DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll let the land speak for itself. Now, if you've been drivin' through the Texas Panhandle long enough, you start to notice how big the sky is. Then somebody tells you about the XIT Ranch, and you realize the sky wasn't the only thing out here that defied imagination.
The XIT stretched across ten counties of the Panhandle. Ten counties. And it didn't come about through some cattle baron's dream or a lucky land grab.
It was established through the exchange of public lands to finance construction of the State Capitol. Texas traded dirt for a dome, and what came out of that deal was one of the great ranches in the history of this state. In 1887, the XIT was divided into seven divisions.
Seven. And of all those divisions, the largest was the Spring Lake Pasture Division, covering parts of Parmer, Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties. The northern boundary line of that division ran right across what is now U.S.
Highway 385, close to where you might be standin' or drivin' this very moment. So the road you're on has history baked into the caliche beneath it. The Spring Lake division wasn't just vast.
It was noted for breeding Hereford cattle, which tells you something about the kind of operation this was. Serious. Purposeful.
Built to last. And here's the detail that gets me every time, the part that reminds you how far from anywhere this land really was. The Spring Lake Pasture Division also served as an election polling place for citizens in Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties.
Out here on the open range, under that enormous sky, people came to cast their votes. The ranch wasn't just a ranch. For the folks spread across three counties, it was a civic institution.
That's the Panhandle for you. Big land, big cattle, and somehow still finding room for the business of democracy.
What the marker says
Encompassing land in ten counties of the Texas Panhandle, the XIT Ranch was established through the exchange of public lands to finance construction of the State Capitol. In 1887, it was divided into seven divisions, the largest of which, the Spring Lake Pasture Division, covered parts of Parmer, Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties. Its northern boundary line, near this site, ran across what is now U.S. Highway 385. Noted for breeding Hereford cattle, the Spring Lake division also served as an election polling place for citizens in Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties. (1991)