Tee Pee City

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Tee Pee City, out in Motley County. Now, some towns earn their names from grand deeds or famous men. Tee Pee City earned its name from a pile of old poles.

Abandoned tipi poles, found lying along a creek, and that creek, and the little settlement that grew up near it, just took the name and ran with it. The site sits eight miles north-northeast of this very spot, right at the junction of the Middle Pease River and Tee Pee Creek. It was the 1870s, and the southern buffalo herd was still drawing traders west like a magnet draws iron filings.

Traders established an outpost there to take advantage of the buffalo hide trade, and one of the partners in that original operation was a man named Charles Rath, described as an important figure in West Texas history. Rath helped bring in wagons, cattle, mules, and dance hall equipment. That is a particular combination of supplies that tells you just about everything you need to know about what kind of town this was going to be.

Rath himself didn't stick around long. He continued south to establish his headquarters on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos, leaving management of the Tee Pee City camp to others. Smart man, perhaps.

Because what those others built was something. By 1877, an account of the settlement identified one or two saloons, a dance hall, a gambling hall, and a two-room hotel; plus other businesses. The whole thing was built from picket houses and tents.

Not exactly the marble and mortar of civilization, but it had a post office by 1879, when the R.V. Fields and A.B. Cooper families arrived.

Cooper freighted supplies and ran a general store right out of a dugout. The 1880 census counted twelve residents. Twelve souls, keeping all those saloons and gambling halls in business.

Of course, by 1879 the buffalo that had drawn everyone out here in the first place were nearly gone. Hunters had killed thousands, nearly depleting the southern herd. The reason for the place had more or less vanished into the grass.

What remained was the rowdiness. Tee Pee City was best known (and that word best is doing some heavy lifting there) for its brawls and shootings. Wild enough that it warranted the attention of G.W.

Arrington's Texas Rangers. A school opened in 1895, which suggests someone out there had optimism, but by 1902 the school was gone. The post office held on from 1879 all the way to 1900.

The end, when it came, came quietly; or at least, by someone with enough money to enforce quiet. In 1904, the Matador Land and Cattle Company bought the land and closed down the saloon. The saloon had already been off limits to Matador employees on account of its wild reputation.

Now it was off limits to everybody. A state monument was placed at the townsite back in 1936. In 2002 it was moved here.

Little remains at the original site, which sits on private land now: just the junction of a river and a creek, and whatever the grass has decided to keep.

What the marker says

Tee Pee City At the junction of the Middle Pease River and Tee Pee Creek (8 mi. NNE), is the site of Tee Pee City. In the 1870s, traders established an outpost there to take advantage of the area's buffalo hide trade. The small community of picket houses and tents derived its name from abandoned tipi (tee pee) poles found along the creek. Charles Rath, an important figure in West Texas history, was among the partners in the original operation that resulted in the formation of the settlement, bringing in wagons, cattle, mules and dace hall equipment. Rath then continued south to establish his headquarters on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos, leaving management of the Tee Pee City camp to others. An 1877 account of the settlement identified one or two saloons, a dance hall, gambling hall and two-room hotel, as well as other businesses. The 1880 census listed 12 residents. The R.V. Fields and A.B. Cooper families arrived in 1879, the same year Tee Pee City's post office opened. By then, few buffalo remained in the area. Hunters had killed thousands, nearly depleting the southern herd. Cooper freighted supplies and ran a general store out of a dugout. The community supported a post office (1879-1900), as well as a school (1895-1902), but Tee Pee City was best known for its rowdiness, brawls and shootings, which warranted the attention of G.W. Arrington's Texas Rangers. In 1904, the Matador Land and Cattle Company bought the land and closed down the saloon, which had been off limits to Matador employees due to its wild reputation. A 1936 state monument placed at the townsite was moved here in 2002. Little remains at the original site, now on private land. (2002)