Editing Hemphill County, Texas (section)

==History==

===Early history===
For the 200 years leading up to 1875, nomadic Indian tribes representing the [[Apache]], [[Comanche]], [[Kiowa]], and others roamed the Panhandle following the huge [[bison]] (buffalo) herds. In search for an alternate route to [[California]] through [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]], [[Josiah Gregg]] (1840), and Captain [[Randolph B. Marcy]] (1845) surveyed trails that crossed Hemphill County, following the south bank of the Canadian River.

The 1874–75 [[Red River War]] was an effort by the [[United States Army]] to force the Indians of the Southern Plains to move to [[Indian Territory]] in present-day Oklahoma. Two major battles took place in what would become Hemphill County - the Battle of Lyman's Wagon Train and the Battle of Buffalo Wallow.

On April 12, 1879, [[Wheeler County, Texas|Wheeler County]] became the first organized county in the Panhandle, with 14 other unorganized counties attached to it, one of which was Hemphill County. Hemphill County was organized in July 1887.

<!-- uncited, not credible On July 4, 1888, the first rodeo in Texas and perhaps the world was held on the Main Street of Canadian, Texas. It began as a competition among some of the larger ranches in the area the annual Fourth of July Rodeo continues in present times.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} -->

<!-- uncited fluff An emphasis on ecotourism, taking advantage of the landscape and habitat, has diversified the economy of Hemphill County.
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===Influence of Santa Fe Railroad===
In 1886, the Southern Kansas Railway Company, a Santa Fe subsidiary, began to build a rail line into the Panhandle of Texas. The tracks entered Hemphill County during 1887 and further encouraged settlement in the area, creating three town sites: Mendota, Canadian, and Glazier.

In 1907, Canadian was designated a division point by the Santa Fe, a factor that brought diversification to the previously ranching economy of the area. The Santa Fe influence remained very strong until the mid-1950s, when the railway moved its employees to Amarillo.

Meanwhile, Hemphill County was roughly the midway point of two smaller lines, the [[Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railroad|Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railroad Company]] and the Clinton-Oklahoma-Western Railroad Company of Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqc13|title=Clinton-Oklahoma-Western Railroad|publisher=tshaonline.org|access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

===Oil production===
During the 1970s, the county grew due to a rapid expansion of oil production. Though oil was discovered in the county in 1955, production remained relatively small because the technology had not yet progressed to efficiently capture the very deep reserves known to exist. By 1974, oil production had reached {{convert|999000|oilbbl}} and more than {{convert|1891000|oilbbl|abbr=on}} in 1978. In 2000, about {{convert|505000|oilbbl|abbr=on}} of oil and more than 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas were produced in the county, but the future looked very bright.

[[Image:Abraham Companies, Canadian, TX IMG 6110.JPG|thumb|left|150px|The Abraham Companies are based in the Moody Building, a former hotel in Canadian.]]