aoxLDXNo m TRK v^yrm n,an- or r':.^^

1907 * lau

Tlf^I??

^p rowadt /y

^teMi^ CosBdttee

^?l>rowedi

imKt o^ tbe Bes^iriaent af HlatoSry

Av)prov^di

laoTsr (yArts

t t e mwlfllon c^ oad " i snoaa

A| >rowedi

CtedUnm 4i tte Graduate Oonikittee

?WPIMMTS TOWAUB HAXl^)AB miu>tm m THB mnutn

PLAXBS or TITAS

1907 m IBM

tHISSXS

^ S r t ^ J ^ ^ f ^ ' ^ ^ ^ r af «ia Oraduata ^ ? f T * *^ ^ * teaae Teoteoioeionl

MUaga in ParUal M u n ^ M o t tf ^ BaqadveneuU

9 ^ ^Mi te^^a 0^

»ST13t or ilHTS

W

Carl llaai par* B*A. u

Au^iat* 1835

TFXAS TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE UBEAEY

Foraward

\t>37 Tltl. . . . a y i s a atudy of t h . Taxloua

,X aovan^ta associated with railroad teilding ^ '

on ^ e South riains of Texas, the etory.

hegins in 1907* a time prior to t t e huilding

of ths f i rs t railroad that reached this

region* and goea to 1914* t#ien t te major

prohlszifi of railroad transportation had heea

eolvsd.

Although factual data tee heen oteoked

against Poor's ^^y^f^ Manual, ths Texas Alaanaa.

aad the a ^ i i g a O i i i y j i a i Pt^Hi^wd hy the

United itatea Interstate Ooaaerce Oommission*

the major part of the tmtsrial has heen taken

from f i l e s of ^uth Plains newi^apers. The

qaotatlona fr^n these newspopere have teen taken

wertetim* without cmendatians of spellingy puna*

tuations* or ^^rasing sinos in t te t form they

prohahly more aooarately ref lect the thinkii^

of the people whoss the newspapers served.

Coherence tes been sacrificed in the

attnapt to ?3nalyze xatl^sr than to iiit^[rmtejthe

various aspetits of ths popular aovenents in t t e

separats railroad projscts* The hietory of each

ot tteao projscts, tlisrefore ie a story rithin

i i

i t s s l f snd ths organization of t t e paper i s

nsrs ly an arbitrary grouping of related sttt>-

J s s t s .

The ess^y develops fros. the subJestlve

s spscts of the aovement, or the a t t i tudes of

the popular Bind, and : r e c e s s e s toward the

objeetive aspects , or the forms of popular

action essocieted with the rai lroed :,rcjeots«

rh i l e the f i r s t chapter presents the inception

and growth of rai lroad entnuslesa, the sscond

step ter shews the cryst^ 111 zei t ion of Uutt en-

thusiaam into def inite coi^anels of act ion .

The t h i r l chapter, forning the intsrttsdiots

s t r t e in tbe ess&y, discusees t ^ } ter roads

or ti e unsuccessful ventures in railroad build­

ing, &nd the <iSB. y reaches i t s s l i s ^ z in ths

fourth and f i r t h chapters wr.ich t e l l of %La

roads acti»^lly bui l t on tbe 5outh riciins during

the period.

The writer wishes to express hie ack-

nowledgaents to Dr« ^. o. !'olden* irofesaor

of History and /nthropology e t Texas Teohno-

log ico l co l l ege , for helt^ful suggestions in

eo l l eo t ing and organizing the a a t e r i s l . ra i e

grateful for the help given by frofessar 0. L.

ill

Ford* Heed of ths History Department of

Texas Tsohnologioal College, tmder i^oss

direction the thesis was writtsn* and the

writer is indsbtsd to Hiss ^lisateth H. wsst.

Librarian of Texaa Technological College, for

her kind aesistance in ssouring matsrial.

TABLX OF C0WTBWT8

Page

OMAPTi:? X. Railroad ^t lMsiasa>>. .« . . , 1

f^esire for Hallroads —> Antiei-paticm — Faith — i^eiteaent — Ruinors -»- rivalry — ^^ilroad Lsgidlation,

OHAPtfH XX* Ths Ihtilroad Wovement, 18

Hailrosd CORRSittess — Railroad B<Mntses — pepalar Hailroade — Progress of l^ailroad Construction.

mxpfm XXI. fiaiaBCiiftato**--*--- 37 The Altus, X^hhodc* HoswsH and HI Taaa — west Tsxas and terth-em tmm the PashmidXm SOkort Line — Minor Paper ^oade — Gulf* Texae* and western —> Ths Hook Island* Texiao* Farwell and Oulf — The Odora^* Hereford and Oulf — Texas Central — The Pecos WaHay Head — Ps|ier Kxtensions.

CHAPTBB 17. The Atid&iiscHU Toi>^a and ^ ^ a t ^ FeTr. 122

Plainview to lAihte^ — Plainview to Floydada — Luhbock to Laaesa — Texieo-Coleman Cut Off — L\d>te^ to T s x i ^ .

csAPTimv. as^jjsL ma^i^* l a The Qsaneh* Aoae and Paoifia— The ^anford and Worthweetem.

BPXUHlHr....* 1S6

APPWDIX I . Artieles of Inoorporati^n of the Psnhandls SOiort Line mm. .mm. mm.

APPtimXX II. Articles of Inoorporation of tte Weet Texaa and Worth em. ••• ....•.<

APP1CHDIX XII. Artielee of Incorporation Qt the Oulf* Santa Fe and Worthweetem* ».

APPVIWDXX 17. Articles of Inoorporation ef tte Dosaoe, Snyder and rp. ifio

APPllfBXX 7. Articles of Ineorporation of the Stanford and . Worthwestsm <

APPWffBXX fX. Articles of Incorporation of tte Llano Wstaoado Haili^ar***->*** •••«

APPSWDIX fXX* Articles of Incorporation of the Quam^* Aoae aad Pacific •••••,

APPWDXX 7XII.Articles of Incorporation af tte Altue* Luhhoak* Hoswell and 13L Paso*....

APFBWOXX XX« Luhbock* s First Railroad Ooamittee«.•••••.••.*..,

/*

Chapter X

RAILROAD mTRUSlASM

The South Plains i s a treeless* I svs l

country, without h i l l s , creeks* oit rooks.

More than ninety per cent of the land i s

t i l latols . It i s a part of t t e Llano ^etaoado

snd i s ons of ths largsst bodiss of practi­

cal ly all-farming land in ths world*^ Xt was

nearly two htmdred and f i f ty isilee from the

Texas and Pacific Railroad, crossing the

southern part of the South plains* to ths Oanta

Fs and the Fort ' orth and Denver road crossing

ths northern l imi ts . The j>eople of the Plains

were unable to carry on extensive f ana ing he-

cause ths profits would te oonsuosd in trans­

porting thsir produce to a railroad terminal*^

rverything either coming into or going out of

ths Plains had to ha hauled in imgons over

aissrahls roads* Hai^lroads were eaeential to

tha econofiilc development of the South Plaina^ ' — — - — 1 ^

and they came to te the moat ii^ortant element

| X N | ^ OiSgS^ 1933. ^l^hS5ty|^5l^<^e* October 25* 1907,

/ ^ . 2 * 0 * I . vrXhid*. Way 5, 1910* p.6*c.l*

in the country's cconaaic j'tructure.

i2BSl£& f<^ BMHO^BAA

Tte prosperity of tho cotmtry was dirsctly

reckoned according to the mmter of railroad

Otttlets. tlie South Plaina peaple teliewed t tet

a system of railroad:i hranchii^ out in every

direction wae prereriuitiite to ^ e develoixeent

of their resources aad possihi l i t ies . The

tnilroad moveoont on t te Smi^ Plains grew out

of a Icm^felt need for tnmeportation facilitiee«

Tte Sout^ Plains of Texas had no railroads unti l

1907 uhen a feeder from tte Atchison Topeka and

Santa Fe line acroes ths North Plains was teilt

from iSaarillo to PlainviMi*^^ Xn 1907 B^II i?as

hrought from plainview to Uibhook hy haak. 3swaa

hours were required for the trip eaoh way and

<ialte frequently Luhbook received no nail in tte

rainy eeaeon.^

Ae eettlers oame into the South Plains ths

papular desirs for railroad fac i l i t i e s increased.

So eager were tiome land owners for railroada t tet

fliL ASaliifllie Msy S, 1910* p.6*c*l* >* July 7, 1910, p*3*o*3*

[** Hiy 18* 19U* p.l*o.l* * January 31* 1908* p.4*o.5*

lad Mannal. p* 1820. E g]M|* Fehroaxy 14* 1908*

p.n*i

they were will ing to glre half their landa for

a railroad connection.^ The desirs for r a i l ­

roads found popular expression in mass neetinps*

newspapsr sdi tor ia ls , street comer speeches, and

in other forma of inihlio and private discuaaion.

