Wanderers Creek Art
Chillicothe, TX
For those who like the charm of village style living, the little town of Chillicothe, Texas can't be beat. The oldest settlement in Hardeman County, the Iris Village lies between Red River on the north and Pease River on the south. Lake Pauline and Medicine Mounds to the west and Wanderers Creek, which does as its name implies, wandering about, around and through the entire area.
Chillicothe is on U.S. Highway 287, State Highway 91, Farm Road 2006, and the Fort Worth and Denver and Santa Fe railroads in eastern Hardeman County. It was founded in the early 1880s and developed rapidly after the construction of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway in 1887. The community, named by A. E. Jones for his hometown in Missouri, grew up on Wanderer's Creek near the headquarters of W. H. Worsham's R2 Ranch in the 1870s. The post office was established in 1883 with Charles E. Jones as postmaster. A fire destroyed the town in 1890, and citizens rebuilt south of the rail line rather than north.
*New information on the 1890 fire: The fire began in the dry goods store and the winds were very high. There was no way to stop it. The cemetery was located inside the township at that time. The town was then rebuilt closer to the railroad. According to the local fire chief, this explains why the cemetery is located so far out of town. Most towns in Texas have cemeteries inside or close to the city limits.
Pioneers include Sam L. Crossley, who became the first mayor in 1903, J. J. Britt, J. A. Shires, and W. L. Ledbetter. Wheat elevators were constructed in 1892-93, and the town was incorporated in 1907 with a population of 800. Additional rail service from the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway began in 1908. Chillicothe is called the Iris Village because of the many iris gracing the town. The population was 1,411 in 1950, 1,161 in 1960, 1,116 in 1970, and 1,052 in 1980. Chillicothe has a hospital, a library and other businesses. In 1990 the population was 816.
From David Foster: "The picture and article (bottom right image) from the Houston Chronicle is about Jesse Jones who was one of Houston's and the nations' richest men. From the article you can see some of his accomplishments. Additional I understand that he headed up the building of the Empire State Building, at the request of the president, to show that the nation was not without hope.
Hardeman County is on U.S. Highway 287 west of Wichita Falls in the Rolling Plains region of northwest Texas. The county is bordered on the north by Oklahoma, on the east by Wilbarger County, on the south by Foard County, and on the west by Cottle and Childress counties. Its center is at 34°15' north latitude and 99°45' west longitude. Quanah is the county seat and the largest town. In addition to U.S. 287 the county's transportation needs are also served by State Highway 6 and the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads. Hardeman County embraces 688 square miles of grassy, rolling prairies. The elevation ranges from 1,300 to 1,700 feet. The northern two-thirds is drained by the Red River, which forms the northern boundary, and the southern part is drained by the Pease River. Soils range from red to brown, with loamy surface layers and clayey or loamy subsoils. Between 31 and 40 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland. The vegetation is typical of the Rolling Prairies, with tall to medium-tall grasses and mesquite or shinnery oak trees. The climate is generally dry, with cool winters and hot summers. Temperatures range in January from an average low of 24° F to an average high of 52°, and in July from 72° to 98°. The average annual rainfall is 23 inches, the average annual snowfall is 7 inches, and the growing season averages 220 days a year, with the last freeze in late March and the first freeze in early November.
Lipan Apaches dominated the region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Later the semi-sedentary Wichita Indians settled along the Red River. After 1700 the Comanches and Kiowas also migrated from the north to hunt buffalo and other game. The county was formed in 1858 from Fannin County and named for early Matagorda legislators Bailey and Thomas Jones Hardeman. Because of its isolation and the continued threat of Indian attack, however, the area remained unsettled during the Civil War and Reconstruction. After the Civil War a few buffalo hunters and ranchers moved to the region, but it was still only very sparsely settled when the county was organized in 1884. In the 1870s and 1880s rustling was among the principal industries, as thieves headed for Indian Territory crossed Hardeman County to reach the Red River. From 1881 to 1884 Wilbarger County administered Hardeman County's legal affairs, though its handful of settlers had few administrative needs. The 1880 population of Hardeman and Foard counties together totaled only fifty, but population increases in Hardeman County and adjacent regions justified organization in 1884 and a change in county lines some years later. Margaret, first called Argurita, was the original county seat. In 1885 the Fort Worth and Denver Railway made a survey through the area, and the site of Quanah was laid out. Since Margaret was across the Pease River from other settlements and from the railroad, an election held in 1890 made Quanah the county seat. As it was decided that a voter could establish residence by having his laundry done in a town for six weeks, all the railroad crews are said to have become citizens in time to vote for Quanah. In 1891 Foard County was formed from Hardeman, Cottle, King, and Knox counties, a division that left Margaret in Foard County.
