Bailey County and its Communities
Muleshoe
Bailey County was established in 1876 with the division of Bexar County. It was named for Peter
James Bailey III, a defender of the Alamo, and encompasses 835 square miles in the Texas
Panhandle, bounded on the west by New Mexico. However, because the region was so sparsely
settled (mostly cattle country), Bailey County was attached to Baylor County from 1876 to 1891,
and to Castro County from 1892 to 1918 for judicial purposes. The area was not settled until
after 1901 when the XIT Ranch, which occupied most of the land, was divided and sold.
Thousands of acres remained ranch land, much of which became known as the Muleshoe Ranch
in 1903. Additional thousands became farm land and eventually rich irrigated farm land due to
shallow water levels in many parts of the county.
The Murrahs, Dailys, Hogans and Smiths (who became related through marriage) began farming northwest of the County Seat, Muleshoe, in the 1920s. Water was shallow and plentiful for domestic and farm animal use; however, the success of crops depended solely on rain which was not plentiful. Times were tough and they got tougher. The country was already in the Great Depression when along came the Dust Bowl days in the first half of the 30s. Drought and overgrazing of ranch land brought massive dust storms to the Plains. Particularly severe conditions existed in the South Plains region where Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma are joined. This included Bailey County. Grasshoppers added to the misery by eating crops to the bare soil to blow away.
These were very trying years for farmers; however, the hardships prompted irrigation and expedited the replacement of horses and mules with tractors which had begun in the mid 1920s. The Murrahs purchased the first rubber-tired tractor used in Bailey County. The largest increase in irrigated farm land occurred in the 15-year period following the Dust Bowl and, today, the majority of the county is irrigated farm land. West Texas grows most of the state's cotton while the majority of cattle-raising has shifted to East Texas.
The Murrahs, Dailys, Hogans and Smiths (who became related through marriage) began farming northwest of the County Seat, Muleshoe, in the 1920s. Water was shallow and plentiful for domestic and farm animal use; however, the success of crops depended solely on rain which was not plentiful. Times were tough and they got tougher. The country was already in the Great Depression when along came the Dust Bowl days in the first half of the 30s. Drought and overgrazing of ranch land brought massive dust storms to the Plains. Particularly severe conditions existed in the South Plains region where Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma are joined. This included Bailey County. Grasshoppers added to the misery by eating crops to the bare soil to blow away.
These were very trying years for farmers; however, the hardships prompted irrigation and expedited the replacement of horses and mules with tractors which had begun in the mid 1920s. The Murrahs purchased the first rubber-tired tractor used in Bailey County. The largest increase in irrigated farm land occurred in the 15-year period following the Dust Bowl and, today, the majority of the county is irrigated farm land. West Texas grows most of the state's cotton while the majority of cattle-raising has shifted to East Texas.
Muleshoe, County Seat of Bailey County and a population of about 4,500, is located in the Black
Water Valley. It originated in 1913 when the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway extended its rail
line from Farwell to Lubbock through property owned by the Muleshoe Ranch. The town was
launched at the ranch's railroad loading pens. It was befitting to name the town for the ranch.
Actor Lee Horsley was born at Muleshoe in 1955. Although the family moved to Colorado when
Lee was young, his father Bruce is a graduate of Muleshoe High School and rode the bus that
Eva Murrah drove.
Progress
West Camp
Muleshoe Ranch
At one time the immense size of the Muleshoe Ranch and its related employees living on the
property, equated to a community of sorts. Following is an excerpt from "The Handbook of Texas
Online" regarding Texas ranches by H. Allen Anderson.
The most famous Muleshoe Ranch, however, was the one that gave its name to the town of Muleshoe in Bailey County. Originally part of the vast XIT Ranch, the Muleshoe Ranch was begun in 1903, when Edward K. Warren and his son Charles, owners of the Warren Featherbone Company (a manufacturer of women's corsets in Three Oaks, Michigan), bought the YL Ranch, consisting of 40,000 acres, from J. L. Clark of Tennessee for $100,000. It became part of the Muleshoe Ranch, to which the Warrens added even more former XIT acreage from the brothers W. D. And F. W. Johnson in 1907, thus doubling their holdings. Within the next two years the Warrens had nearly $500,000 invested in Texas land and cattle. By 1910 subsequent purchases and leases had enlarged their empire to 150,000 acres along Blackwater Draw, covering portions of Bailey, Lamb, Castro, and Parmer counties. The headquarters for this operation was established west of the future townsite. One building, dating from the 1890s, was moved from Bovina to the headquarters and made into a combination bunkhouse and mess hall. The origin of the Muleshoe name for this enterprise is obscure; it was said that Charles Warren, as he was pondering a name, came across an old rusty muleshoe. Even so, the Warrens for the first five years referred to the ranch as the YL; the muleshoe brand was allegedly used first by the Johnson brothers on their Borden County ranch, and after buying land from them, Warren perhaps used the muleshoe brand briefly. However, after acquiring the 200,000-acre Ojitos Ranch in northern Mexico from Lord Beresford of England in 1910, he began applying that operation's U Bar brand to all of his herds; Beresford reportedly had designed that brand in 1889 as a warning to cow thieves, meaning "You are barred." Nevertheless, the resemblance between the U Bar and muleshoe brands was close enough to perpetuate the latter name for the Warrens' Texas ranch—and ultimately for the new Bailey County seat.
