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Hansford County, Texas

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About Hansford County

Hansford County, on the northern edge of the Panhandle, is bordered on the north by Oklahoma, on the west by Sherman County, on the south by Hutchinson County, and on the east by Ochiltree County. The approximate center of the county lies at 36°15' north latitude and 101°20' west longitude.

Spearman, the county seat, is in the southeastern part of the county, about ten miles from the county center and approximately eighty miles northeast of Amarillo. The county, named for John M. Hansford, comprises 907 square miles of level and rolling prairies cut by the intermittent Frisco, Coldwater, Palo Duro, and Horse creeks. The region's black, sandy, and loam soils support abundant native grasses as well as wheat, corn, sorghum, oats, and other small grains.

An Apachean culture occupied the Panhandle-Plains area in prehistoric times; the modern Apaches emerged subsequently but were pushed out of the region about 1700 by the Comanches, who dominated the area until the mid-1870s. During the early 1870s buffalo hunters traversed the area from the east, slaughtering the great southern herd as they went.

In 1873 James H. Cator and his brother Robert, both buffalo hunters from England, established an outpost in what became Hansford County. They named this semipermanent camp Zulu, and it soon became known as Zulu Stockade. Over the next four years the buffalo were wiped out. In the Red River War of 1874 the Comanches were conquered; they were removed to Indian Territory in 1875 and 1876.

By 1880 the United States census counted eighteen people living in the county. That same year the county's first town, Farwell, was established near the center of the county; in 1887 Hansford, a stage stop on the old Tascosa-Dodge City Trail, was established near Farwell on Palo Duro Creek. In 1889, when the county was politically organized, Hansford outpolled Farwell in a county-seat election.

Though ranching early became the mainstay of the county's economy, it did not develop as quickly or on as large a scale as in other counties of the western and southern Panhandle. As late as 1890 only twenty-three ranches were in operation in the county; the agricultural census reported 4,704 cattle that year.

After 1900 farmers began to move in. Land speculation and the foundation of several local land companies after 1900 led to the arrival of both Anglo-American and immigrant farmers. In 1909, for example, the Anders L. Mordt Land Company began to bring in Norwegians from the upper Midwest.

Oil was discovered in Hansford County in 1937, and significant production began in the 1950s. In 1956 production totaled almost 548,000 barrels; in 1960, almost 1,342,000 barrels; in 1974, about 590,000 barrels; and in 1990, 463,833 barrels. By January of 1991, 34,928,925 barrels of oil had been extracted from Hansford County land since 1937.

Spearman is the home of the Stationmaster's House Museum, and hosts such events as the Hansford Roundup in May and Fun Day in July. Hansford County generally voted for Democratic candidates in presidential elections through 1948, except for William McKinley in 1896 and 1900 and Herbert Hoover in 1928. From 1952 to 1992 the county voted for Republican presidential candidates.

Please click here for a more detailed
History of Hansford County

Source: The Handbook of Texas Online

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My name is LaRae Halsey-Brooks, and my daughter,
Eireann Brooks, and I are the County Co-Coordinators
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