The above map (partial image) was provided by David Foster. He believes - and Jerry Flynn & I agree with him - that the Nakoni band of Comanche Indians, also known as the Wanderers Band, was the source of the name of the nearby creek, Wanderers Creek. David has concluded that if the creek derived its name from wandering over the countryside, it would have been named "Wanders". We hope to have further information on this soon.
From 1875 to 1890 Hardeman County was principally a ranching area. In early years, before the construction of the railroad, cattlemen of the R2 Ranch, which covered thirtyfive square miles of Hardeman County, and other ranchers drove their herds to Dodge City, Kansas. Cowboys picked up the Western (or Dodge City) Trail at Doan's Crossing of the Red River, near Vernon. After the completion of the railroad in 1887, Quanah emerged as an important shipping point for the surrounding area. By 1890 there were some 25,000 cattle on the county's ranches. The arrival of the railroad brought other dramatic changes in the area. Lured by the promise of abundant, inexpensive land, large numbers of new settlers began pouring in during the late 1880s. Between 1880 and 1890 the population of Hardeman county grew nearly a hundredfold, from forty-nine to 3,904. Many of the settlers were farmers, who began to till and fence the land. In the eastern part of the county they were planting wheat by 1889 and producing oats and wheat in substantial amounts by 1890.
Higher than average rainfall, good weather, and soaring commodities prices induced some farmers to plow immense stretches of raw prairie for planting. But in 1892 prices fell dramatically, and the following year the entire crop failed. For much of the rest of the decade, Hardeman County farmers struggled. Between 1890 and 1900 the population fell from 3,904 to 3,634, as many discouraged farmers moved away. The number of farms also dropped during the same period, from 373 to 262. The economy, however, began to recover at the turn of the century, in part because of the introduction of large-scale cotton culture. In 1890 only 314 acres was planted in cotton; by 1910 the total was nearly 35,000. In 1910, Hardeman County farmers ginned 8,139 bales; in 1914, at the peak of early cotton boom, more than 30,000 bales were ginned.
After 1900 the population also began growing rapidly again. In 1903 the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was built to Quanah from Oklahoma City, giving the county direct access to St. Louis and points east, and in 1910 the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad opened a rail link with the West. The construction of the railroads fostered more new settlement, particularly in the western part of the county. Between 1900 and 1910 the population rose from 3,634 to 11,213. The number of farms also grew dramatically, from 262 in 1900 to 1,068 in 1910. Because of the rapidly growing population, land prices showed a marked increase, and many new farmers found it impossible to afford land. The number of tenants and sharecroppers grew rapidly, particularly in the 1920s, and by 1930 nearly two out of every three farmers-946 of 1,388-were working someone else's land. In contrast to many other areas of the state the overwhelming majority of the tenants were white, but the practice nonetheless had serious results in the 1930s.
During the early years of the century grain and cotton were the principal agricultural products in Hardeman County, but from 1910 to 1920 there was a pronounced shift from corn and oats to wheat. In 1920 county farmers raised 871,134 bushels of wheat, making the county one of the leaders in the state in wheat culture. Cotton also continued to be grown in large amounts. In 1926 more than 50,000 bales were ginned in the county, and production levels continued to be high through the end of the 1920s. Droughts, boll weevil infestations, and falling prices, however, combined to drive down cotton production in the 1930s. Although the amount of land planted in cotton continued to be quite high-as much as 144,994 acres in 1930-both yields and profits dropped significantly, especially after 1932. In 1930 Hardeman County farmers produced only 26,573 bales, half the peak figure of the late 1920s; and by 1936 the number of bales ginned had fallen to 4,301. As a result of poor crop yields and the reluctance of banks to extend credit to financially strapped farmers, many of those who made a living from the land, particularly tenants, found themselves in a precarious position. Numerous farmers were forced to give up their livelihood and seek work elsewhere. Between 1930 and 1940 the number of farms in the county fell by almost a third, and by 1940 only slightly more than half the number of tenants of a decade before-566 of 946-were still on the land. The population of the county as a whole dropped from 14,532 in 1930 to 11,073 in 1940.
