Eight Cowboys gather around the Hoodlum Wagon on the Spur Ranch in 1910. One of the cowboys looks to be about 10 years old. A hoodlum wagon was a specialty wagon used for hauling branding irons, tent posts and other gear. The Spur Ranch had its beginning in 1878 when Jim Hall brought 1900 head of cattle from the Gulf Coast and turned them loose below the Caprock in West Texas. Headquarters for the Spur Ranch were established in the vicinity of Soldiers Mound, which had been the supply base for Gen. Ranald McKenzie's Army during the campaign of 1871-72 and 1874-75, against the Comanches. Among the cowboys who worked for the Spurs in its early period were Jake Raines and Jeff D. Harkey. Harkey came up from the Gulf Coast with the cattle that Hall bought from the coast. He liked the country so well that he stayed and was the first Sheriff when Dickens County was organized in 1891, making his home in Dickens City for many years until his death in 1926.

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Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Famous People from Texas County by County