Silver

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Silver, out in Coke County. Now picture this: somewhere around 1880, folks started putting down roots in a stretch of Texas that didn't ask permission from anybody. They called the place Silver, a pioneer ranching center, and the land drew in early owners by the names of S.M.

Conner, W.G. Jameson, and W.R. Walker.

Hard names for hard country. The post office came along, named for a peak nearby. Just a peak.

But a name is a name, and Silver stuck. For fifty years, one man was the only physician this community had. One man.

Dr. J.E. Reed.

Think about what that means in a ranching country, miles from anywhere. Fifty years. Whatever came through that door, broken bones or fever or worse, Dr.

Reed was the answer, because there was no one else to ask. And R.B. Allen, the marker tells us, was an outstanding civic leader.

The kind of person a small town quietly depends on to hold things together. Now here is where the story shifts gears. The year 1946.

Oil discovery. Those two words rewrote Silver's future on the spot. Drilling came.

Refining came. Employees' camps rose up out of the caliche and the grass. Growth came, much growth, and Silver became a busy oil and gas center.

A ranching town that had minded its own quiet business for decades suddenly found itself in the middle of something considerably louder. But here is the thing about a boom. It tends to know when it's leaving.

The camps closed in 1966, and when they did, the population declined. The marker doesn't dress that up, and neither will I. Silver had been a pioneer ranching center long before the oil came, and when the noise died down, what remained was what had always been there: the peak, the name, and the land.

What the marker says

A pioneer ranching center, settled about 1880. Early land owners included S.M. Conner, W.G. Jameson and W.R. Walker. Dr. J. E. Reed for 50 years was only physician here. R.B. Allen was outstanding civic leader. Post office, named for peak. Oil discovery, 1946, brought drilling, refining, employees' camps, much growth. the town became busy oil-gas center. After camps closed, 1966, the population declined. (1969)