The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 89

THE
SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
VOL. XXXI OCTOBER, 1927 No. 2
The publication committee and the editors disclaim responsibility for views expressed by
contributors to THE QUARTERLY
A HISTORY OF THE J A RANCH*
HARLEY TRUE BURTON
PREFACE
The history of Texas, as I see it, could be conveniently divided
into four stages: namely, the Indian Stage, the Hunter Stage,
the Cowman Stage and the Farmer Stage. A complete history
of the Panhandle of Texas, which is the last part of the State
to be settled, would include an account of the development of
this part of Texas during the four historical periods named
above.
The Panhandle of Texas comprises that portion of the State
bound on the east and north by Oklahoma, on the west by New
Mexico, and on the south by an imaginary line beginning at the
intersection of Red River with the one hundredth meridian on
the east, extending westward to Texico. Just after the Civil
War, during that period known as the Reconstruction Period,
cattle ranches began to spring up all over the Panhandle. Nat-
urally, a great deal of the history of this section is to be found
in the history of these ranches, and, oddly enough, very little has
been done with reference to giving the history of these ranches.
It shall be my purpose to give as complete a history as is pos-
sible with the information I have in hand of the first cattle ranch
established in the Panhandle of Texas.
This was, and is today, known as the J A Ranch. It was
established by Colonel Charles Goodnight in 1876 on the Palo
*A Thesis, presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The
University of Texas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Arts, June, 1927.