The Muleshoe Ranch prospered when the Santa Fe's Clovis cutoff line was built through its property, increasing area land values and launching the town of Muleshoe at the site of the ranch's loading pens in 1913. Charles Warren thus began selling tillable real estate to incoming farmers. After the death of his father in 1919, Charles and other family members incorporated their holdings as E. K. Warren and Son, with Charles as president and chief stockholder. By then he also owned the Alamo Hueco Ranch in southwestern New Mexico, as well as the Ojitos, which was subject for a few years to frequent depredations by insurgents under such revolutionaries as Ynez Salazar and Francisco (Pancho) Villa. Whatever losses Warren sustained in Mexico were made up in part from the profits of the Muleshoe, which sold cattle for as much as $9.08 an animal in 1915. At one time some 10,000 head of cattle grazed the Muleshoe range. Tom Clayton managed operations there for several years, and William H. Kramer was elevated from office boy to the ranch's secretary-treasurer and unofficial manager. By 1924 the Warren corporation had reached its zenith.
After Charles Warren's death in 1932, his ranching interests were maintained and expanded by other stockholders, largely under the direction of his brother-in-law and longtime associate, George Lackey. Charles Warren's son, E. K. Warren, assumed the company's presidency in 1940, while William Kramer served as its secretary-treasurer and acting manager. In 1944 and 1945 two more ranches—in New Mexico and Colorado—were obtained. The Ojitos properties, however, were lost, as the corporation was compelled to sell out its Mexican interests in 1947 at a third of the 1910 purchase price. By 1954 the older Warren family members no longer retained a controlling interest in the company. The Muleshoe, along with the other remaining ranches, was sold, thus bringing to an end the once-vast Warren cattle empire. In the late 1980s the old Muleshoe Ranch cookhouse and bunkhouse stood near Farm Road 1760 west of Muleshoe. Surrounded by farmland, the building had been designated a historic landmark and had received a Texas Historical Commission marker. Records of the Muleshoe Ranch and other Warren company interests are housed in the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Armstrong County Historical Association, A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965 (Hereford, Texas: Pioneer, 1965). Gus L. Ford, Ed., Texas Cattle Brands (Dallas: Cockrell, 1936). LaVonne McKillip, Ed., Early Bailey County History (Muleshoe, Texas, 1978). David J. Murrah, "From Corset Stays to Cattle Ranching: Charles K. Warren and the Muleshoe Ranch," West Texas Historical Association Year Book 51 (1975).
H. Allen Anderson
Note that the bibliography includes our cousin David J. Murrah.
The most famous Muleshoe Ranch, however, was the one that gave its name to the town of Muleshoe in Bailey County. Originally part of the vast XIT Ranch, the Muleshoe Ranch was begun in 1903, when Edward K. Warren and his son Charles, owners of the Warren Featherbone Company (a manufacturer of women's corsets in Three Oaks, Michigan), bought the YL Ranch, consisting of 40,000 acres, from J. L. Clark of Tennessee for $100,000. It became part of the Muleshoe Ranch, to which the Warrens added even more former XIT acreage from the brothers W. D. And F. W. Johnson in 1907, thus doubling their holdings. Within the next two years the Warrens had nearly $500,000 invested in Texas land and cattle. By 1910 subsequent purchases and leases had enlarged their empire to 150,000 acres along Blackwater Draw, covering portions of Bailey, Lamb, Castro, and Parmer counties. The headquarters for this operation was established west of the future townsite. One building, dating from the 1890s, was moved from Bovina to the headquarters and made into a combination bunkhouse and mess hall. The origin of the Muleshoe name for this enterprise is obscure; it was said that Charles Warren, as he was pondering a name, came across an old rusty muleshoe. Even so, the Warrens for the first five years referred to the ranch as the YL; the muleshoe brand was allegedly used first by the Johnson brothers on their Borden County ranch, and after buying land from them, Warren perhaps used the muleshoe brand briefly. However, after acquiring the 200,000-acre Ojitos Ranch in northern Mexico from Lord Beresford of England in 1910, he began applying that operation's U Bar brand to all of his herds; Beresford reportedly had designed that brand in 1889 as a warning to cow thieves, meaning "You are barred." Nevertheless, the resemblance between the U Bar and muleshoe brands was close enough to perpetuate the latter name for the Warrens' Texas ranch—and ultimately for the new Bailey County seat.