Practically every town had a permanent railroad

coaeaittee whose duty i t was to investi(:'ate any

and a l l pos s ib i l i t i s s for ssouring railroad

f a c i l i t i e s , whils many of the towna had st inding

offsrs of substantial cash bonuses for any r a i l ­

road building to their town.^

After ths Santa Fs built to riainvisw ths

remainder of the South Plaina tecanie extremely

anxious to secure railroad connections. A

favorite pastims of t t e people was to anticipate

t t e phenoaenal developmwit of the nouth Plains

vpan ths advent of railroads* The Panhandle

Short Line Railroad Goa^any, {ahoaa proJset

was nsver acoomplishsd)* snticipating ths

conssqti^nt develope^nt of ths South Plains

.'>^

i^bock yralan<^e. March 27, 1908, p*2,c*2. "Bringing the railroad to the farm reduoes

^ ths cost of transportaticm and adds psr-j(^ petual value to future produota*** ^ ^ i d * . May 8* 1909, p . l , e . 3 .

on t te aoi laticm of it i li;«* anpmlrad a

toanaite coniiimy to ley aat thirteen new tonaa

on ite tao»hn»^ad nils Xkimm^ Xt %a pro*

i!£late»3 ^iftt within one year after tte cani>latian

lifi a line tl vrmii ti t^i^ sectlixi* th:it l;tid walaea

adild dodbHa* iiwsigmitian would fOlloiff, nore

ach'OoXs and c ^mrotes lusd now bcss aNSsa enter-prleaa

c^ a l l kinds wmld ooaM^^ sod the prodncts of

the oomttr/ mmM te transported to market at a

hattsr prio^ t^m ttet t lcSi th<? fwt&aT Urj^ T^

oatwod i^awtm^ly. tjm^i v?aiies wwre roakonod In ikn*

diraet ratio to t te diii rifiao fron a railroad 11. i,'>|!i!3g jK>iBt* It mm bolieval ttet land

valnas adwiaioad as the country davaLt ad nnd

ttet tha ooKBitry dam U ed as railrDads t'ona-

tratad it* Tha i: Ulardi4larslKall Umd Oc»ipany

adwo tis<9di

"The aoc^letimi of t te nanta Fa Bianctibt will dooEhla prioaa of land*

t%te aonpleti<m of tte "imtta ?e *Cat off* i9ili double these priaas.

the oomi:>letimi-of tha utua will double t tet aealn****

• « •

^friffyftt^ wotanhar 1* 1907*

* Fsbn^try 14* VXJB, p*3.a*3* » kpTil IT* 1908, p*7*o*l* * wxf 3* ld09* p*3*a*a*

6

AS early ns May, 1909* Lut xt c idth only

the du»T*' of ^diat provea to te a paper road* mja

anticipating the day wh^i she wo\ad he the na»

tr<^)Olie of the plslns as a result of her r a i l -13 roads. Upon the constructimi of the Santa Fe

tesni^ to Lubbock in the f a l l of 1909 Lubteok*s

hopee were eo aroueed that ehe was virtual ly

intaxitniited with the thoughts of her future

develapnente* The Avalan^e i^ediated:

*^Ttet Luhbook wil l te the rer!l g ess of the i l a i i ^ ie beyond dispute* All l ines headed thia way are moving along fast snd ia ^ e very near future Lubdo<^ ^111 te one o f ^ e sure eaough railraad oenters****

Xt was telieved t t e t the Soxi^ Plains would

s o n te inter!?ectea by a nunber of trunk l ines*

The Avalanche asierted*

"There ie a Vast amount of prelialnary work takli^ plaoe Juet

^?Lal>bo<^ AValani^e* Bay 9* 1909* p*l90.3, rrr^aSptenterO, 1909, p.l»o.2« mi:;

now of ^ i<^ t te people are not oognizant, and if aoma things t te t are now in proapect were ta te known i t ^^uld omijo a shout of trion]^ to ascend to the very skies. This sounds good md i t i s tesed on real burning faote *« that can not possibly be refutsd.***

Xa Fsbrtmry, 1910, Lubbo< was "waiting la

glad anticipation of ths advent of another road

or two. The outlooic i s vsry bri; ht and the

Lubteok of ttmorrow will fu l f i l l a l l tepes***^^

AmardinQ to ths t|p. < ^ lesterp i i&d t

Snyder was en^usiastio ovsr the poeeibility ef

ssouring tie "Cat Off*" for i t ^ae e&id, "With

traine running on two ^rou|^ lines and ccm-

etruetion crews teilding another line into the

city there wil l te a general awakening in the

onsp and we'll sing of the 'Good Old 3un:ser

Tine« to the nusio of looonotivs idiistlss and

give the glad hand to thousands of now eomera

idio will be tere to drink in the osone of the

Oraat ^©st.»^^

By Jan^ 1910* Luteock* tewing snarged

mttmtmmmtmmmmmmmtmmmmmm

Avalan^e. WoweaAi«r 4* 1909* p***0*5*

Ij^jiyy., Pi^raary 8* 1910, p. l*e. l* ^ S b i t from the 3mrder western Light

from :i '^sealuded hjv«ile" t o a ; ince of no te

wi thin twelve month*:" ^aa expectiii^ t o r i v a l

"^ort ' orth find ' ^ l a s as i ^ o l s s a l e d i s t r i b u t i n g

p o i n t s In a fe y e a r s . The /vv^'uiche s a i d :

" I s vhi^ro finy reason why hxkuoOiii: cannot da squa l ly as :<^ll as e i t h e r of these townsT i s i t not i.obkiiblo for Lubbock in the next f«v/ years to s)iow a . ' i l a t io i i of 550,000 or even XOOfOQOm^'

rexloo exneoted i t s v, di lat ion to be doubled

within tvfo yoarB on aooount of i t e r a i l r o a d .

Stai^mi b It ved th^ t the west Texas and Northern

would make t h a t town oma of the g r e a t e s t o i t i e s

of West Texas* I t wae declared t h a t i f the

<'50,0<^ bonue i ro ?ght the road I t would ba worth

§SOO,000 t o the t o w n . ^

The South l'x;i.ui iiCwtlers seem fooliWhly

cxUK^x^l-ji^i:.' t o uis as ws xoo'x back on t h s ino rd ina te

f a i t h tha t they ,;xaudd m ^ ::.e of t h e f a n t a s t i c

•iMiaMi*

^^ June .33, 1910* p * l * c . l . y PA, 1<^10, p .4*c*l*

, iaepte»ri)er 37, 1907, p . 7 , c * 4 .

6

acdieaeo for railroad promotion. It tes often

c i3aid Vr.il people believe wtet thoy w:int

to believe* vsido fT^v^ t)u fact that frontier

e t i mor te s t i l l cn-vived to the extent that a

fsan '<ias tjiiicn ;:.t his jor<}, the \.(^r,lc weri* so

thorotii^i: convinced of the necf^siiity of r a i l -

roaiis riad ttey had .?'> vivi Uy in their ninds

the utopi;in r?*voiution t i?:n woul<J te ncconpli ;hc(!

by ? iilroada, ^uit they sel ?'? » fjto; ,ed to nuci*-

t ion tha : r if^tloabilitv of ifpllr') <! biiildin/;

projeots, sf> int«mt if ^ e thoy <»i their oecuring

Apf»ir<mtly nn isuch faith .?c.:3 rlv«*n to

praje^jts *?'hio' ^ -rove' to te pa:-c? roads aa to

thau? proj*?cti2 ^ i c h were actxatlly nccon liKhed.

City lo t s ill *^ilv<irton doubled in value t ienty

sin*jte;2 after the r?ijnir.i ..u' the contract for

tha Altu3, ^?osw(5lI, ;uid '"1 Tm^.i ro;id \riiich wen 31

nevc r built."^ t minol ^ cnthuoiaatioally

rjUsed ter bonus for t!ic proposed . oc: l: i .ncl,

foxlco, FarweXi and oulf and decL.::*t th;;t the

proaotor Cdonel r e i l l n . i dealt quite s a t i s ­

factorily with t te cit izens*

•'^^eprlnt from tha lilverton !!^terT:riQs in the Lubboc't: Walanc^ie. February 25, 1909, p*9,c*4*

9

"He has done everything he has screed

t o and has teen perfectly frank aad open in

a l l hia daalint^a ^ it** our ; oo: i o * " ^

itmton dM>lared t t e t t te contract of t t e

weet Texas and Worthem, --^hioh proved also to

te a p 'iper voad* jas the test pro^^ositicm ever

made to that toin.^*^

Farwell firmly believed that i t would be

the "United Bailroad l ity" aiuoo i t ted the

msAn llmi of the flanta Fe jnl v^^^ soon to hiv<3

the Texioo* Farwell and Southern* The ^ ook Island*

Te:tis tmd Oulf, the ^OSOOQ, Oi^dsr imd Paoi:fio

a« well as the Texioo <^loaim cut off.***

Hoarlr a l l of tho South rXalns inhabitants

asre oonvinced t t e t i f t t e peoplo .7 nt^i a r a i l ­

road Q aiy aiou{ h they oould get <Mie. The jjjg^

ljfi;ty> ,f| dealarad* "There i s no use for Lubbock to

go much loi^ier without a r llroad, i f we wi l l

aH get bti y we mm soon teve one* ihere i e

plmity of noney in Luhbook to build a r a i l m n l

froa ! lainview h«re. ^ y not get at i t ? " ^

> M K « » < H i « * M B i

oprint troa a JeninoXe paper in the tl*t)u.c.. Aval^gy^e. Februi ry 2Z, 19U*

'}»f]f^m 4> , O . «. . .

rint from tho Lltisntan ^mortcr in r 37*

,^AX^^W , p . 7 , 0 * '1 .

^ ^-oJ^)C , Wiaiaiche* July 13* 1911* i .1,

Xbt-L, .,!ay C, 1008* p*4,c.l,

10

By *'-y, 19C^\ Lviboock liao ex]>ecting to

get f i ve :'ailroac!;3, the ^^tuo, ifoLVKsll and "1

: r;Lio, t.it; I'liiinvlew or inch of the Santa i e , t: = e

iexie.i ?ut Oi^', the Quanah, Aciic iji6 Pacif ic^

pjid the "'' 2t Texas and 'Northern.

