DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Lynn County — and friend, this one goes back a long way. Lynn County was created in 1876 from what was then the Bexar Territory. And the name it carries?
That belongs to a man called G. W. Lynn, described on the marker as — and I'll quote this directly because it deserves to be heard — "one of those who baptized the altar of Texas with life blood at the Alamo." That's not my language.
That's the language of history. Let it sit. Now before any county line was ever drawn out here, the land itself had already been doing heavy work for a very long time.
Tahoka Lake and Double Lakes Springs — two watering places sitting out on the High Plains — those spots were stops on Indian trails, Spanish trails, U.S. Army trails, and cattle-driving trails. Wherever people moved across this part of Texas, they moved toward water, and those two places had it.
Nomadic Indians called this home. Spaniards were coming through as far back as the fifteen hundreds, and they kept coming through into the eighteen hundreds. In the 1860s, New Mexicans were running large herds of sheep across this ground.
Then came the last great buffalo hunts, and then — between 1874 and 1877 — the U.S. Cavalry's drive against the Comanches played out right here in this territory. And if you thought that closed the chapter on conflict, well — in 1879, at Double Lakes, the last cowboy-Indian skirmish in the region took place.
That's a long run of history packed into one set of springs. The open-range cattlemen started settling in the 1880s. The first schools — Lynn and T-Bar — opened in 1902.
Then in April of 1903, the county was formally organized, with Tahoka named the county seat. The first officials walked into their roles and the marker names every one of them: M. L.
Elliott as county judge; S. N. McDaniel as county and district clerk; C.
H. Doak as sheriff and tax assessor; W. E.
Porterfield as surveyor; and commissioners J. E. Ketner, H.
E. Baldridge, B. Humphries, and W.
T. Petty. A whole county government, stood up and named.
In 1910, the Santa Fe Railroad built its line to this point — and from there, Lynn County found its stride as an agricultural powerhouse. By the time this marker was written, it had climbed into the top ten cotton-producing counties in all of Texas. Top twenty in the entire United States.
From a watering hole on an ancient trail, to a name written in the blood of the Alamo, to cotton fields ranking among the finest in the country — Lynn County didn't come to be quietly. It earned every acre of its reputation.
What the marker says
Created 1876 from Bexar Territory. Name honors G. W. Lynn, "One of those who baptized the altar of Texas with life blood at the Alamo". Tahoka Lake and Double Lakes Springs were watering places on Indian, Spanish, U. S. Army and cattle-driving trails. This was home land of nomadic Indians; visited by Spaniards, 1500s-1800s; used by New Mexicans grazing large herds of sheep in 1860s; site of last great buffalo hunts and the U. S. Cavalry's drive against Comanches, 1874-1877. Last cowboy-Indian skirmish occurred 1879 at Double Lakes. Earliest open-range cattlemen settled here in 1880s. First schools, Lynn and T-Bar, opened in 1902. In April 1903, county was organized, with Tahoka as county seat. The first officials: M. L. Elliott, county judge; S. N. McDaniel, county and district clerk; C. H. Doak, sheriff and tax assessor; W. E. Porterfield, surveyor; J. E. Ketner, H. E. Baldridge, B. Humphries, and W. T. Petty, commissioners. The Santa Fe Railroad built to this point in 1910. This has since become a major agricultural area, ranking among top ten cotton counties in Texas-- and one of the top twenty in the United States. (1970)