Hansford County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Hansford County. Out here on the High Plains, you're standing on ground that was once carved out of two great territories, Young and Bexar, and the story of how it came to be is worth a minute of your time.

The county was created on August 21, 1876. Now, creation and organization are two different things, and Hansford County knows that better than most. It sat there, official on paper, for nearly thirteen years before it was organized, finally, on March 11, 1889.

Some things take a little seasoning. The county carries the name of John M. Hansford, and that name deserves to be said with some weight behind it.

He came to Texas in 1837, back when Texas was its own republic and a man's prospects were whatever he was bold enough to make of them. John M. Hansford made quite a bit.

He served as a member of the Texas Congress. He served as Judge of the Seventh Judicial District, holding that post from 1840 to 1842. A legislator and a judge, a man shaping the young bones of a young nation.

Then, in 1844, he died. Texas would go on to become a state, and eventually this stretch of the Panhandle would become a county, and that county would carry his name forward into country he never lived to see. Hansford is the county seat.

A name on a map, a name on a marker, doing the only work a name can do for a man gone that long.

What the marker says

Formed form Young and Bexar territories. Created August 21, 1876. Organized March 11, 1889. Named in honor of John M. Hansford. Came to Texas in 1837. Member of the Texas Congress, Judge of the Seventh Judicial District, 1840-1842. Died in 1844. Hansford, the county seat.