The enthusi:.cji worked u^j ;Vor r-.i lro.r.j

'-• oharacter l s t ics oi bot:. re l ig ious cjui

pa tr io t i c f jv ;: . veryone who failev' to

aupport the mov<»?ient incurred the op vobriua

of uoin '- -1 ^?:iioc::er." T ie 'VR. .;ri:.,? Relieved:

* those sdio have been f^iitli-fu l n.fe rewarded in n i l things . T<? T;111 (jet tl-e Texico out off lind the roads goin.r aoiith to "Ts io' a -Old LaiaDs- * l i l also be bui l t out uf t i s town. Don*t that eaii)K> food to those who Vi ve sweat drops of blood for the town and won't i t put the knockers on tn » bur i? "36

Lubjocl: f e l t sure of gs t t ing at IcurA three

more roads by 1910 sim^jly becauss ths : o >pls

istire so «[ ithuciast ical ly supporting the railroad

ovement. It was asserted, '•Thers i s not to-day

ujuoc;.. Avai--H)tc-ie, T:ov«aber IB, i9ul', *r: . l , c*b . Ifote: A road had already boon bu i l t into ^xx^^^^ciV: in October, 1009.

n a iiint in t>;o nt?\te ^ e r c :o , =o i inter'^ist i s

centf-v-iid i;i rLfiiToads. ^icn onoe Uie l>:iil fjets

in lotion i t wi.ll not sto-:- uiv : I Lubbock cones 37

into },<*r o\3n ful ly - d ? vaple'^sy. '

T).<* excitc^'ient nr<:5U8ed by railroad i.\.liJ-

inc probably excelled th t oauf ed by aay suteo-

Mt^ni eeon'M ic or social aevelov:ofnt editor

of the I ^ ii lil Um^mMlkL fci.-'^S ea- rkecl in Jri*iuu;.ry*

lijvjo, *our to n i s up In t r nlr on tlie railroad

question." A marvcyln/: crew t^is always t.ood

for a t h r i l l pjid whei» dirt De.':an Alyinf: on a

gr,'{5f.- tae ifeole V:wn turned out to A itci the

o - aratl >ri. The in i t i a l dirt breaking on the

Altus, Luboock, sold ? "i ' . > • • 11 at rert; Ills was ao-

oompii-iaed wit elaoorato o ; ^ay.

of the town itM? / the f irs^ simde of dirt* uic »ayor

2Q

no great was t io excitti^ticmt of the v;\i ; ohe

readers . lui so etjger werf; I isy for any kind of

railroad n > 9, that the editor wae forced to

Mpa**ivw*»'

J-

aVcUanohe. December 23, 19C9,

_-jyid., ./amiary IV, ^900, p..p0.b* ^>Ibld.r June 17, 1909, . B , c . l .

.3

T)rint a ctory every vitBmk 'h^Vn^ he h.:d any ne js

or not. ^.i' adit r -:rot ?, "'Wtet i s thr -r.ll-

To-'t newnt' That in the r i astion t at i s .-ut

\v to V 4^ \7::l;niche ni?m rlriogt v Ty dpy In ths

teek. "e c:;m J J' * i t up ij; a very few words this

w eej:. ;n i tct t i e hri'^dlino i;r t,be nrtlcl** tpjila

'-) I j»il re kno. a>o-;it the i.: tuatlon at tliis

ti'^''. ^11 t;i« ' l lroai ne^Q ir, fjnco ir;!igiT .*^^

:iA:.- )::• .

^j aiKih excitesient qaitc natAi?plly I'r./^

ri '€ to a number of ttm . "B^lroad ruribllngi

ax in the ?lr. I l i s abo f*ll one ^nn hear

those Jays."^-^

I t « as rimored in Axi r st, 1907, thit the

i ecos Valii^/ road iras - i-:.ding :>o * Albrjty

aCTOss the n->cth riaii.i«:- by -s ay of Plcin>;ir:w to

Texioo. 32 The ru'or had ooen idTvt^v.t in 19C)7

th:;t the Fe v/as going l ) ixiild north from 33

San \ngelo* In Uarch V'iOU the rumor got

30 7, 1912, p . l , c* l , ft lbid*. It TCh 10, ItilQ, p.5* 0*1.

[mf /u,iust 9, l«)7, p .8 ,c*3. L, Jnnu'jry 17, 1908, p* l ,c . l*

13

e tarte t that tUc Goild aystoij (Texas iu.' Paci f ie )

was planning a ro.Mi froa Mineral e l l s to Colo­

rado. ^ lAi ^oo : i;ot rulto excited in T'oveater,

1909, o¥f»r the ninor that the Fbrt forth and

rnnver was planning to build tu tubnock.^S in

January, 1910, the •y^'-'iicho oora.CTited: '•There

are rumors ;oi(i tiier oore rufioi:: about what the

L-ita Fe its going to do next. ii36 A ruriior con-

cemii^^ a Peco:? Valun'' Hoad fron Pecos l . ; UD-

bock aroused a great deri of entL\iiiiai»n in

February, r .a : . ' * The Missouri, Kanaa^a, and

Texae was reported to be t)l?mninf a roati from

Hotrm to Pao^^'ell."

;.lv;ury I in III m III I III i m m m m

There was not as ino;, rivalry am >r.t, ths

' ) th Plains towTiS as then had hean ths

railroad jriOve?!env. in other parti of the 8t?\te.

However thsre waa an antu, onlGtio s p i r i t tetwsen

1 lainview and Lubbock*' and the rapi'^ s t r ides

•5lrtUb.>jc.c •w.a.-.naae, Kerch 6, 19(yB, p * 4 , c . 3 . ;^Ibi . , W / - ' \, 1909, . 1 , 0 . 5 . :jr,T3Tr., Jrmuary I s , 1910, p . l , c * l * :r.:7FrT,, Fs^m ry ''9, lva2, p* l , c* l & 2 . ^r; ib . lO. , ^P.VCh - : i , l r l . % p . 9 , 0 . 1 .

14

of progress that Lubbock was making in S'curini^,

four railroads in three years rnist have aroused

considerable Jealousy among her s ister towns.

In December, 1909, the Hereford Recorder report­

ed with evident satisfaction, t t e t ths Tsxico-

Oolsman road would miss liubteok. To which rsport

ths gNtlMQhe^ retorted:

"The wish i s father to the tteught. *All we l ike shssp havs gone astray* i s of divins origin and sSiould bs rightfully spplisd to those of the Plains i^o find the griping of ths monster jeal -ouay, blurring their viaiona as they atand with wondering eyea and brain* looking upon Lubteck* a achisvemsnts."'O

Railroad Lsgislation

The enthusiasm of West Tsxas for railroada

ia atrikingly exemplified in the strong oppoaition

t t e t t t e t section aanifeated toward any kind of

restraining railroad legialat ion. The "heedleas

campaign of the * demagogue* againat the rail^-

roada** was b i t ter ly attacked in nearly every

A

luhhock Avalanche. December 16, 1909, p.5*0.2*

->J.r.. \^ T&^Ti: teJ in practicc^l. , ' everj- Uwot

Texas ^t' ^epar^ 'i' -^K' >' '-ak;,'n as ty,,I^.al JI" .'lO

edi::ori!;lf:; wr i t t en in : * ,.:.u of ' iuj i-.z 11 roL'.aa2

'*The .!r?MBat.i. exprol tau lons of the ..G .t of u.e r a i l r o a d man as ii r;;v^jpair.n tro .-'liy O-A i ltc u l**.-i^yc'i dema^vo^^eo have given pmiaa to tho f 1; In bus iness is^.i f ind i t iirc o s s ib l e to m«ike tuo ^ *ui:vXs ijK>ve itli t;:e u:.*;. ,'-a A . ' ^ ' ^

"•enator ^ea le i"j;oo !*:i;?jpii 'jutr^k^ed h :^ o .a-

Stitue^iC/ by ^U];; .orting ii t;*iO-;:.;n;; ;)ai i. !:rc<'j

rrte.^*^ In Ju ly , 1908, l!r. r, • . pos t , .* Amder

of i O' t ^^ty, dellv.-:r :d u . oii ; t i r a d e fc|:aiiu:t

"deaat^oi^ic poZiticiana** ^JI.J '^ ''p^^Ji-sed i a»s

harry-i:.i; rjiv |-eri'.s>'Cvtlng the A'rv.i.iroads. ''•' A

keynote .vas fitc-.n; ;,y :;r. 1 . H. ^>i>,>er at a

:*l^:Ci^f

** .hilt th ie s t a t e n o ^ s ID j-:)re a t c c i ri 11a and lea.: , , o^ i t - -oa l ra i lway; more c o m njid ir.ce , o l i t i c a l cen*t ; more pou l t ry and l o s s p o l i t i c i a n ; more atOiim

4 1 .e r i i i t i r o s the Daiirts Mews in t t e

m v --•• ache. October 18, 1908, *oP * • c * • « "fgtlii oir rynlmcha. neritenber V, 1907, 4 ^ . 4 , c .T .

m^m. Ju ly 24* 1.08* p* i , ' . 3 .

16

^ihistiea and l e s s pol l t io^^ c«.lliopea; ore Poland-•Talna hi'a and los s po:..ltio;il Hell*»»44

Ths In^emxit lma ii I Great Tlort' em ^Uil

evoked a .:torrn ; protect. f-monfT the '^eat Texas

towns* Hass "ludlf ii ition ooetings'* were held

in several towna in protest \;',tin0t the law and

i t Tfiia one >f t,:\e. c l ief tooics of d iscuai i )n it

the ^^est Texas J>^i*^rcial ;:Jon^re88 held at >^ -IT-45

fyvd, Govt m u' Gnjipbell dubbed ^Caar** was :ov roll/ o r i U Ised for t e 'slaps** e had taken

i i t b l lO ITk.i. i. K'O'I ;.t 4 46

ihe r.i iroiii fi, of_covir»e, inj^ched a campaign

of counter j ro ^ ? i . President Ri^iley of the

Oanta e toure«i the state rjil riellvo-ed jpsfBches

against z).e raui-:^'id d/jx-itjo ; le^, assuring the

pe r ^

c.) :

^ ; thai; the Mta Fe uoiild l:iulld no more

Is unt i l the "pemicloua" l e ^ i a l n t i i n was 47

J. pod. I'o^eovor, tho c^eratinf; departmonti of the railroadu voiayod their tjcli^n'ul.a, abridged

the ir s jrv ioes , ra owiorwlse hnraosed t t e people*

go^ JC : *\rp'.l :-.o.a,, T)eoeisiber 18, 1K:C, I * i i i > i w iwi i i i * ! * I I • I ' r

«n V. c* ^ K U - : . * jeptembe.' :>'., 1910, p . l , c . 6 .

