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Books About Armstrong County Texas People and Places
Our favorite books about people and places in Armstrong County, Claude, Goodnight, Washburn and Wayside Texas.

 

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Cowboy WisdomCowboy Wisdom

Collected from real-life and movie cowboys and cowgirls, Cowboy Wisdom covers such topics as Love and Horses and Greenhorns, Tenderfeet, and other Amusements.

"And what to do with the rest of the prickly pear: If water is muddy and you wish to settle it, peel off stickers and [the] outside of the pear, slice, and scatter over the top of the water. They will soon sink to the bottom, carrying the sediment down with them. —COLONEL CHARLES GOODNIGHT Goodnight, Texas 1930 . . .Read more Look inside

The Worst Hard TimeThe Worst Hard Time:

The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl

The dust storms that terrorized America's High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since, and the stories of the people that held on have never been fully told. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author Timothy Egan follows a half-dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, going from sod huts to new framed houses to huddling in basements with the windows sealed by damp sheets in a futile effort to keep the dust out . . . Read more Look inside

The Rim to Rim Road:

Will Hamblen and the Crossing of Texas' Palo Duro Canyon

William Henry Hamblen was a man with a dream. He was a pioneer with a purpose, a trail blazer, a man of action and persistence. In 1969, his daughter-in-law Eutha set out to tell the story of this remarkable man, his life and times in the Texas Panhandle, and the family he raised there in the small town of Wayside, in Armstrong County . . . Read more

Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman

by J. Evetts Haley

An exciting story of a Texas Ranger, adventurer, and immigration officer who became a symbol of his age while gambling with death in the wild frontier regions of Texas, Arizona, and Old and New Mexico. Charles Goodnight knew the West of Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Dick Wooton, St. Vrain, and Lucien Maxwell . .  . Charles Goodnight is buried in Goodnight Texas . . . Read more

Why Charles Goodnight Matters to Texas

The accomplishments of famed cattleman Charles Goodnight are retold with a fresh perspective in this biography. From the blazing of the Goodnight-Loving Trail to the invention of the chuck wagon, Goodnight remains a pivotal figure in Texas ranching lore. "Soon afterward, a railway station, post office, blacksmith shop, and school were built in the community. The town was named Goodnight, Texas after its founder" . . . Read more

Paul Newman: A Life

"They spent several weeks on location in Claude, Texas, an empty little town about thirty miles southeast of Amarillo. Newman got to bomb around the endless roads in a big Cadillac convertible and wrestle a pig in a dusty rodeo arena . . ."  Read more Look inside

Adobe Walls Bride: The Story of Billy and Olive King Dixon

"From Fort Worth she went by the new Fort Worth and Denver City Line to Washburn, Texas, only a few miles east of Amarillo. At Washburn another change was made, and Olive rode the connecting spur of the Southern Kansas and Panhandle" . . . Learn more

Wanted: Historic County Jails of Texas

"In 1890 Claude was declared the Armstrong County seat after Charles Goodnight, the famous early rancher, broke a tie vote. The first jail was a wooden calaboose. In 1894 the calaboose was replaced by a two-story stone structure built by Pauly Jail company for $14,000. Stone was quarried fourteen miles south of Claude and hauled to the site by wagon and mule for $1.50 per day. The walls of the building  . . . " Read more Look inside

The Best Cowboy Stories Ever Told

"Mrs. Goodnight touched a soft spot in my heart by filling me up on several occasions with juicy berries which she had gathered with her own hands. at this writing Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Goodnight are still alive, and living in the town of Goodnight, Texas, which has been made famous as the home of the largest herd of buffalo in that state, and possibly the whole United States. The foundation of this herd of buffalo was started on the round-up in the spring of 1879 . . . Read more Look inside

 The No-gun Man of Texas, a Century of Achievement 1835-1929

by Laura V Hamner

To the Pioneers of the Short Grass Country, I dedicate this written picture of Charles Goodnight. These plainsmen of the Texas Panhandle had vision. They saw possibilities in a barren world. They had persistence. They conquered wind and storm and drought and cold  . . . Read more

The Lonesome Plains: Death and Revival on an American Frontier

Loneliness pervaded the lives of pioneers on the American plains, including the empty expanses of West Texas. Most settlers lived in isolation broken only by occasional community gatherings such as funerals and religious.

