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Courtesy Library of Congress
Amarillo
is one of the few places where the
Old
West is literally only steps away as you move from the modern
twenty-first century to the many surrounding working ranches that are
essentially unchanged from the late 1800s in their day to day
operations.
Francisco Coronado
was the first European to see the vast open spaces of what would one
day be the
Texas Panhandle – nearly 80 years before the Pilgrims landed at
Plymouth Rock. The roving tribes of
Indians had dominated the
area for centuries and were one of the last strongholds against the
invasion of the “White Man.” After the last hold out ended in
the Red River War in 1875, the “staked plains” were opened to
settlement.
The vast, empty territory was immediately
sought out by buffalo hunters while the soldiers at
Fort
Elliott were tasked with keeping the Indians on
Oklahoma
reservations. In late 1876,
Charles
Goodnight drove a herd of longhorn
cattle into Palo Duro Canyon to begin the first Panhandle ranch. Quickly
following, more cattlemen and sheep herders headed to the area for
fresh grazing grounds and a place to start a new life.
Today, the "Queen of
the Panhandle" is a flourishing city with about 175,000 residents.
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Texas Mother Road
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