4^IiM-» •yaiwary 30, i 11, ^ . 2 , c . 3 . Xbld.* liay Z>U, 1^1^, p.7yC*4*

17

tma laid the blame (Xi the politici n,.^

48 ^ h o o k Avalanche. February 2, 1911. p*8,o*3.

CJM-ter XI

Mthough i t i s l lf^icjlt to evaluate the

resiilta of t v effortn put forth in att^iptlr-ij:

to seoure railroads* the fact remains that ci

great amoimt of time, misney and energy was ex­

pended, mid thiti acticm arising frors the people

oonetitutes the social mmiif(^,i^trxti.m of ths

m i l r o ^ ^overie9it. nearly every emotion \9ae

aroused in the railroad movement, m<i tlie inten­

s i ty of these €RK>tions is fre^caitly the only

«i|^anaticm for sooe of th© r -irontly illogical^

actions.

The emotions of the people crystallized

into definite (^annels of action trough a

process of social evolution. One of the f irst

social lessons that man learned was the value

of cooperation. Tlierefore i t waa cBiite tmtural

that mass meetings were the f irst expe<lients

tried in attaining a desirsd social mid —

eeourljag a railroad* But ^ e : l^ns people*

19

moat of idion h- 1 aiigr^te<l from older secticms

of the stats rmd had ^rt-orianced otho*" railro;^

novsnents woro not long in reali::inf:„tliftt r a i l ­

road oomi3iittor>f! could aotrr\ii\' aooonrplish^i )?e

than an isiwieldly viojaa of people* :''3t of the

actual bu8inei5i5 trana^ctionn, therefore, sere

madejbet :in the railroad \ ronK>tera and ^ e

looal railroad conmittees, although mass loctingi

were ci^led atmatim^a either to l e t the people

blow off steals or to giui:e the popular reaction

to questionable rouo^ltions.

One of the I^OBI enthusiasti:- ne^^tinra ,of

this kind i%as held at Heminole in December, 1907,

About e l ^ t yeaTs before Seminole got a road*

"!r* Bon 0^rant, prerldent f the seaboard Con­

struction lori <iny, had «iid that he would build

a road to ^lesdnole frt^ tan ton for a bonue of

fOO,0(K)* The local coBJfjlttee J\i!i ;ed at his

offer and went to Stanton and bro\i^t hiri and

h i s chief engineer* Wt. Holland, haek to cnl-

nole . "Xneedlitely n ca l l was sent o it for a

nesting at the court *v\i c. A layr;e crowd

assenbled including a nm^ier of Ifidies* thue

ehowing their deep interest in ths matter \mder

consideration and earnestly hoping tho totsn

20

night have the good fortune of rec iving a

fair -Jid bonified pr reposition*"

'^r. Bon mrant conferred ::riv itj»iy with the

"oitiren^s Coa»dttee" and mads his offer whils

ths anxious crowd waited r s s t l s s s ly in the court

room*

"As ths minutes wore m tho audience begun

to ex;>ect the oh i l l of disappointment* '^inally

ths meeting adjourned with another ca l l for 9:30

on the rmTTO'^m**' The contr ct was signed the

next day snd the town was Jubilant.

Probably the r^il story of The Lubbock Rail­

road Oommittde*a f i r s t effort i s pressrved in a

l e t t s r vrittm to H, 0. Bums by aounty Judgs

0 . '*. Shannon, Auf:ij?t 8, 1893*^ The business

raen of Lubbock raised '74.90 to send the con-

mi ttee t *o hundred miles by hor*3e and bu cgy to

confer with Ooloncl Hamilton of the Texas 0mi­

t r a l , nothing was aocoarplishsd.^

Xn April, 1908, i t won remarked in an

editorial that tha Lubbock Go»mercial Club had

for years devoted nearly a l l i t s tirno and had

Avalaaohs. Dso^sber 13* 1907, 0p.V,C.3* ^ e s Appendix IX. T^abSa^ .^y^^<?Ht* Hovoaber 18, 1909, p*149C*3*

21

expended the .:reater part of i t s laoney in the

in teres t of ind\K3ing railroads to cows to

Luboook-

The o t i v i t i e s of the railroad committee

of lubbock were described in the Lubbock Avs "

Ian Che. Sertember 18, 190'*. After re lat ing

the diaadvant.?ges of not haviiii a railroad

connection for s^^veral years, i t said:

"Finally the t?ak of r a i l ­roads i (ir n; promoters of dif­ferent li^if^c -To ild come altxig, get \ip a bonue, v i lse to uuild Toadn t^ Lobb>c: btjt usually they fa i l ed to bui ld . Tliis did not daunt the s p i r i t of the Lubbock people. They would s t i l l oep pre 1 ing for#. iM, ever ke€^ing before ^ e public that they H'anted a r-iilroid an J were w i l i -ivii^ to •put up for i t » . Propo­s i t i o n after jro- oait ion was made and acceptsd; bonus af tsr bonus mWyvtXhed and f inni iy after a score or aore had f a i l e d , a {*oodL contr ct r i;. signed with g the Altus* Hoswell and Ml Paso*"

This turned out to be another paper road

4

55 Lubbx;.; ;V:an:i!;:.o, \\ r l l If:, p*2,0*1.

1908,

Ib id . . Septe.ber 16, l.<j^?, p . l . o . l .

The Lub^-^ok re i l ro . id comnl t ' - - was cn-n-

poaed )X l lasars . J . ... ill-^riS George ^-^If-

f --tl:, •^ . ^:n-^i:.r>v^ Q^ X., I l n t o n , ¥, C.

Cvorton, iiTii •, / r . ro 'oy. T/o r e r e s e n t a t l v e s

i ro . ; thi--; ^ -i n^itt-e, 0. I . • I' ^o^^ -nd !l. ^.

EeoU, ^?cr^ 1: :,: ly responrsible for inducing

the Mantra ^e to bu-'ild i t s vrat off by w y nf

Lubi ,c r a t h e r than hj r l a l n v l .®

The -jic'icGt poin'. of We raiIror:d v. v r -

r.ent on t i e nouth P l r l n s i^^s reach*; * in the

year 1910. Propos i t ions vrere rrv-cr^uc

tuu^ t o e "oi'tli P l r inn paj^c"*- r?u>, C i l i t o ' i n l r

n e a r l y • .' '<*af:t urgln;.; '.' n l r rer'-'.^^rr t o '•«-*t

behind t;)© r a i l r o r d c m i d t t e e nd ge t the roads .

In 'Vi c: 1910, '.* •-; AV' V ' -i-c r.-in a i:' -te

frcmt page : bout the r a i l ^o . d •)V'''i?i-nt. "he

e T - 1 (• OX beiioved the 'harmonious 1 bo-^n if the

^eopl:** 'ere bearing irr .iit.®

..^iii-iiiJ. Avalanqhs. 3sptsraber 16, 1909, p . l . ) . , . • a ton to i uL 'or \pri l 15, > ::'...

''**^« .*, January 27, 1910, p*l,c*.-:,. [., ^ebruEry«4, 1910, p*bG*l^ 1., Tune 33, I i : , p . l , c . l .

:]3

l„;Al^^-^l nonuses

h'm(*. aub3i iif-n fro!* the s ta te domain to

railroad?? were not being aade after 1900 and

the people oC *eet T^xas could ind\ioe railroads

to build in the ir undeveloped territory only by

o f fer i g oaoh bonuses*® Ki l l ions of dol lars wars

raised for th i s r«j.i.'; oae by '!outh Plains towns*

The 3anta Fe cut ofs: waa the oaly road that re­

quired no b>nus of the towns on i t s road from

• Aionool: t ) Oolem^m, aitr.oui^h f;200,000 was co l ­

lected fro i lutud ormer^ oo the route* fron Texico

t o ..o b Theae bonuses both Indiiced honeiat,

but Irdii^ont mi l ro - . l men to at te r t building

roads n? terrpted unaorujpulous r> voters to

fle.^c ' the peo]>le* "o la '^joth ^^lalns towns were

:ilj;oi?t irm70ve.ri8hort by extravafoit mibporiptions

t ) raii^vy Is.^^

*400,o6o wa« nv v?cribed to the r rt ^orth

to Alberqueroue Hallroj\d by the towns nnc\ big

Itind o /ners nlonn ths orooosed route. Lubbock

-ro- loed JlC-COOO; 'V.8kall, 160,000, , nd

Klnerai f e l l s , *^158,bu: .^^

9 j QLubbocK ;.vr,l-:nca-!(3, j-ay 12, 191 ;, p*16,c*l .

fTeroTord, Hitador, and Pamphis. J. T. ^jlnifian to author, April 15, JL> 35*

'TtUbbock ;vn.l!incbo, July 1, 1.o , p . l , c * 3 .

24

Wenphis stsbscTibc:! '^l':4,000 for the Altus

HoswsU and la Paso*^^ Hearly $1*000*000 was

said to have be#m subscribed for this road*

9ilverton Mronised 150,000; Loitoiey* $30*000;

Petersburg* t2S*000; Lubbock, "^150,000 (includ­

ing ri^t»of<-way, e t c . ) ; the aiaoghter ran<^

0196*000,^^

Two railroad promoters* 'easrs. Crsddook

and Johnson* secured a ^50,000 bonus fron SSBK

inole for an tnsnamed railroad. They failed to

Qfma to t«rme with Midland, but tiSiafter Lake

euheoribed willii^ly*^^ The following week

these two vmn iratumed to Seminole and secured

330 acr^» of l^iid adjoining the ^nmsite* tem-

inel and depot grmsvis* and the right-of-way

through the ocBHtty.^

The bonus #iich the Texas Central asked

of Qail was nore i^rrn the town could raise*

Xt was believed timt that was a l l that was

keeping Oail frt^ getting the road.^^ Large land ownaxa between Texioo snd Utbboek gave #200*000 in bonus to the 3anta Fe*^" Luhbook

_ Awalsnohe. May 13* 1909. p.l*o.5. , August 36* 1909, p.l*o.l* •* January 33, 11)10* p.3^o,l« *, ilarch 17, 1910* p . l*e . l .

