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FR318 XIT Ranch
Photograph Collection, 1915-1975
17 prints.
Contains images of former employees and persons associated with the XIT Ranch, including bronc riding, a parade in downtown Dalhart,Texas, people standing and sitting at reunion, a woman with a variety of walking canes, and women dressed in western regalia. Charles B. and John V. Farwell formed the Capitol Syndicate of Chicago to operate the XIT Ranch on 3,050,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle which they received for building the Texas state capitol. Organized in 1885, the XIT ran 150,000 head of cattle in Dallam, Hartley, Oldham, Deaf Smith, Parmer, Castro, Bailey, Lamb and Hockley counties of Texas. The brand created by John and Abner Blocker was adopted because it could be made with one bar of iron and was difficult to change. The ranch operated out of divisional headquarters known as Buffalo Springs, Middle Water, Rito Blanco, Ojo Bravo, Alamositas, Escarbada, Spring Lake and Yellow House. Beginning in 1901, the Capitol Syndicate sold the ranch lands by division, creating many smaller ranches and farms. By the 1930s, only 320,000 acres remained of the original XIT Ranch.