"Maude Smith Galloway, a native of Missouri, settled near what is now Claude, Texas, in 1909. Despondent from the move, she stepped outside one evening and observed the sun sinking in the west . . . ' Read more, Look inside

Light 'n hitch;

A collection of historical writing depicting life on the High Plains

by Laura V Hamner

The High Plains cattle country was in many ways the last frontier in America. In the Seventies, a circle of three hundred miles diameter could have been drawn -from, a point in the center of the Panhandle of Texas: without encompassing a mile of railroad or a town of any size. It was but a stretch of free grass. Two obstacles stood in the way of development: buffalo and Indians . . . Read more

 Lonely Graves: a Texas Murder Trilogy

"Dr. W.A. Warner arrived from Claude at 3 a.m. By this time Minnie had been dead for three hours. the ladies had already dressed her and laid her body out for funeral preparations . . ." Read more and Look Inside

Ella Elgar Bird Dumont: An Autobiography of a West Texas Pioneer

A crack shot, expert skinner and tanner, seamstress, sculptor, and later writer—a list that only hints at her intelligence and abilities—Ella Elgar Bird Dumont was one of those remarkable women who helped tame the Texas frontier. First married at sixteen to a Texas Ranger, she followed her husband to Comanche Indian country in King County, where they lived in a tepee while participating in the final slaughter of the buffalo .. . . " the bear hunt was probably in what is now Armstrong County, southeast of Amarillo". . . .  Read more Look inside

Women in Texas: Their Lives, Their Experiences, Their Accomplishments

by Ann Fears Crawford and Crystal Sasse Ragsdale

Mollie Goodnight "With the close of the nineteenth century the Goodnights established a ranch in northeast Armstrong County near Clarendon . As the ranch grew , Goodnight Station on the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad became Goodnight , Texas . . . Read more

Texas Women and Ranching

Found Inside: "John Adair died unexpectedly in 1885, and Cornelia Adair became Goodnight's partner. Most commentators assert that Cornelia would become more engaged in JA affairs than John had ever been. Cornelia's partnership with Goodnight would end in 1887, and she would continue as sole owner of the ranch for the next thirty-three years. By 1887 the ranch had grown to over six hundred thousand acres and covered portions of Armstrong, Randall, Donley, Briscoe, Swisher, Floyd and Hall Counties. Historian Frances Vick notes that at this point "Cornelia became one of the few women in the world to preside over such a huge enterprise and financial empire." . . . Read more Look inside

 Short Grass & Longhorns

by Laura V Hamner

 . .. long rope , made a circle about the horses to form a corral, and held it while boy after boy roped and saddled his horse, each performance giving rise to taunts and laughter . Then they took up the work of the day . . . .

Armstrong County, Texas - 1881 -

Old Wall Map Reprint With Land Owners names - General Land Office

Great for genealogists and history lovers. Who owned your land in the late 1800s? This Armstrong county wall map shows the roads in the county and names of the land owners and their lots. The reprint is made from the original on file at the Texas General Land Office.  . . . Read more

 The family of Bennie Gray Halsted & Alpha Arvilla Ohlhausen

Sheriff of Armstrong County, Texas, Sharecrop farmers of Taylor County, Texas, ranchers of Kerr County, Texas

 1936 Yearbook: Claude High School, Claude, Texas

Whether you no longer have your own copy or want to surprise someone with a unique gift, the memories in this yearbook are sure to make someone smile!

 Claude High School - Mustang Yearbook (Claude, TX)

 

 1945 Yearbook: Claude High School, Claude, Texas

 

Life in Armstrong County Texas 1890-1950Life in Claude Texas 1890 - 1950
Famous People from Armstrong County Texas
 

What's your Favorite Book about a Texas County, Town, Person or Place? Here's our best reads list County by County

 

Mysterious TexasTrue Stories of Amazing People and Places in Texas
 Loneliest, Least Populated Counties in Texas
Texas Cowboy HistoryBooks about Texas People County by County
Armstrong County Appraisal District
Armstrong County News
Armstrong County TX Experts
Claude Texas Items
Armstrong County Unclaimed Estates
Life in Armstrong County 1890 - 1950
Books about Armstrong County People & Places