The economy began to recover during World War II, partly as a result of the discovery of oil in 1944, which helped many cash-poor farmers to settle long-standing debts. Cotton farming continued to decline after the war, and by the 1960s only six gins were in operation, in contrast to the high of sixteen in the early 1930s. Subsequently wheat was the leading crop. The yield reported by the agricultural census of 1982, 1,915,320 bushels, placed Hardeman County near the top of wheat-producing counties in the state. Much of the western part of the county is ranching country, with cattle the leading revenue producer, followed by sheep, goats, and horses. Gypsum deposits were discovered in Hardeman County in 1890, and production of plaster began in 1903. Production of gypsum products became a leading industry in Quanah. Oil production in 1990 was 2,991,016 barrels. Between 1944 and January 1, 1990, total production was 46,854,172 barrels. In 1982, 96 percent of the land in the county was in farms and ranches, with 40 percent of the land under cultivation and 8 percent irrigated. In 1982, Hardeman County ranked 160th among Texas counties in agricultural receipts, with 78 percent coming from crops, mainly wheat, cotton, oats, peanuts, and hay; watermelons, peaches, and pecans were also grown in sizable quantities. The leading livestock product was cattle. The total number of businesses in the county in the early 1980s was 132. In 1980, 22 percent of workers were self-employed, 18 percent were employed in professional or related services, 20 percent in manufacturing, 18 percent in wholesale and retail trade, 18 percent in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining, and 8 percent in other counties; there were 923 retired workers. Nonfarm earnings in 1981 totaled $52,684,000.
The first schools in Hardeman County were founded in the 1880s. In the early 1980s the county had two school districts, with two elementary, one middle, and two high schools. The average daily attendance in 1981-82 was 1,150, with expenditures per pupil of $2,581. Sixty-seven percent of the sixty-five high school graduates planned to attend college. In 1983, 73 percent of the school graduates were white, 16 percent Hispanic, 11 percent black, 0.3 percent Asian, and 0.2 percent American Indian.
The first churches in the county were established shortly after its organization. In the mid-1980s the county had twenty-two churches, with an estimated combined membership of 5,000. The largest denominations were Baptist, Methodist, and Church of Christ. Politically, Hardeman County has generally remained true to the Democratic party in statewide and national elections. After the presidential election of 1952 the county went Republican only twice, in 1972 and 1984. During this same period the county voted Republican in only one gubernatorial election (1986), and then by the narrow margin of 708 votes to 690. In United States Senate races, Republicans received the majority only in 1972 and 1984. In the 1982 primary 98 percent voted Democratic and 2 percent Republican, with a total of 1,367 votes cast.
The population of Hardeman County fell steadily after the eve of World War II, as residents gradually moved away to find jobs. The number of residents in the county was 11,073 in 1940, 10,185 in 1950, 8,275 in 1960, 6,795 in 1970, 6,368 in 1980, 5,283 in 1990, and a 10.6% decline, to 4,724, in 2000 . In 1990 more than half of the population (3,413) lived in Quanah. Other communities include Chillicothe, Acme, Goodlett, North Groesbeck, Punkin Center, and Medicine Mound. In 1990, 83.8 percent of the population was white, 6.1 percent black, 0.5 percent Indian, and 0.3 percent Asian. The largest ancestry groups are English, Irish, German, and Hispanic. Copper Breaks State Park and Lake Pauline provide recreation. Among the leading attractions are the Medicine Mounds, four cone-shaped hills rising 350 feet above the surrounding plain, that were once held by the Comanches to have magical powers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bill Neal, The Last Frontier: The Story of Hardeman County (Quanah, Texas: Quanah Tribune-Chief, 1966). Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).
Hardeman County courtesy of the Quanah Chamber of Commerce.
For more background on the word "Chillicothe", keep reading. I rec'd the following email from a librarian in Chillicothe, MO:
Chillicothe, MO was named after Chillicothe, OH after settlers from there
came here. I think that there is also a Chillicothe, Virginia from which
all of our cities were named.
Below is more information on the word....................
Shawnee people
Native American tribe of the Algonquian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area.
