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TEXAS LEGENDS
Bushland and Wildorado
- Skeletons Along the Staked Plains |
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Bushland, Texas
Fourteen miles west of
Amarillo
is the old settlement of
Bushland,
Texas,
established as a station on the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway. Named for Chicago real estate baron, William Henry Bush, who owned the
Frying Pan Ranch, Bush donated the land for the town site and the
railroad right-of-way. The town site was dedicated by Bush and
an associate named S. H. Smiser on July 3, 1908 and the settlement was
named Bush Stop. On January, 1909, the post office opened soon a
few farmers and ranchers began to settle there.

An old station along
Route 66
in
Bushland,
Texas,
December, 2004, Kathy Weiser
A couple of years
after its beginning, William Bush’s wife determined that the town’s
name did not properly represent the family and soon talked the train
station master into repainting the west walls of the depot with the
name “Bushland.”
Though
Bushland never became the booming farming community that Bush had
envisioned, it built a church in 1917 that continues to conduct
services today. By the 1920s the population had grown to
approximately 175 and the town supported four businesses and an
elementary school. By the 1960s the town’s population had
dropped to about 130, a number which it continues to maintain.
A few remnants of the old
Mother Road
can still be spied in this small town.
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Wildorado, Texas
Wildorado, some 23 miles west of
Amarillo on old
Route 66, was named for nearby Wildorado Creek
in 1900. Located along the old cattle trail from Tascosa to Canyon
City,
Wildorado was born when the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad
marked it as a shipping point on the new line.
The town was first settled by Eugene
Binford and John R. Goodman, who was already ranching in the area. When the post office was established in 1904, Goodman became its first
postmaster. In 1908, the railroad was completed and a town site was
laid out. An enterprising man, Goodman soon organized the
Wildorado State Bank and built
the
Wildorado Hotel. The town’s
first newspaper the Wildorado Progress began publication in 1909.
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A lonely windmill sits along the
Mother Road
in
Wildorado,
Texas, December, 2004, Kathy Weiser.
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As the town began to grow many small ranchers and farmers
were attracted to the area and by 1915,
Wildorado had telephone
connections, a grocer, a general store, a lumber company, a blacksmith, a
hardware store, a school, two churches, and a population of 100.
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A
Texas
Panhandle dust storm in 1935, photo courtesy
NOAA
Photo Library. |
During the dustbowl days of the late 1920s and early 1930s,
Wildorado suffered along with the
rest of the Midwest as crops were ruined by drought and many a pioneer
gave up and headed West to escape the blinding dust storms. Along
with numerous refugees from
Oklahoma,
these desperate folks loaded up their belongings seeking a better life and
headed down the newly founded
Route 66.
To
make matters worse during this time, the state bank, the grain elevator,
and the mercantile store were robbed and burglarized several times by even
more desperate men from nearby Borger,
Texas. By
1936, the one time settlement with a bright future had been reduced to
seven businesses and a population of just a little more than fifty.
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However, after
World War II when travel became a popular past time,
Wildorado responded with services
along the
Mother Road and its population grew to more than 200 by the late
1950’s.
Seemingly doomed,
Wildorado suffered another blow
when I-40 barreled through town and many businesses on the south side of
old Route 66
were destroyed.
Today the town hangs on as a Feedlot
settlement with its accompanying aroma, and farm trucks rolling through
its old streets. However, there still remains some picturesque glimpses
of the once busy
Route 66.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated January, 2009.
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This old garage ain't doin' alot of business
anymore,
December, 2004, Kathy Weiser.
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Jesse's Cafe isn't faring any better,
December, 2004,
Kathy Weiser.
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These old cars sit out front of a flea market
in
Wildorado,
Texas, December, 2004, Kathy Weiser.
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Return to
Texas Route 66
See the
Texas
66 Gallery of Pictures
Join our new
Ghost Town Forum
for information, questions, and Ghost Town experiences!
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From the Rocky Mountain General Store
 66
Basics -
You can travel
Route 66
with just these basics, you will know where to go, where to grab a bite to
eat, and where to sleep as you travel the historic
Mother Road.
The
EZ66
Guide For Travelers
provides maps in addition to tons of
information on
Route 66
icons and "must sees."
The
Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide will give you those places that you "need" to stop to fortify yourself for
the journey. Retailing for $32.90, you can save on not only
retail costs but also on shipping. Ships Priority mail.
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