King County

Duane's take

The official marker for King County tells it like this, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, before King County was King County, it was part of something almost impossibly big. Bexar County, and I mean the old Bexar County, had diamond-shaped boundaries that stretched from the Rio Grande all the way to the Panhandle, clear out to El Paso.

Just sit with that for a moment. One county. All of that.

So when Texas carved King County out of that giant on August 21, 1876, it was taking a slice of something that had practically been a kingdom unto itself. The county was named for William King, who died at the Alamo. That's the weight this place carries right from the start.

Now, the chief industry out here has always been ranching, and the land wears that fact proudly in its famous cattle brands. The 6666. The Pitchfork.

The SMS. The Matador. Names that meant something serious to anyone who worked grass and cattle under a West Texas sky.

But here's where the story gets a little sideways. By 1890, King County had a population of exactly 173 souls. One hundred and seventy-three.

And when the time came to formally organize the county, they needed petitions with enough signatures to make it official. The trouble was, you couldn't exactly hold a town hall when your town was mostly open range. So they got signatures from itinerants (folks passing through) and if that wasn't enough, well, somebody went ahead and added the names of favorite horses.

Horses, signed on as county residents. I am not embellishing a single word of that. Organization came through on June 25, 1891.

Then came the question of where to put the county seat. The ranchers had their pick: Ashville. The cowboys had theirs: Guthrie.

They put it to a vote, and the cowboys carried the day. Guthrie won. So King County, born from a continent-sized county, named for an Alamo defender, organized with the help of horses, has its courthouse in a town the cowboys chose.

Out here, that's not a footnote. That's just how things work.

What the marker says

Created Aug. 21, 1876, from Bexar County, whose diamond-shaped boundaries extended from the Rio Grande to the Panhandle to El Paso. Named for William King, who died at the Alamo. Chief industry, ranching, is reflected in its famous cattle brands: "6666," "Pitchfork," "SMS," and "Matador". A population of only 173 in 1890 was aided in formal organization by petitions signed by itinerants. Names of favorite horses were also added. Organization came on June 25, 1891. In establishing county seat, cowboys voted for Guthrie, which won over Ashville, choice of the ranchers. (1965)