DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Llano Ranch in Garza County tells it this way, and I'm gonna do it justice. Now, out here on the rolling caprock of West Texas, where the wind has always had strong opinions and the land keeps its secrets close, somebody had the nerve to stake a claim. In 1880, the Llano Ranch was established — one hundred and ninety-two sections of land.
If you're trying to picture that, just keep picturing. It was big. They ran cattle under a brand folks called the Curry Comb — two bars over the letter T.
That brand had a personality to it, and so did the outfit that carried it. Now when the first people arrived at Llano Ranch, they didn't move into anything you'd call grand. The first dwelling was a half dugout, covered with buffalo hides.
Half in the earth, half above it, roofed with hides from the very animals that had dominated this land not long before. That's a certain kind of beginning. But 1883 brought something different.
The first frame house in the entire area went up right here — two stories tall. In a country where a half dugout was shelter enough, two stories was a statement. That house became the center of social activities for the whole region.
People came to it the way people always come to the one lit window out on a dark plain. And then comes 1884. Jim and Della Browning McCommis welcomed a baby girl into the world right here on the Llano Ranch.
First birth recorded in Garza County. That ought to be cause enough for celebration — and it was, until it wasn't. That infant's grave is nearby.
First birth and first death recorded in Garza County, both of them the same little soul. Some stories don't ask you to say much more than that. The land remembers, the marker stands, and the grave is close.
What the marker says
The Llano Ranch containing 192 sections of land was established in 1880. Known as the "Curry Comb" from their cattle brand, two bars over the letter T. The first dwelling was a half dugout covered with buffalo hides. The first frame house in the area, a two story, built in 1883, was the center of social activities. Here in 1884, a baby girl was born to Jim and Della Browning McCommis. The infant's grave is nearby. This was the first birth and first death recorded in Garza County.