DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Henry Bradley Sanborn — and friend, this one is worth pulling over for. Now, every town has a founder, but not every founder has to win the same fight twice. Henry Bradley Sanborn — born in New York state in 1845 — was that rare kind of man who didn't need to win the first round, because he was already planning the second.
In 1875, Sanborn went to work for a fellow named J.F. Glidden — the barbed wire inventor himself — as his Texas sales agent. And if you're wondering how a barbed wire salesman becomes the Father of Amarillo, well, hold on, because this story unspools like good wire off a spool.
In 1881, Sanborn and Glidden established the Frying Pan Ranch — two hundred and fifty thousand acres of it — specifically to prove that barbed wire fencing made good economic sense out on the Texas range. A quarter million acres as a demonstration project. That's not a pitch, that's a statement.
Around that same time, the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway was building through the region, and that kind of iron progress had a way of making things official. Voters organized Potter County, and on August 30th, 1877, Sanborn put a site on the table for the county seat. The voters chose a rival section instead.
Now, some men would have packed their bags. Sanborn was not some men. Undaunted — and that word is right there on the marker, undaunted — he started developing the Glidden and Sanborn Addition, sitting one mile east of that new town site the voters had picked.
One mile. Close enough to watch. Far enough to build.
Then came 1889, and with it, heavy rains and what the marker calls other inducements. Whatever those inducements were, they were persuasive — residents picked up and moved to the Glidden and Sanborn Addition. The town, in a manner of speaking, came to him.
By 1892, Sanborn made his move on the chessboard: he traded his interest in the Frying Pan Ranch for Glidden's interest in the city. The barbed wire man took the ranch; the developer took Amarillo. And in 1898, Sanborn secured a rail connection to the South Plains, which the marker says flat out assured the future of the city.
On the very site where this marker stands, Sanborn and his wife Ellen Wheeler — who happened to be Glidden's niece, making this whole partnership something of a family affair — built their home. An office building. A carriage house.
Stables for six matched coach horses. And a deer park. The man who got outmaneuvered at the county seat election ended up with a deer park on land that became the heart of a city.
Henry Bradley Sanborn, the Father of Amarillo, died on May 19th, 1912. He'd lived sixty-seven years, been told no at least once in a very public way, and built a city anyway. Some losses, it turns out, are just the long way to winning.
What the marker says
(1845-1912) Principal early-day developer of Amarillo. Born in New York state; employed 1875 by barbed wire inventor J.F. Glidden as his Texas sales agent. With Glidden he established the famous 250,000-acre Frying Pan Ranch in 1881 to prove the economic advantages of barbed wire fencing. Building of the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway through the region led voters to organize Potter County. In the election on Aug. 30, 1877, Sanborn offered a site for the county seat. A rival section was chosen. Undaunted, Sanborn began developing the Glidden & Sanborn Addition one mile east of the new town site. In 1889 heavy rains and other inducements led residents to move to Glidden & Sanborn Addition. In 1892 Sanborn traded his interest in The Frying Pan for Glidden's interest in the city. In 1898 he secured a rail connection to the South Plains which assured the future of Amarillo. On this site Sanborn and his wife (Glidden's niece, Ellen Wheeler) had their home, an office building, a carriage house, stables for their six matched coach horses, and a deer park. Henry Bradley Sanborn, "Father of Amarillo," died on May 19, 1912. (1971)