county until 1928; is still in use. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.