Editing Hansford County, Texas (section)

==History==

===Native Americans===

<!-- wrong county Artifacts of the Antelope Creek Indian culture abound along the [[Canadian River]] valley in Hutchinson County. Archaeologists have found {{convert|1300|acre|km2}} of Alibates flint in the area that was used as a quarry for shaping flint tools. Nomadic [[Plains Apache]] also camped in this area, as did [[Comanche]], [[Arapaho]], [[Kiowa]], and [[Cheyenne]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kirkwood|first=Scott|title=Rock of Ages |journal=National Parks Magazine|year=2006|volume=Fall}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Alibates Flint Quarry|url=http://www.nps.gov/alfl/index.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>
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In 1873, [[England|English]] brothers James Hamilton Cator and Arthur J. L. (Bob) Cator were sent by their father, British naval officer Captain John Bertie Cator, to [[Kansas]] in search of financial opportunity. The brothers soon found their true calling as [[Buffalo Hunters' War|buffalo hunters]] and established an outpost along the North Palo Duro Creek. They named this camp Zulu, and it soon became known as Zulu Stockade.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H. Allen|title=James Hamilton Cator|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fca95|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Zulu|url=http://www.spearman.org/zulu.html|publisher=Spearman Chamber of Commerce|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Zulu, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/Zulu-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

The depletion of the buffalo herds led in part to the ongoing conflict between Indians and settlers.
The [[Second Battle of Adobe Walls]] took place in neighboring [[Hutchinson County, Texas|Hutchinson County]] in 1874 and led to the Red River War of 1874–1875. A group of buffalo hunters attempted a revitalization of Fort Adobe. The Comanches, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa saw the fort and the decimation of the buffalo herd as threats to their existence. Comanche [[medicine man]] [[Isa-tai]] prophesied a victory and immunity to the white man's bullets in battle.  [[Quanah Parker]] lead several hundred in a raid on the fort. The buffalo hunters were able to force the Indians into retreat.<ref>{{cite book|last=Keenan|first=Jerry|title=Encyclopedia of American Indian Wars 1492-1890|year=1999|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-31915-6|pages=2, 3}}</ref> The [[Red River War]] of 1874-1875 was a [[United States Army]] campaign to force the removal of Indians in Texas and their relocation to reservations, to open the region to white settlers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Red River War of 1874|url=http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/redriver/|work=Texas Beyond History|publisher=UT-Austin|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

===Establishment and growth===

The Texas Legislature formed Hansford County in 1876 from [[Young County, Texas|Young]] and [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]] Counties. The county was organized in 1889. The town of Hansford
became the first county seat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hansford, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/Hansford-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

Early large ranches in Hansford County were spread in neighboring counties, as well. By 1890, only 23 ranches were in operation in the county.<ref name="Hansford County, Texas">{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=Hansford County, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hch04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref> In November 1876, Kansan Thomas Sherman Bugbee established the Quarter Circle T Ranch.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=Quarter Circle T Ranch|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/apq04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>
The Scissors Ranch was begun in 1878 by William E. Anderson at the Adobe Walls site. The ranch was named after the brand, which looked like a pair of scissors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=Scissors Ranch|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/aps14|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref> Coloradan Richard E. McNalty moved to Texas and began the Turkey Track Ranch, which he sold to Charles Wood and Jack Snider in 1881.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=Turkey Track Ranch|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/apt08|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref> [[Scotland]]- born James M. Coburn formed the Hansford Land and Cattle Company. The Quarter Circle T Ranch and Scissors Ranch were sold to Coburn in 1882. Coburn acquired the Turkey Track Ranch in 1883.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=James M. Coburn|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcobx|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

In 1887, Hansford became a stage stop on the old Tascosa-Dodge City Trail.<ref>{{cite web|last=Haywood|first=C Robert|title=Tascosa-Dodge City Trail|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ext04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Route of the Old Tascosa-Dodge City Trail|url=http://www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=Route+of+the+Old+Tascosa-Dodge+City+Trail&cnty=moore|publisher=StoppingPoints.com|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

In 1909, Anders L. Mordt began to bring in [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] farmers to settle the northern part of the county, centering on a rural community they named Oslo.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=Oslo, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hro26|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

By 1920, 221 farms and ranches had been established in the county. The same year, the North Texas and Santa Fe Railway built into Spearman.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=H Allen|title=North Texas and Santa Fe Railway|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqn05|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>
By 1929, Spearman became the county seat. Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway built southward in the 1920s leading to [[Gruver, Texas|Gruver]], becoming the second-largest town in the county.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gruver, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/Gruver-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC.|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref> In 1931, the Santa Fe Railroad connected with the Rock Island, joining [[Morse, Texas|Morse]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Compton`|first=Tracey L|title=Morse, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlm90|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=December 14, 2010}}</ref>

The county began to be connected by highways and farm roads, from the 1920s through the 1940s.
Oil was discovered in Hansford County in 1937.<ref>{{cite book|last=Warner|first=C A|title=Texas Oil & Gas Since 1543 |year=2007|publisher=Copano Bay Press|isbn=978-0-9767799-5-7|author2=Thompson, Ernest O|page=250}}</ref>  By the end of 1974, {{convert|38279469|oilbbl}} had been extracted from county lands since 1937. By the 1980s, Hansford County had a diversified economy based on agriculture, oil, and transportation.<ref name="Hansford County, Texas"/>