** Uaxiih 10* 1910* p.5*o.4. ,.* Uay 12* 1910* p . iS .o . l .

25

save IS^OOO for the ''anta Fe extension fron

Plainview to Lubboek^ and Loiesa paid 1^*000

for i t s fosd. Oroshyton raised a 175*000 boons

for the Oroshyton south r i a i n s . ^ Ths Katador

r»ni& was asksd to givs ons dollar per acre

hooue for the ( lansl Aone* and pncifie and the

tons of ifatador offered $100*000 in b<»nie for

that.road.*^ tfr* Sllwood* an ext^fiaive land

holder om the 9ou^ Plains offered a hGxnx& of

$100*000 to sny road that would build from

Hsre:Cord to Big taring. Hereford put up a

$100»<KX) hcKSss for the Olovia T^reforU and

Oulf*^ and an indefinite amount for the lan-

hsndls i^ort Line.

All was not snooth sailing for tlic bonne

nsn* however* espscially after a few roads had

already heen built . On Febntt&ry 3* 1910* the

¥#^99^ r^«ff^9nf 5 ^ » editorial olipped

from the a A ^ W^lt9fm> /

*Beinire of the Bonus Asking Hen."

J alagK n* D«)enher 18* 19t

I.* Hay 17* 1910* p.lS. ., Key 13, 1910* p«17*e.l. f.* February 34* 1910* p.l*e.3. 1.* Vereh 33* 1931* p«3*o.l. L»* September 9* 1909* p.3*e.4«

26

Xt was said that not more ^an one in a

thouiraoid of ths bomis men were worthy of their

hire. Groover i t suissrted that bonus masi often 34

i ^ i t With looal crooks.^* Paduoah had been so

harassed by bonus solicitors that nie Paduoah

editor bitterly resarkeds

"Thron^^out the west i t hae eetually gott^i to the po^U that a persK n ^linke a tenm i s slow and not progressivs i f i t dbses x^t *€mte up* a few hundred ^ « i thi^ wish to put an on-^urt in ^ e ^ i t y for haul ing tin cans."^^

Lids ook iraiised ahcnt §300*000 in bonneee

and even eacceeded the dewinds of ths railroad

ecnpany at t i n e e . ^ The right-^of-way for the

Santa Fe was aecured before i t waa asksd for.

intien bonuses and other induoemimts failed

eeveral of the more anbitious Bou^ Plains tonne

attempted to hoild their own roade with looal

^Sjhhoi^ maXandham fhhruary 3* 1910, ^y^*7*e.o.

.* septenher 39» ISHO* p. l4*o. l .

.* aeptttsher 3* 1909, p*l»e.5*

<M^ital*

Probably the fsost rjabitious of theee

projects wae the Fort * orth to flosweU road

prcrnot^ by James w. awayne* It wae to go

through thro^cnorton, )!aekell* atanewall,

Kent* onsn* Liibbo^, Hodtley* and Ooc^mn

ocumties. It was proposed to have large land

o^mers along the road pay aooordlng to the

ei hanoeaHsit of their land values. 0* w. Post

id^ owned 390,000 acres in Garsa county was

going to put VBp §100*000 in oash providsd the

l ine oane within ten nilee <^ his property.

Oolm Om Om, Slataghtsr who oimed nearly a l l of

W<M ey oomty offered to subserihe 100*000

acres whieh l^eids accordit^ to estinate would

yield the road $3*500*000.^

Xn Ifarcdi IBOB Laneea had become so exas­

perated with the failures of the Weet Texas and

ffor^em Hailroed (knupany that a mass meeting

nae h^d* snd the pec^le of Lonesa determined

to ^Jiild the road thenselves.

fhm Llano retaoado and Oulf was a "popular*

^^^^3& A^<y<^.» September 14, 1907* .p»i,e»s«

:bi4U. ^nrdh 13, 1908* p . l*c .3 .

38

road attempted by Floydada capital lets. Oolond

tf. II* Hassle was the leader of this project. The

road was to extend from Floydada to Plainview and

they were making good progrees until the Santa Fe

bought them out.^

v/hen the promoters of the Oolorado Hereford

and Gulf failed to comply with the terms of ths

contract, the eitisens of Hereford decided to

build the road with the bonus subscription

($100,000*00)*^

A weal'Uiy woman at I taaaitt, Hiss Frances

StoTres^ having dsspaired of any of the co -

jt^rdm attempting to build to Dinmitt, declared

that she would build the road herself and shs

called on Mr. Ripley, president of the Santa Fs*

to aacsrtain if the Santa Fe would operate the

line if she would build it* Miss Storres had

bought her Isnd at 50^ an acrs and ths laiui

yaluss had doubled several times.^

The mayor of Hoswell, N. U., trisd to

head a popular road movmi^it for a line from

Lubbock to Hoswell. He secured the right«>of-wey

niiUhbeek Avalanche, October 16, 1908, 1*5,0.6* :bid*, September 9, 1909, p.3,c.4.

..* Hovember 11, 1909, p.3,c.l.

29

ai^ about a half r*) 11 lion dollars in bonus

subscriptions. He believed that the road oould

be constructed for i lSOO per mile and than

turned over to some big cotapany for operation**^

onst rue tion

Of course it would have been impossible

to sustain tha afithusiama, secure bonuses, and

keep the p^iple working for railroads, had not

rsally i^snomenal develoi ments been nads in

railroad construction*

In 1907 the South Plains was probably the

lai^^st ssetion of arabls land in ths Unitsd

Statss, with great promise of developfflent and

a good beginning toward populatitm, — without

railroad facilities. Wot cms mile of steel had

been laid on the South Plaine in 1907,^ yet in_

1.912' over 400 miles of road had been built}

and at present spproxinatsly 6(X) nilss r-

•l««M*MiMM«MiMMMM|*«M.*W«MMai«M

Avalanch^. Ttbrvaxy 9, 19X1,

^t«ti«tie8 for R|llro.d.. 1907. fS,3m Kap., ;>ag.a 30-31. *'8»att.tle8 for 'Railroad.. 1913.

30

^

^

>5

4)'

I''

J^

i ^

^

I ^

^ Z ^

^

M

I

1 I X §

^

V5

I OJ/yi J /Ii7/V

^

^ VJ

Q

^

X

ON

M

. ^

31

HI

•^ §x 0

o

Q ^) ^

^

- < ^) ^

8\) C\ 1

^

^

<0

s ::^

$ < i ' ^ s \1

s X ^ ^

^

I

32

of railroad intersect the South P l a i n s . ^ Ho

roads have been built since 1933.

The busiest ysars of railroad movement were

the years 1909*1913. In these four years more

than two-thirds of a l l the roads on ths South

Plains were bui l t and about twenty-fivs "pro­

motions" with varying degrees of success and

act iv i ty were trying to build roads. (See Uaps

of Hoads in 1907 and 1912* ]ip«i0»81.)

Xn May, 1909 Lubbock was expecting the " est

Texas and Horthem, actually at work on a grade

from Stanton to Lamesa, to have a road to Lub­

bock before the close of the year. The Santa Fe

was working on i t s branch from Plainview to

Lubbock and the Texico-Ooleman cut off was being

surveyed, preliminary work was begin on the

Plainview to Floydada bran^. The Stamford and

Northwestern was working. Ihs Altus !^swell and

r i Paso waa constructing a grade from Lubbock to

M«Bphis and ths Texas Ooitral was planning a l ine

from Hotan to Hoswsll .^

Xn tfar^ 1910 i t was said that more railroads

M a « a H I * M * M a M i M M * * — a M M « M M * * l « H M M M M H «

36 ^ s t a t i s t i c s for Railroads. 1933. ^Lubbock "Avalanchs, May 13* 1909, p . l , c . l ,

33

were then in progress in Texaa than at any

time before in the hlatory of the state . T ost

of the new l ines under construction and in ths

prospective stage were in Western and South-SB

western Texas. The Santa Fe was far in the

lead in construction.

"The activity of ths Santa Fe in invading the virgin region where railroad transportation f a c i l i t i e s are wo badly needed i s causing other older systsms of railway to haama aroused to the fact that thsy siust do extsnsivs railroad building on their own account in order to protect their^g territory snd traff ic interests ."

Other oos^anies att«r»pting to build roadf>:

1. The Hock Island was planning an exten­

sion from Qrahaxn across the lower Panhandle and

Kastem New Mexico to Honrell — about 325 miles,

2 . Ths Quanah Acms snd Pacific was planning

a road from Paducah to SI Paso, about 375 milss*

3 . The Wichita Falls and Wsllington — about

100 n i l s s .

29 irTsxas Almanac. 1910* p.318. ^Lubbock Avalanche. March 34, 1910, page 3*

34

4 . The Texas ^orth rxA »iouth Hailnsy —

300 n i l s s*

5 . Texas nentx^ was planning to build from

De Leon to Jroaa i iains ?ind frora Hoton to Oail —

about 130 mile3*

6. Stawford ?in i-"forth ??e3teru waui wo ruing on

an extension from ABpem<mt t) liok^is — about

^ miles.