The Muleshoe Ranch prospered when the Santa Fe's Clovis cutoff line was built through its property, increasing area land values and launching the town of Muleshoe at the site of the ranch's loading pens in 1913. Charles Warren thus began selling tillable real estate to incoming farmers. After the death of his father in 1919, Charles and other family members incorporated their holdings as E. K. Warren and Son, with Charles as president and chief stockholder. By then he also owned the Alamo Hueco Ranch in southwestern New Mexico, as well as the Ojitos, which was subject for a few years to frequent depredations by insurgents under such revolutionaries as Ynez Salazar and Francisco (Pancho) Villa. Whatever losses Warren sustained in Mexico were made up in part from the profits of the Muleshoe, which sold cattle for as much as $9.08 an animal in 1915. At one time some 10,000 head of cattle grazed the Muleshoe range. Tom Clayton managed operations there for several years, and William H. Kramer was elevated from office boy to the ranch's secretary-treasurer and unofficial manager. By 1924 the Warren corporation had reached its zenith.
After Charles Warren's death in 1932, his ranching interests were maintained and expanded by other stockholders, largely under the direction of his brother-in-law and longtime associate, George Lackey. Charles Warren's son, E. K. Warren, assumed the company's presidency in 1940, while William Kramer served as its secretary-treasurer and acting manager. In 1944 and 1945 two more ranches—in New Mexico and Colorado—were obtained. The Ojitos properties, however, were lost, as the corporation was compelled to sell out its Mexican interests in 1947 at a third of the 1910 purchase price. By 1954 the older Warren family members no longer retained a controlling interest in the company. The Muleshoe, along with the other remaining ranches, was sold, thus bringing to an end the once-vast Warren cattle empire. In the late 1980s the old Muleshoe Ranch cookhouse and bunkhouse stood near Farm Road 1760 west of Muleshoe. Surrounded by farmland, the building had been designated a historic landmark and had received a Texas Historical Commission marker. Records of the Muleshoe Ranch and other Warren company interests are housed in the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Armstrong County Historical Association, A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965 (Hereford, Texas: Pioneer, 1965). Gus L. Ford, Ed., Texas Cattle Brands (Dallas: Cockrell, 1936). LaVonne McKillip, Ed., Early Bailey County History (Muleshoe, Texas, 1978). David J. Murrah, "From Corset Stays to Cattle Ranching: Charles K. Warren and the Muleshoe Ranch," West Texas Historical Association Year Book 51 (1975).
H. Allen Anderson
Note that the bibliography includes our cousin David J. Murrah.
Progress is a tiny town six miles northwest of Muleshoe. It probably was never larger than it is
today consisting of only a few streets along the railroad and U. S. Highways 70 and 84.
However, Progress was a significant part of the lives of the Murrahs, Smiths, Hogans and other
farming families in that part of Bailey County. Although the Murrah children attended school in
Muleshoe, the Hogan children were educated in Progress schools until about 1937 when
Progress school was consolidated into the Muleshoe school system. Next to the school was the
Progress Methodist church where the Murrah family, along with many of their neighbors,
attended services every Sunday. While the Murrahs operated school buses for Muleshoe, the
Hogans operated them for Progress.
Probably no one promoted the growth of Progress as much as Joshua Blocher, its founder. Joshua (Josh to everyone) was born in Willow Springs Township, Douglas County, Kansas on July 20, 1866, the 8th of 13 children of Joseph Blocher and Sarah Hollinger. Josh was married at one time to Mary E. C. Miller. Other than once working as a hypnotist for a traveling tent show, there is little known about this man before arriving in Bailey County in 1908. Josh had high hopes of creating a big town in West Texas during the early settlement period of Bailey County and a 90-mile extension of a rail line through the county between Farwell and Lubbock in 1913. Blocher purchased land to establish Progress along the railroad and advertised for its growth. However, progress it didn't. The town of Muleshoe did progress being advantaged by the close proximity of the Muleshoe Ranch headquarters and railroad loading pens.
