DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the official marker for W. P. Soash, Colonizer, out of Howard County.
Now, every good Texas story needs a dreamer. And W. P.
Soash — born in 1877, died in 1961 — was about as grand a dreamer as this flatland ever saw. He came out of Iowa. Came to Texas in 1905, which ought to tell you something about the man's nerve.
Iowa to West Texas. He arrived as a land promoter, here to sell off parcels of XIT Ranch land. And sell he did.
But selling wasn't enough for W. P. Soash.
A man of his particular ambition needed to build. He founded the town of Ware up in Dallam County. He founded Olton over in Lamb County.
And then — well, then he decided to put his own name on the map. Literally. In 1909, he platted the town of Soash — sitting one mile north of where you're standing right now — on part of C.
C. Slaughter's Long S Ranch. And he didn't wait around for settlers to wander in on their own.
No, sir. He loaded up trainloads of farmers from the East and the Midwest and brought them out here to work this land. Trainloads.
That is a man with a vision and a timetable. For a while, the town of Soash flourished. It had the feel of something real, something lasting.
Soash was even bold enough to propose his own railroad — the Gulf, Soash and Pacific Railroad. Now just let that name roll around for a second. The Gulf, Soash and Pacific.
It had a ring to it. But the Santa Fe Line was extended. And when the Santa Fe came through, the Gulf, Soash and Pacific didn't.
That railroad dream failed right there. And then came the drought. Four years of it.
Four years with no mercy, no relief, no negotiating. A four-year drought will humble a flourishing town down to almost nothing, and that's exactly what it did to Soash. By the 1970s, all that remained of that original townsite was the shell of the bank building.
Just the shell. No farmers, no railroad, no grand Gulf, Soash and Pacific — just a hollow bank standing out on the West Texas plain like a man who forgot to leave. W.
P. Soash came from Iowa in 1905 with trainloads of ambition, built towns across the Panhandle, and put his own name on the map. The drought didn't erase that name.
It just left it quieter than he planned.
What the marker says
Land promoter W. P. Soash (1877-1961) of Iowa came (1905) to Texas to sell parcels of XIT Ranch land. He founded the towns of Ware in Dallam County and Olton in Lamb County. He platted Soash (1 mi. N) on part of C. C. Slaughter's Long S Ranch in 1909 and brought trainloads of farmers from the East and Midwest to settle this area. The town flourished, but his proposed Gulf, Soash & Pacific Railroad failed when the Santa Fe Line was extended. A four-year drought soon caused Soash to decline. In the 1970s, only the shell of the bank building remained to mark the original townsite. (1978)