7. ^oscoe* tmyder, and pacif ic was i>iannlng

an extension fron ^uvanna across ths Plains to

either i^oswell or Amarillo*

8* The Hock Isl^id wa'j planning :; road fron

Amarillo to Tucuiacari, Bew Mexioo* about l l o

nilea*

9* The luanah r*nd Oulf was planning '^ voad

from Quanah to Olebume* about 175 milea*

10. The Fort ^orth Mineral Walla t^ Western

was proaoting a road from Fort lOrth to Hoswell* 40 N. !/** about 500 miles.

t^ to May 1910 the Hante Fe had eonj^leted

snd was in the courss of 0(Xi struct ing about 230

uiiles of railroad* The ac t iv i t i e s of the Santa

Fe had begun only twelve nonthe previouely. The

40 L ^ b o ^ Avalani^e. March 34, 1910* page 3 .

35

Texas Oentral was preparing to be{.:in at once

the conetnmtlon of a lins from its terminus

in Fiehsr County wsst through the counties

of Scurry, Oarza, Lynn, Terry, and Toakum to

Kev Mexioo* a distance of 175 miles*

Ths Qitanj , Acme and racific waa "xmdsr

construction froo ( sanah to iSl Paso*** Ths

Oulf* Texas* and Western was "undsr construe-

tiim* from maias to Kew Mexico, and the Bur-

lingtcm was soon to extend its lins across the

Plains* Ths Avalani^s assertsd:

"These are not hot air linos or remote possibilities, but rail­roads owned nnd backed by big sys-t^is and aottmlly under constru< » tion* They ars not merely feeders but bran<^ lines giving the Plains ths desirsd connection with the oaa ports and the principal trade colters of ths IT. 5!« All of thsn will be cofl^let^ within two years and most of tham ?!iucdi sooner* and they will have a combined mileage of more than BOO miles* Then ve will have five railroad systsms covering a great scope of country that had not a railroad track on it three years ago."**

Thie was really a railroad movement.

*l^il^»^ ^vi^andKe. May 5* 1910* p.6,e.5,

36

Xn the same month Tahoka was expecting

42 three railroade* the Santa Fe* the H o ^ Island

snd ths Tsxas Central*

In Sspteaher* 1910 it was declared that

there was at that tims and had bsen for several

months mors railroad construction in the vioinity

43

of Liibbook than in any other part of the stats*

1^1 s in t^s iv s activity continued through the

years 19:U)* 1911* 1912 and 1913 and was brot^ht

to a halt in March 1914 upon the oompletion of

the Tttiioo Oolemaa:! cut off* Henvied spurts of

sotivity ooourred in 1915 on the oimstruction

of the branch from Lubbo< to ^>eagTaves* in 1913

on ocmetmetimi of the hr^i^ from Luhbook to

Levellsnd and in 1928 with the conetruotion of

the Fort .iN>rth mtd Denver fron Lookney to

Lubbodk.

book Avalanc!^. May 12* 1910* p*3*c.3, ..* Septenher 39* 1910* p . l , c* l .

CSiapter I I I

FAPKH HOADS

tl Paso

The f i r s t railroad grads out of Lubbock

was bui l t by ths Altus, Lubbock, l^swsllvsnd

tX Paso Hailroad Oonpany, and was promotsd

hy Mr* !$dward Kmrnady, an old grads contractor

of no\>ston* Texas. The road had been chartered

originally in OklahoiE , 'fatt^ 1, 1908, with a

capitalization of ^3*000*000.00*^ The Texas

charter was not obtainsd \mt i l my 15* 1909,^

althoi i^ Mr. K^m^y had b un his prottoti<»is

in the early f a l l of 1908.

Xn January 19C^, the Houston mroniols

asserted t^at l^e \ l tus , Hoewelljsnd ^ Paso

was ona of the best n i l road propositions undsr

€»)nsidsraticm at that t ine .^ Xt was believed

that ^ e new rend P o r t l y would have a tribu­

tary territory ^ a t would furnish 3*000 t<ms of

fre i i^t pmt mile* Mr* Kennedy was oonfident that

the road would be built sinos ths level eh&raet«r

of noet of the ooinitry traverssd offered few

.MMM.

Hw^nek Avalf i^e. S^tenber 16, 1909,

iXhid*. June 6* 1909, p*3*e.3. •''lee Appendix III for charter of Altue, ^Hoewell and 11 Peso.

Hsprint fron the Houeton c^ironiole in the Lnyook Avalanehe* Janu^rw 22, lanQ p . i .

36

di f f ioul t iea of an engineering ^aracter , while

i t e f er t i l e so i l - nd resources in cat t l e and

crops would inmire tonne e for the road and a

rapid settlement along i t s l ins*^

MX* '<snnedy cai ie to Luhbook on the night

of Auguet 20^ 1906, and in h i s boisterous*

blustsring way announced that he was going to

build a road across the n Tuth riains and that

i f Luboook wanted i t , he was ready to talk bus­

iness; i f not* he would go on to Plfxinview that

nig^t* Li^book naturally jissped at any oppoxw

tunity i t ever had to get a road, and i f there

waa anything that aroueed the Lubboch e i t i sens

to action, i t was Just to amition Plainview.

Mr* O, L* Slatcm and I'r. George '^olffarth net

with Mr* "f^mine^fy that night and signed person;^

notes guaranteeing ?'r* Kwinedy *^*000, the

ri^t-of«way throtj^h the county, nnd 150 c i ty

l o t e in Lubbock for h is road i f i t bui l t to

Luhbook^^ These notes were countersigned the

Heprint from the Houston Chrcniole in the lp\;^bo^ Avalanch^ June 6* 1909.

Om

ciaton to the suther, April 15* ^*3,c.3. ^* L* 1936.

next day hiy other publio-s irited e i t i sens and

t^^ 4valano^e ran the following storyi :

"A contract has been slgnsd with Mr. iCo:inedy which >:ithout a doubt or defalcation insures Lubbock a railroad* It i s now up to Lub­bock and the non-resident lend oimers of Lubbock county to re­spond to the bonus c a l l and that llberaUy*"^

On Septenher 4* 1908, there was a rsport of

l&r, Kennedy *s having made a ^ 6 mile buggy trip

o».r t h . propoMd r (» t . of h i . r . i l«»* |8 «,d oa

September 35^ there was a clipping fron the Qklf|b-

hoii^n published at Oklahossa Oityt

"According to a statement p iven out by Mward Kennedy of Houston, To <ad, idio was in QkXahfma City i t wae learned that ccmstnjKrti on work on that road (Ihe Altue* Hoewell «nd H Paeo) would begin within the next f i f t y days*"

Ths fact that $600,000 was raised in the

shape of boniisss was offered to ahow that the

pe<^e alosig the ri^t-^of*wsy were deeply

ftTflliltfyf^f- August 31, 1908*p.l,o*l, . , 3eptenber 4, 1906, p . l , o .5*

40

in teres ted . The boms mcmey \7as being used for

grading ]?ur>'>08e8 which were progressing s a t i s ­

f a c t o r i l y a l l along t'ls l i n s . The road was to

cos t 1155,000 per mile to corfijlete and mxa i n -

corpor ted for *;3*000,000.00*

So rapid was the progreoa of t h i s road

that by October 3 , i t was already graded frc»s

Altus to Hoi l i s , Okli&oma, a distance of forty

milei^and the contract for the laying of s t e s l

between tiieae two points had been l e t to the

Dalhoff aonstruotion ao^^>any of L i t t l e Hock.

In the same repoort i t was said that Hr. Kouiedy

had secured a bonus of ^100*000 from Hoswsll*

M. M. and a cor^^s of 16 surveyors were at ones

put to work locat ing tV e l i n s out of Hoswell t o

Lubbock jmd the oontrnct cal led for f i f t y teams

t o be pat to work grading by January 1, 1909*^^

According to report, the promoters of the

Altue, Hosiroll and Itl Paso were "busy" at

Loc^cney* Texas* on October 30, "T. 7. Bradford,

resident engineer at Lubbock snd H. r.

ah£g;nmn, Mr* Kennedy's ssoretsry, again

nade the proposition to the people

9 * "i 9S|L Avalanche. Sept briber 26, 1906,

- ^ * i * o ^ . AUTV.*^ * October 3 , 1908, p . l , 0 . 3 .

41

of X/iekney*** The propoeition waa aiU>8tantially

ae follows: The people were to give ^40,000

bonue, forty norea of l^aid, includinc yarda and

depot gronnda, and right-^f-way through the

eounty* The 130,000 was to bs paid, 11000 when

the grading be jaa in the county, ^3000 as par

nonthly estimate of the wigineer; ,119,000 was

to be paid when 1£be grade was oomplsted through

the county, and t20,000 m^a due idien the train

ran into town; the promoter waa to build a

standard g\iage road within a limit of three

y e a r s . ^ flimilar propositions were made to

Silverton, Petersburg, ^ell i i^ton, '%m->his,

lAj^bock, and H Paso. The Lockney paper further

coon Mated:

"Ae to the safety of the in-veatrasnt of >30*000 before s t e s l i s land, no precaution can be taken except to consider the stand­ing of ^ e man at the head of the affair, and the fact that the bus-insss men of Hoswell and of Lubbock have bound themaelvee to as atriot a oontract as we are required to sign; and that the work i s bsing pushed ahead of time helps to

XX Heprint fron the Lootoev Beao(» in the • . _ T. «_ ^ _.. _« _^^^^^^Tk^^" m^»mafmmmim_^ Luboook Avalanch^* October 23> IQQfl p .6 ,e«3.

