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"W. B. 's financial relationship with his brother had always been strained. In 1898 W. B. had purchased land in Sherman County in the upper Texas Panhandle with a $30,000 loan from the Colonel. Seven years later, with $25,000 of the loan unpaid, he attempted unsuccessfully to get his brother to accept a $15, 000 payoff. To son George, Colonel Slaughter wrote of his brother, "Bill as a lot of gall, hasn't he?" However, in spite of W. B. 's mishandling of Bankers' Trust, the..." Read more Look inside

His life, from humble beginnings as an Oklahoma farmboy to a multi-millionaire real estate developer.

"... while we would meet halfway, in the town of Stratford, Texas for lunch and a visit. It gets lonesome way out there in west Texas by yourself, so this was good. I was doing well enough that I could comfortably trade for a newer car..." Read more Look inside

"Stratford, Texas, was named after the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee in Stratford, Virginia. It had been given its name by Walter Colton, an admirer of the Confederate general who was a hero to most southerners and held in surprisingly ..." Read more Look inside

"At a little before six that evening, Tim's chase vehicle enters the crossroads hamlet of Stratford, Texas, one of those lonely, wind-scoured outposts afloat on an unbroken ocean of grain. Bewhiskered by quivering antennas, and the white ..." Read more Look inside

"Stratford, Texas, is a bit different from Stratford on Avon or even Stratford, Connecticut, for that matter. For those of you who remember the movie The Last Picture Show, it could well have been filmed in this town, population 2004..." Read more Look inside

"The Way We Farm in Sherman County. Few machines changed the High Plains more than the steam traction engine. Whether pulling a heavy plow in the spring, as shown here, or powering a thresher in the fall, the great, lumbering noisy, steam traction tractors efficiently converted buffalo range into a nation's breadbasket..." Read more Look inside

"Fred Graven became involved in Panhandle politics because he had attended academy before coming west and could spell. He found Sherman County, where he was first stationed, a hotbed of politics, with cowboys from all over the area coming into Sherman to cast votes for one side or the other. "or maybe both sides if they could get away with it." The only difference that Graven could see in the contending parties was that one was in office and the other wanted in..." Read more Look inside

Found Inside: "A dust storm approached homes in Stratford, Texas, as people watched outside. ... It covered large parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas. During the 1930s the region suffered from . . . " Read more Look inside

Found inside: "Or sometimes neighbors would gather with picnic baskets when a hog was to be killed; the meat was then divided up and canned, as quart after quart of it was taken from the pressure cooker. With such homegrown resources, a family of six plus a hired man in Sherman County, Texas, could shave their monthly food bill $10 . . . Read more Look inside

Letters from the Dust Bowl

by Caroline Henderson

Found inside: " December 14, 1933. Today we went to Texhoma---26 miles from home to see about some necessary repairs for the tractor and were dismayed to find ourselves out in another of the raging dust storms which have made life so miserable here for so long. We hoped they were over; but the lights were on in all the stores by 1:30" . . . Read more Look inside

Found Inside: "In 1979, Wynnie, a farm wife and mother of two married daughters, became the first woman ever elected to the Texhoma city council. “Texhoma is a good place to live and raise kids,” says Wynnie, who also does volunteer work for the chamber . . . : Read more Look Inside

Found inside: "They settled on Grapevine, a tributary of the Blue, in Sherman County. Just when they came in is a matter of speculation, but they were ahead of Bates and Beal, running the SNO brand upon cattle graded up by good Shorthorn sires. They sold out to the LX's in 1877 " . . . Read more Look inside

Found inside: " One of Sherman County's own county commissioners raised grassfed bison and cattle and sold the meat both locally and ... He thought of the High Plains, all the way from western North Dakota to the Texas Panhandle, as a single bioregion . . . Read more

Found Inside: "My mother brought it to Texas County, Oklahoma , where they homesteaded in 1906 . We later moved to Stratford, Texas, in 1921 , and then to Channing in Hartley County in 1929 . It has been a favorite in our family all these years . .

edited by Marylou McDaniel

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County