Editing Crosby County, Texas (section)

==History==
Around 11,000 BC, [[Paleo-Indians]] were the first inhabitants. Archeological artifacts indicate [[hunter-gatherers]] hunted the [[mammoth]], [[mastodon]], [[Smilodon|saber-toothed cat]], and [[Megatherium|giant ground sloth]]. Later Native American inhabitants included the [[Comanche]].<ref name="Crosby County, Texas">{{cite web|last=Leffler|first=John|title=Crosby County, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc27|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>
In 1871, [[Ranald S. Mackenzie]] fought [[Quanah Parker]] and other Comanches at the [[Battle of Blanco Canyon]]. The campaign established the Mackenzie Trail used by the first settlers in Crosby County in the late 1870s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gwynne|first=S. C. |title=Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History|year=2010|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-1-4165-9105-4|pages=10, 11}}</ref>

The Texas Legislature formed Crosby County from [[Young County, Texas|Young]] and [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]] districts in 1876.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/> [[Bavaria]]n Heinrich Schmidtt (Henry “Hank” Clay Smith) and his wife Elizabeth Boyle and their six children became the first permanent settlers in the area in 1878; Hank was active in the county's organization.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rodenberger |first=Lou Halsell |title=Writing on the Wind: An Anthology Of West Texas Women Writers|year=2005|publisher=Texas Tech University Press|isbn=978-0-89672-548-5|chapter=Elizabeth Boyle (Aunt Hank) Smith|author2=Butler, Laura Payne |author3=Kolosoy, Jacqueline |page=174}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Smith, Henry Clay (1836–1912) – Crosbyton, Crosby County, Texas|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5107002477|work=Texas Historical Markers|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=December 16, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314205102/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5107002477|archive-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pearce|first=William M|title=Henry Clay Smith|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsm24|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>

Confederate veteran Paris Cox first visited the [[Caprock Escarpment]] of the [[Llano Estacado]] with a group of [[Bison hunting|buffalo hunters]] in 1879.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lively|first=Jeanne F|title=Paris Cox|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fco86|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>  Estacado was named the county seat in 1886.<ref>{{cite web|title=Estacado, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/Estacado-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> By 1900, the beef industry was thriving, supporting 30,618 head.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/>

The country and western song [[(Ghost) Riders in the Sky]] was inspired by a legend of a stampede that took place in Crosby County in 1889<ref>[https://texashillcountry.com/legend-ghost-riders/ The Haunting Legend of ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ is Based on a True Story]</ref>

In 1908, the Bar-N-Bar Ranch began selling acreage to farmers.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/>

[[Crosbyton, Texas|Crosbyton]] became the new county seat in 1910.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crosbyton, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/CrosbytonTexas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Some {{convert|45400|acre|km2}} in the county were planted in cotton, and 15,000 apple and peach trees were growing in the county in 1920.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/> By 1929, farmers owned 83,000 chickens and sold 395,000 dozen eggs that year.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/>

The first [[Conservation district|soil conservation district]] in the county was formed<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/> in 1941. In 1955, oil was discovered in the county.<ref name="Crosby County, Texas"/>