Josh Blocher became old and bitter from his failure to attract people to his little "Mecca". He blamed the "devils" in Muleshoe and Farwell, became reclusive and lived as a hermit in an old shack in Progress for many years. During the 1940's he was seen regularly searching for food in garbage cans in the alleyways of Muleshoe having walked or hitched a ride from Progress. Children were afraid of him with his long grey hair, beard and filthy clothes, and hid to watch him rummage through the backyard trash barrels. Josh was regularly seen walking along the highway between Progress and Muleshoe or riding in the back of a truck.
Stories abounded for years concerning Blocher burying his "wealth" from the sell of land and may have been only that. Stories. But eventually these musings attracted the attention of a couple of men from Amarillo who decided in 1951 to force the 85-year-old to tell them where he buried his treasure trove. They succeeded only in beating ole Josh to death, leaving his body in a cotton patch after relieving it of the 13 cents found in his wallet. Ironically, police investigators found $9,000 buried in the shack.
Josh Blocher is buried in the Bailey County Cemetery. His date of death is recorded as August 11, 1951. Little has changed in Progress since then.
For Joshua Blocher's ad promoting Progress:
Probably no one promoted the growth of Progress as much as Joshua Blocher, its founder. Joshua (Josh to everyone) was born in Willow Springs Township, Douglas County, Kansas on July 20, 1866, the 8th of 13 children of Joseph Blocher and Sarah Hollinger. Josh was married at one time to Mary E. C. Miller. Other than once working as a hypnotist for a traveling tent show, there is little known about this man before arriving in Bailey County in 1908. Josh had high hopes of creating a big town in West Texas during the early settlement period of Bailey County and a 90-mile extension of a rail line through the county between Farwell and Lubbock in 1913. Blocher purchased land to establish Progress along the railroad and advertised for its growth. However, progress it didn't. The town of Muleshoe did progress being advantaged by the close proximity of the Muleshoe Ranch headquarters and railroad loading pens.
Josh Blocher became old and bitter from his failure to attract people to his little "Mecca". He blamed the "devils" in Muleshoe and Farwell, became reclusive and lived as a hermit in an old shack in Progress for many years. During the 1940's he was seen regularly searching for food in garbage cans in the alleyways of Muleshoe having walked or hitched a ride from Progress. Children were afraid of him with his long grey hair, beard and filthy clothes, and hid to watch him rummage through the backyard trash barrels. Josh was regularly seen walking along the highway between Progress and Muleshoe or riding in the back of a truck.
Stories abounded for years concerning Blocher burying his "wealth" from the sell of land and may have been only that. Stories. But eventually these musings attracted the attention of a couple of men from Amarillo who decided in 1951 to force the 85-year-old to tell them where he buried his treasure trove. They succeeded only in beating ole Josh to death, leaving his body in a cotton patch after relieving it of the 13 cents found in his wallet. Ironically, police investigators found $9,000 buried in the shack.
Josh Blocher is buried in the Bailey County Cemetery. His date of death is recorded as August 11, 1951. Little has changed in Progress since then.
For Joshua Blocher's ad promoting Progress:
The Daily children (Maxine, Polly and Earl) attended grade school at West Camp. Fred and
Radie Boone mentioned in the above article also farmed and their place was near the Dailys.
Radie was Maxine's teacher and most likely taught her sister and brother, as well. Fred Boone
died in 1938 and Radie transferred to Muleshoe when the West Camp school district was
consolidated there. She was second grade teacher of Maxine's sons beginning in 1948. Radie
died in 1988. She and Fred are buried in the Bailey County Cemetery.
Trails & Tales of Bailey County
The West Camp Cemetery is located in a field across the road southeast of the old
school site. There are only 18 known people buried there, the last being a set of twins
born and died in 1965.
Hurley
The older family members talk about Old Hurley and New Hurley which were within a few
miles of the Murrah farms. The original Hurley, established in 1907, was the first community in
Bailey County. The town was later moved to a site adjacent to the new railroad but New
Hurley also became non-existant when the train refused to stop there and Muleshoe became
the county seat.
Muleshoe Ranch Cook/Bunk House
Relocated to the Heritage Center
Relocated to the Heritage Center
Muleshoe Ranch Carriage House
Largest of 3 buildings still on site
Largest of 3 buildings still on site
Gary Murrah says that when his aunt and uncle (Jack and Mattie Hicks)
managed and lived on the ranch they used the Carriage House for their
vehicles but had to fold the mirrors to clear the door opening.
Trails & Tales of Bailey County