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Famous Cattle Towns

Amarillo, Texas: The Railroad Town That Became a Panhandle Cattle Hub

Amarillo grew from a railroad townsite in 1887 into a major cattle shipping point for the Texas Panhandle.

How did Amarillo begin?

The Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad was building across the Panhandle in 1887 when a group represented by J.T. Berry platted the town of Amarillo, about a mile west of the present site. The Texas Escapes history of Amarillo says the founders were merchants from Colorado City who wanted a trade center for South Plains customers. Potter County was organized on August 30, 1887, and Legends of America reports the same date for its designation as county seat.

The town was first named Oneida. LX Ranch voters had been promised town lots if they backed Oneida, and it won. It was then renamed Amarillo, from Arroyo Amarillo, a creek the Spanish had named.

Who chose Amarillo as county seat?

Cowboys decided it. According to Texas Escapes, Amarillo was chosen county seat by 38 LX and 15 Frying Pan cowboys acting as electors. That detail shows how much the early town depended on the ranches that surrounded it.

Henry B. Sanborn and J.F. Glidden owned the Frying Pan Ranch, whose headquarters lay about 16 miles west. In 1889, heavy rains and other inducements led residents to move to a new townsite addition that the two men promoted, and that area became Polk Street, the main commercial boulevard. In 1892 Glidden traded his interest in the city for Sanborn's interest in the ranch.

How big was Amarillo's cattle trade?

Texas Escapes says that from 1892 to 1897 Amarillo was the largest rural cattle shipping point in the nation. Legends of America says that by 1890 it was one of the world's busiest cattle shipping centers. The wording differs between sources, and neither gives shipment volumes (see also the Legends of America profile), so no tonnage or head counts are offered here.

The ranching base was older than the town. Charles Goodnight drove longhorns into Palo Duro Canyon in late 1876 to start the first Panhandle ranch, and the surrounding working ranches have changed little in day-to-day operations since the late 1800s, according to Legends of America.

What Made It Work

Amarillo grew because it combined a railroad, a ranch economy and sharp competition for the next line.

Its record also shows how heavily a young town leaned on a few large ranches.

  • It was platted on a railroad, the Fort Worth and Denver City, in 1887.
  • It won the county seat with the votes of ranch cowboys from the LX and Frying Pan outfits.
  • It sat in the middle of Panhandle ranch country, where Goodnight had begun ranching in 1876.
  • It beat the rival town of Washburn for a railroad line serving the South Plains, with construction beginning in 1898.
  • It moved its commercial center when conditions required, relocating to a new addition in 1889.
  • It was exposed to ranch fortunes: a few owners, such as Sanborn and Glidden, held much of the early influence.

Rail competition and growth

Sanborn also worked to win the rail junction for Amarillo over Washburn. Texas Escapes says Amarillo won the line for the South Plains and that construction began in 1898, which assured the city's future as the commercial center of the Panhandle.

Population grew from about 500 in 1890 to over 1,400 in 1900 and almost 10,000 by 1910. A stone courthouse and jail were completed in 1906 after a long court fight over ownership of the courthouse square, and electric streetcars began running in January 1908.

Amarillo after the open-range era

Helium discoveries in the late 1920s and an Army Air Field drove growth until the Depression, and WPA programs later improved the city's infrastructure. Texas Escapes reports populations of 74,000 in 1950, 138,000 in 1960 and 200,393 in 2020.

The sources reviewed do not describe the city's livestock auction or feedlots, so this page does not cover those later chapters of the cattle story. Readers can follow related history in the ranching section of farm.FM and a farm.FM story about Panhandle cattle country.

Timeline

  1. 1876Charles Goodnight drives longhorns into Palo Duro Canyon to start the first Panhandle ranch
  2. 1887Amarillo platted; Potter County seat chosen on August 30
  3. 1889Commercial center moves to a new addition
  4. 1892Start of years when Amarillo is the nation's largest rural cattle shipping point, per Texas Escapes
  5. 1898Construction begins on a South Plains rail line
  6. 1906Stone courthouse completed
  7. 1910Population almost 10,000

Frequently asked questions

When was Amarillo founded?

Amarillo was platted in 1887 on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, and Potter County organized on August 30, 1887 with Amarillo as county seat. It was first called Oneida.

Was Amarillo a cattle town?

Yes. One source says it was the largest rural cattle shipping point in the nation from 1892 to 1897, and another says it was one of the world's busiest cattle shipping centers by 1890.

Why is it called Amarillo?

The name comes from Arroyo Amarillo, a nearby creek the Spanish had named. The town was first called Oneida before being renamed Amarillo.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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