42

Inorease the confidence of the najority in i t s buildini^.U

on Dsccsiber 12, 19CB, Messrs* Edward

Kemiedy* m* J* Patrick, w. 7« Kennedy and Ool*

r* K* Stlnson, officiale of ^ e Altue Hoswell

snd SI Paeo mad were in Lubbock locking after

Hie "affairs of the road." A neeting of the

i^tix<sie of Lubboi was called at 3 o^cloek

thnt &ft«mocm md was well attended* Xt wae

r^^rted that Mr* Kennedy had contracted with

eonstruetimi eomi anies ^o were reliable oon-

cems to teke ^ e work of this road in hand

smd pui^ i t to e^i^letion*'^''

9eventy»five teasHi were working every day

Ofn the grade in Lnbbo ^ eoimty* The grading ^ d

f i l l i i ^ of the Qanyon was to bs the last part

of the grade finielied. The surviving crew from

Hoewell to Lubbock was to finiali by Deosmber 31,

1906. Mr* Kennedy mxd party had le f t lA^book

December 13, and gone to Hoswell \diere they were

to make arr€sngements to begin grading fr(^ that

point to lul^ook hy Jamiary 1, 1909 according to

*n?eprint f^m the Loeknev Beaeon in the WWi m^m<^9» October 30* 1906* jp.7*0*4.

tralipone. Decenber 18* 1906* p#it

43

pronise .^

Mr. Kennedy was always trying to se l l his

e<|nity in the road and reports of the eale of

the road to various larger coapanies were aot

infrequent* on Decenber 25* 1908* i t was

aesertedi "Tte Altus, Lubbm , and Hoswell

}m» passed into the hande of the l^isoo* idiioh

assures us of another toanoh lins*" But ths

rmM>r of i t s ]^xsA&aa hy ^ e M. K* and T* nas

nu^ more wii^ly circulatsd.^® Xt i s probable

that ^ e fear ^ the Si»ta Fe that ^ e Altue*

Hoewell* and l l Paso ims backed by the "Katy"

imhtced the fomer to huHd from Texioo to

Li^boc^.

The road was actually built fro>i .Utus to

Hollis* (Sclidioc^* albeit w i ^ a great deal of

legal diffimtlties* The MoOalley Oonstructicm

O&apant that did the bridgewoi^ on the road, on

Avalanche. Deoeaber IB, 1906* u i , e « l .

^aiAd*. Dec^i^er 35, 1908* p .4 ,e .4 . faghid^. December 33, 1906* p . l , o . l . *^RSnm hm Dow to airther* April 15, 1935.

Mr« 0* L* siaton said that '^e road was given nore publicity than i t deserved 31M1 that even ihaqgh a few of the leading eitisens of Lwhbo^ imew that the road would never be built* Mr. Kennedy's exp«ieee were paid we^cly hy the iMJio^mak milroad eon-nittee of whi^ Mr. Siaton was treaenrer* ia order that the Santa

~' ^ notiwated to huHd to Li^boek

44

f a i l i n g to c o l l e c t 'rJOjOOO owed i t , f i l e d

su i t for Tsceiv^pshlp of the corny any, asasrting

that the l lROil i t ieB of the oorr^any (mounting

t o ^50*000 were far in excess of ths aaeeta of

the coioi affiy. The courts denied tha reoeiver-

ehipjBnd a l l newspapers along the prOj osed

route claimed a great victory for the benevolent

Mr* K«mediy*^

The actual laying of s t e e l between Altus

and Hol l i s inspired a great deal of confid^ice

in ^ . Kennedy**^^ It hnd been known since

Jamiary that a ^ . Louif ca^iitalist had agrsed

t o finance the r o a U ^ A conreittee of businesa

men from r ' e l l i i^on ^cnt to Altus in February,

10C^* and saw the s t e e l , the t i e s , the p i l e

drivers* etc*, in the yards at Altue* Their

Topairt that "Kennedy i s a l l right** was run ae

hmwUines in ttie papers alonf the route, and

the people f e l t half ashsMCd of the ir **doubting

Thoniuwe* " ^

18 Lubbock Avalan<^e. Hovenber 18, 1909,

^QPV1*0*1* ^^eprint frow the Houston Qhroniole in

the Lubbock AvalaiMihe. Jime 6- 190^^ 2<a>.3*c«l«

Lubbock Avalam?he. February 12* 1909, 2iP»l»o»l^

old*. February 13, 1909, p . l , c * l *

45

Prodigous energy was sxertsd hy Mr* Kennedy

in "pushing* the ro rd ae fast as he could* Vearly

every town along tli^ rotite eigned o<Hitracts with

l<>r* Kennsdy and grading WSB subsequently begxm

with the bonue money paid in. Some gmding was

done out ot Hoswell^ but most of tha work was

done between I ubbook and Altus. By August the

grading was well under way.^^ Around 300 teame

were kept at work on different points along the

road a l l the year of 19<^* Most of th i s grading

watt l i (^ t and the hsavy places were avoided idiich

re<iuired blasting."**

The total diet ence of the road was to uo

476 miles and i t was comtsonly believed that s t ee l

would be put down as fast as possibly between

Altus and Memphis cs»i that OM soon as the grade

waM coi^leted from Hem^ is to the Oap Hocric that

s t ee l would be laid out of ^lenphis toward

Luhbook*^

Mr* Kennedy himself conaented, " ?e are

ae anxious as the paopla t o get

^^ubbock Avalanohe. Jamiary 39, 1^)9, mmmmmmmmmm^mr mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmr mm w

2 ^ . 1 , o . l . '*'^^'-' , Ai«uat 36, 1909, p. l ,c*5*

, Decenber 23, 1909* p*l ,c . l* * August 26, 1909, p. l ,c*5*

46

the entire road in operation. I^e entire

proposition i s thoroughly financed and a l l we

wi l l have to do henceforth wil l be to rush the

work."

At '^ is date nearly $1,000,000 had been

pr(xnised as bonus money. The various toAHS

al(»Qg the route had contributed as follows:

Altus, Oklahoma, $40*000; Duks, Oklahoma*

$25,000; Holl is , Oklahoma, $60*000; Wslliaff-

ton, Texas, $40,000; M^aphis, Tsxas, $100,000;

Silvsrtim, Texas, $100,000; Lookney, Texaa*

$40,000; Petersburg, Texas, #35,000; Lubbock,

Texas, $150,000; Hoswsll, N. M., $100*000;

and the Slaughter Hanch* |1B6*000.

Thirty-three miles of s teel for s ixty day

delivery had been iKnight from Block* Pollock &

Oo., of St. Louis, and the f i r s t consignment

was thna being ihipped. The laying of ra i l s was

to be started by September 15 and the road was

bound by contract to bs in opsration from Altus

to Hollis by October 31. Xt was prwaissd:

"IK/hen that i s completed s tee l wi l l be laid on the next section of s ixty miles fmtn Mollis to Memphis

^Vihbock Avalanche* August 36, 1909, p.ltCl.

47

i ters the ocnmeotion with ths Fort ^rth aad Dsnver will he nade."

About 360 grading teane were then at work

<m the right-of-way at different points fron 29

Altus to Uibbook.'*' Chi aeptember 8* 1909, the

Avalanohe related, "Mr. Kenn^l^ statss positively

l^t the road will fulfill its >ntract to ths

letter snd this neane that lobbook will get the 38

road*" Mr* Kennedy had "arranged with H* D*

Pavie and Oo* of Oliisngo* to place t ^ iaaue of

i8,000,CK)0 in b<mde on the market*^

The grading was bsgun at Mwsphis* June 7*

1909* with a great deal of ceremony and enthusi-

asn* The first spade of dirt was thrown up.

then the graders began and the erowd dieperssd 30

fleering for l^e road. fhm ^^smsi^ ssmssai, declared:

"rverythlng pertaining to ^ e road lo<Mc8 good to us aad we

^Labboek AvalapAe. August M * 1909, p.l,c*l< ggXbid.. SepteaaNwr 8. 1909, p.l,c.3.

P4^*. Augnst 38, 1909* p.l*o*l* , Jmka 17* 1909, p.l*o.6. 0

48

hope to see trains running out of Menphis east snd west with­in the next few ncmths. The eteel wiU be laid fron Menphis west in ordor that matsrial nay bs hanlsd to ths Cap Hook*

"There ie general activity all along the line of this road and the way thinge are going at this time it looke ae though there is going to be a noise like trains nnming on ths road before they were reslly proaissd* The people all along the route are losing upon this road alth a good deal of impowtmnamm^^

Menphis bslieved that the headt^iartere and

rooadhou.. mt tH. romd mrm to h. mX «.^hl..3a

A large bonue was voted* but Mr. Kennedy aesured

the people of Lubbo^ that Lubbo^ had beoft

designated in tha ohartsr as ths gsneral offioeo

of the road. He said: "As to the loeation of

the ili e>s* etc.* X an in l^is as I have been with

every agreen^it or promise nade to the people* X

have told the people that the ehope, romdhousss*

ste, will bs looatsd in Lubboi^. I asant it

Reprint fro» the !?emnhi8 Democrat in the Avalanche. June 17, 1909* p*8,o.3» Avalani^e. June 10, 1909* p.8*0*3. \^-^;

49

snd havs never entertained intentions other­

wise."^^

On October 10, 1909, a telegrnn froi* }fr*

Kennedy of October 5 at "it* Louis, I'iscouri,

was reprinted: "Have closed dbal for steel to Hollis,

also fTom mmphla to Lakeview* Bonds 0*K*"

Mdward Kennedy

In the 52 issues of the L\ibbock Avalanche

in 1909* twenty«»seven carried front page storiss

about the Altus, Hoswell, s ^ Kl Paso t<%ether

with numerals clip' int s tT<m othsr ptipers* The

enthueiasm for the Altus subsided in the fall of

1909 wi^i the building of the Santa Fe into Luh­

book* but by Jamsary 1910, the iiovemont had

bc^un again * ^

A rumor was started in Outhris,^ Oklahoma

snd in Dkli^sna aity^ that the road had been

bougt t by the Mineouri* Kansas a ^ Texas aad

idiortly afterwards activity on the road was

resunsd at Mssphis* The r enphis Democratf said:

"For some time the people of thia section havs lost fai^ in the huilding of the A. H. & TC, r. and

^Vbbock ffalg^iohe* August 36, 1909* «.p«l*e.l . rgsee Chapter XT* p. 133.

^^hook AvaX^mohe. January 13, 1910*

*^Cfe|^* February 3, 1910, p.7,o*3.

- - : ?5 1310G1CAL COLLEGE LIBRARY T E X A S T E C H L I B R A R Y

so

have i^aotieally given up hope of getting the road* but we want to try and once nore re­store the eonf idence of the people* for ^a verily believe that the road will now be oom-pleted.

