The 96 Ranch

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Mitchell County, where the land stretches flat and wide and the Colorado River cuts a quiet path through it all, there's a story worth slowin down for. It starts before the towns came, before the businessmen and the farmers showed up with their plans and their paperwork.

Cattlemen got here first, settlin Mitchell County in the late 1870s, and the ranches they built shaped everything that followed. Now, one of the important early ranches in this country was the 96 Ranch, and the man behind it was James Durham Wulfjen, born in 1845. When he first laid eyes on Mitchell County, Wulfjen was a merchant over in Round Rock.

A merchant. Dry goods and ledger books, not cattle drives and open range. But in 1884, something changed.

He came out here, took a look at the booming ranch economy, and whatever he saw lit a fire in him. He filed on three sections of land, brought in a herd of cattle, and built himself a cabin near the Colorado River, right on the site of an old buffalo hunter's camp. That detail right there says something about the age of this place.

The buffalo hunters had already come and gone, and Wulfjen was planting something meant to last. Of course, a cabin near the river on an isolated ranch is one thing. Convincing your wife to leave the comforts of town life is another matter entirely.

But Wulfjen persuaded Mary Jane, born 1854, to make the move, and she did. And here is where you might want to sit with that for a moment, because Mary Jane Wulfjen lived until 1950. She came out to a raw, lonely ranch in the 1880s and she was still here when the mid-twentieth century arrived.

Whatever that woman was made of, it was something considerable. On March 11, 1885, James Wulfjen walked into the Mitchell County Courthouse and registered the 96 brand. That brand is still used by his descendants today.

Not retired, not framed on a wall. Still in use. He and his sons went on to build the ranch up to 19 sections, 12,160 acres, raising fine Durham cattle and saddle horses across all of it.

But the Wulfjens weren't just ranchin. They helped build a school and a church out at a nearby community called Seven Wells. They donated funds for schools in both Mitchell and Scurry Counties, making sure their six children and the other kids in the area had a chance at an education.

The marker says they contributed to the stability of the ranching frontier, and that's a phrase worth hearing. Stability. Out here, in those early years, that was not a given.

It had to be built, and they helped build it. James Durham Wulfjen was born in 1845 and he lived until 1933. The land he filed on, the brand he registered, the ranch he raised up from a buffalo hunter's camp on the Colorado River, it's still in the family.

Different members, different generations, but the same ground. The 96 Ranch is still theirs. Some stories have a way of not ending, and this is one of them.

What the marker says

Cattlemen began settling Mitchell County in the late 1870s, before the arrival of businessmen and farmers. This marker stands on one of the area's important early ranches, the 96 Ranch, founded by James Durham Wulfjen (1845-1933). Wulfjen was a merchant in Round Rock before he visited Mitchell County in 1884. Inspired by the booming ranch economy, he filed on three sections of land, brought in a herd of cattle. And built a cabin near the Colorado River at the site of an old buffalo hunter's camp. He then persuaded his wife Mary Jane (Cocreham) (1854-1950) to give up the comforts of town life and settle on an isolated ranch. On March 11, 1885, at the Mitchell County Courthouse, Wulfjen registered the "96" brand, still used by his descendants. He and his sons increased the size of the ranch to 19 sections (12,160 acres), on which they raised fine Durham cattle and saddle horses. The land is still owned by various members of the family. The Wulfjens helped build a school and church at nearby Seven Wells and contributed to the stability of the ranching frontier. To provide education for their six children and others in the area, they donated funds for schools in Mitchell and Scurry Counties. (1976)