In about 1700 they lived in present-day Ohio but were driven out by the Iroquois. Some migrated to Florida and by 1800 reached Texas.
Most, however, went to what is now Georgia and South Carolina. Part of this group, known as the Eastern Shawnee, then moved to Pennsylvania with the Delaware tribe. The other part settled in Tennessee.
Both were pushed back to Ohio by other tribes in 1730-1750; American expansion forced some into Indiana by 1795.
The Shawnee first supported the French against the British and later the British against the Americans.
After 1805 the Shawnee leader Tecumseh organized a multitribal movement to resist white expansion.
In the 1830s, pressured by the Iroquois and the whites, they moved again. The Eastern Shawnee settled in Oklahoma. The other Ohio group moved first to a Kansas reservation and later to Oklahoma; where they live among the Cherokee.
The Texas group, known as the Absentee Shawnee, was pushed north into Oklahoma in the mid-19th century.
Today, people claiming Absentee Shawnee ancestry dwell mostly in central Oklahoma and have a separate tribal government from that of the Eastern and Cherokee Shawnee.
The early Shawnee had an Eastern Woodland culture. In summer, they lived in bark-covered houses in villages while the women farmed and the men hunted, and in winter they split into small hunting camps.
The Shawnee belonged to patrilineal clans and lineages.
Today they farm, ranch, and do various other work.
Some are Protestants, but many adhere to traditional religions.
In 1990, 750 people claimed to be of Eastern Shawnee descent; Cherokee Shawnee descendants numbered 947; Absentee Shawnee numbered 1279. The total number of people in 1990 who claimed to be of Shawnee descent was 6179.
"Shawnee (people)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Shawnee
The Shawnee Indians were living in the Ohio Valley as early as A.D. 1660. But the Iroquois were not willing to share these rich hunting grounds and drove the Shawnees away. Some went to Illinois, others went to Pennsylvania, Maryland or Georgia. As the power of the Iroquois weakened, the Shawnee Indians moved back into Ohio from the south and the east. They settled in the lower Scioto River valley.
The Shawnees speak a form of the Algonquian Indian language and so are related to the Delaware, Miami, and Ottawa Indians. The Shawnees had a special friendship with the Wyandots. They referred to the Wyandot tribe as their "uncles." Other Indian tribes could be allies one day and enemies the next.
Political alliances were complicated and changed with the times. The Shawnees were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio country around A.D. 1740. The French pushed the British out of Ohio and the Shawnees were forced to be allies of the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. As French trading posts turned into British forts the Ohio Indians banded together to fight the British. During the American Revolution, the Shawnee fought alongside the British against the Americans. After the war they continued to fight the Americans.
The Shawnees were fierce warriors. They were among the most feared and respected of Ohio's Indians. Tecumseh was their greatest chief.
General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnees and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnees surrendered most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greenville.
Many of the Shawnees moved into Indiana and continued to fight for their land and freedom. General William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnees and their allies at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
Between 1831 and 1833 the United States forced the Shawnees to give up their last reservations in Ohio. They were sent off to reservations in Oklahoma and Kansas.
The Shawnees were divided into different clans. The main chief of the Shawnees could only come from one clan. The name of this clan was "Chillicothe." When a village was called Chillicothe it meant that it was home to the principal chief -- the "capitol city" of the Shawnees. Chillicothe was also the name of Ohio's first state capitol, but the modern city is not the site of a former Shawnee town.
Chillicothe
Chillicothe was the name of several historic towns in Ohio. The word is from the Shawnee language giving the name for one of their clans. The main chief of the Shawnees could only come from the "Chillicothe" clan. When a village was called Chillicothe it meant that it was home to the principal chief. It was the "capitol city" of the Shawnees until the death of that chief. Then the capitol would move to the home village of the next main chief. That village would then be called "Chillicothe."
One Chillicothe was a Shawnee town located on the site of the modern city of Piqua. Another was on the Scioto River south of Circleville at, or near, modern Westfall. A third Chillicothe was about three miles north of Xenia. When Simon Kenton was taken prisoner in 1778 the Shawnee brought him to this Shawnee town. A fourth Chillicothe was at Frankfort along Paint Creek in Ross County. A fifth Chillicothe was at Hopetown three miles north of the modern city of Chillicothe. Modern Chillicothe was Ohio's first state capitol, but it was never the site of a former Shawnee town.