"iverybody knowe that * r* Kennedy oould not build the road hineelf and he eo stated idimi he f irst cane to Memphis and without the n^operation of the people along the proposed l ine i t could not be built* Mr. Kennedy promoted the line from Altue to Hollis mtd got the road far amms^ along until he oould s e l l to a trunk line mid ^Mst road will be built at once. . . Mr. Kennedy wants to get the ^ad far «aou(^ advanoed eo that he otm si^l i t to aama trunk l ine ai^ in fact he has the arrsfflgsB^its already mule to go ahead and n^^Xmta tMa road i f he can get ^ e oo^eration of the towns aXmm the proposed l ine . Mr* K«Binedy tmda a^^^iXk'-eation to the l^rt worth & Denver Saturday for a»it«rial tracicage snd ai^ed that i t be put in at <8ioe as they (are) to have i t re»ly for the aa t^ ia l to begin to arrive early in March. • ' ^

The Lubbock people had complied with ev^ry

re<pirenent of the contract to date and were only

waiting for Mr. Kennedy to amka good oa hia part

of the propoeition*

Rqsrlnt f » » tti. Hwtoht. Owoorat in th . Ltthbo^ AT.l«»fli.. y.b«i.ry W. laiQ.

»gp.l5*c*4« Ibid*. February 17, 1910, p*15*e*4.

51

Hoad huildinp was to begin out of Lubboek

end ( o toH'ard Mesrihis. lite const motion com­

pany h?»vlng Htm Kennedy*?? oontraot under wanage-

mcnt waa "making ? ?r' mp'<*nente to pay off a l l in­

debtedness o' the rif;^t-of-way" pnr^ then they

were to go r l ^ t shead snd build the rond* MesK

phis feared that If thf rot-* rr^ birilt out of

Lubbock that ^c^ hie woxild n >t get the aho*:)S,

retmdhmjise, etc*, and the D^oorat r«rot«sted:

•This doea not sound good to us asid i t does not

sotn)d l ike the f i r s t part of *»?. Keimedy«o eon-

tract has bean oomplied '^i^. l^it nobody neems

to know anything about tho c<mtrs<?t o?» i^iat the

company intends to do, so there i t i a * " ^

^ilverton deolared* "Xf "s^t-hie loses the

shops mnd general o f ^ c o s , i t wi l l certainly be

the fault of *!<n9phls as rcnnody and h i s assooiatee

have carried out every pr<»niee made to the *!ilvertMi

people aad ws have no reason to believe ^ a t the

road wi l l not be bui l t according to eontmct."'®

Heprint fron the >lNKn is Denoorat in the

e l i i b b < ^ .7*o.3«

83

At the peak of thie renewed entiEmsiasm,

Mr* Kennedy eold the right-of-way* grade and

honuiMie, a l l of which had been donated by the

totms, to the Texas Constructors Company, nan-

agsd by Lemon & ParkJ, ii»iigration men who hsd

Sttiator Oilmore^ as their attorney and lor* 41 Thxueton ae chief engineer* They were prsppr^

Ing to float a t3*(M30*CKK) issuance of bonds to

take Care of the mad and look after htench lines

in Hals* Briscoe, Floyd and Lubbock counties*

^ * l^lni^rigw ffeyald expressed for the Mains

eoantry Mr. K^siedy^a valedietoi^s

"This mmi has made a hsroic f i ^ t for h is prc^iositicsi. In ths face of a l l opposition (nad i t has tsriimn fierce} ha has greatly helped the nyilroad situation in this sse­t ion. Sun^y ^lere can not now be sny doubt as to the building of ths Altus & Hoswell road and this man i hould be praised for ^ e noble woilt he hae done on this projeot. He i s a benefactor* The people of Loolmey* Petere^xg, Lubbock* and other pointe along the line have alr^idy ehei&ed Mr. Kennedy out with all*h<»ior* ^ d praiee his worl^y TOXk."**

^ t i s inpossihle to elearly identify theoe

Herald in the HtSSSL yr^s^<^f* May 36* 1910* p*3,c.3*

53

Mr. Kennedy, however, did not completely

abandon his brain child. He was later trying

to extend the road on either end. In 1911

he tried to promote the line from Lubbock to

El Paso.*^

Xn June 1910, Lubbock was "looking for

cara in over the Altus within a few months*"**

Ths final survey and straightening out of the 4B

l ine was being aade in July. By August 11,

1910* the contract for the building of sixty

a i l e s of the road bed frora Lockney to the Hall

county l ine had been le t to the "foods Construction

Ctompsny of ^r ingf i e ld , Missouri. Sixty teams

were to begin grading within te i days. Tork was

to bog in at Sllverton* Lookney and on the Cap

Hock. Track laying was to begin at Lockney and

ptiShed toward Lubbock as rapidly as possible so

as to put the large steam shovels on the heavy

Cap Hock work.

"Our psopls are sure the work wi l l be 4A

si^sdily finished*" the Avalanche said.

***-^bo^ Avalanohe. Febmary 2, 1911, 44P» *0.-Jbid.* June 23, 1910* p*8,c.l.

, JUly 31, 1910, p*l,c.l. I*, August U , 1910, p.l,c*l.

54

A l e t t e r from Mr. ^, i , LeKu>n to vr* o. L*

Siaton of Lubbock ^as printed in the AVtilanehe:

"ife a re not ^oing to make any grea t splurge* hut we are going to bui ld the railroad* we cnn*t he «qpeete<i t o put i t througlh as thotigh i t WBTS an eatabliehed trunk l i n e deal* but for an independent line* as i t i s , X am aatisflot] from ths progress we have already made in our a f fa i re that we ^vill rmke very good t i n e and we wi l l be pleaeed i f the i n t e r e s t s «nd the reo l e along the l i n e wi l l have patiwEioe and lend us t h e i r ^ o p e r a t i o n and moral eepport*"

"Active oonstmction" had began at Silvert<m

aiMi Looki^y* amd the woi^ was to be "vigorouely

puited to o<Mi^leti09i«" The railroad company

asaured the people l^at the steel would be laid 46

into Sllverton by the f i r s t day of Jammry* 1911*

**3atisfaoti»ry prc^^ess" was bsing nmjda on

the road in Si^teaber* Xt was reoordeds

"Althoi;^ they are not m^ing any big noise

about i t they are ^ r o w i i ^ together a nighty good

gimde and the indicat ions are good that t r a ^

47 l iyMKik Avalanche. Auguet 15* 1910*

^iiP»l»o«3. ^ ^ e p r i n t fmn the s i lver ton l^ter-^rise In

the Iflfo^k Avalamam. Aiamst 15. iftlQ. p.l*0.4«

55

laying on that road will bsgin out of Loeknsy

within a ^or t tine." The grade fmm Lo^cney

to the eounty l ine was practically conpleted by

Oetcber 10* 1910 fmd preparaticais wsrs being

a ide to b^in work on the Cap Ho<^*^

Xn a oottversation with the editor of the

aMll»1i<ff Ifatemrise in October, 1910, Mr* VaAa

ot the O(ni8tru0tion company saids

"ihen the work was begun about two ^mtha ago there was at %h&% tixm about 1^,000 yards of dirt to be noved on the line bn-tween tiilvertcm and Lookney* At the and of the month there will he about 47,000 yards of dirt to novs, about 37,000 faxda in Floyd County snd about 35*(XX) yards in Briscoe County* There tamiXna i^^i^mxismtely five miles of grade yet to bs put up in Brisoos ( s l l ­verton) County and a short distancs in Floyd County*" "Kr. Parks estl^ mates that i f the foroe now at work <m the road i s eontim^d the grading will be flnii^ed in thie (Munty (bri^oe) by the last of Movsnber and in Floyd by the middle of Decenber*

"Mr* Parks earefuUy avoided

^ ^ b o f f g ^vi^ani^, September 39, 1910*

Oetober 10* 1910, p.7,o.3*

58

naning a eertain time in idiioh the eteel would be laid into SUvimrtoa, stating that hs oould not give out any definite infor-natiim on tl\e matter at this t ine. Re etated, however, that ^ e oon-etruotiim company had a eontriM t with Mr. t^ode to oon;:ilete the grading to the iiall County l ine im tuyuaig the Cap Mo^ work and that they wcmld not aleep on their right a in getting the eteel laid to the Cap Hoek to bring over the neoeesary material to do the Cap Ho^ work*

*Onn thing Mr* Parks was care­ful to ^aphasiss that l^ey would get the road not onl|Lto Silverton but a trough lin#."'**

By Oec«i MKr 15, 1910, the gmde wae finished

fron t te northeaet comer of kibbo^ eounty to

iMbbo^, aorosa the oanycm at Lubbock and needed

only to be levelled up to make i t ready for the

r a i l s , the grade thmugh floyd and Brieooe ooun­

t iee imut to be finiilied wittiin a week, 'me oon»

nittees wsre getting the last of ths deeds to ^ e

right<-af*way eigned, and Mr* parks, assured the

people that the traok laying would bsgin as soon

as the work was finin^ed*^

"HHeprint frota ^le Silverton ^terprise in

5^.

Kepwxnw xrofa sue ;j[Ji>i.ver¥on ^mxar ox xam in thejabtogak ^ j a y a ^ October ^1, iflio* p.l5,e*i«

Avalandh^* Deoenber 15* 1910, P»io»e»r

87

Hailroad enthusiasra must have been ten-

porasrily interxu^tod by the Ouristnas s; i r i t

for not ing more was laentioned about ths road

until Jsnuary 10, 1911, vitian ^ e story oame out

that the Altus, ikiewell and Kl Paao "ie to resune

grodii^ at <n»»e.**^ Ccmtrootor Hurley, located

at Silverton, had taken over the gradli^ e(ni-

tmusts of Messrs. i 30eidk«e, Hanssy* and nolf*

fard, HSKI had mim^ his ec^i^sent over into

Floyd OQimty. lork tms programing on the grade

near the Brieooe ooimty line and ma to be

finiohed within a few days. A quarter-mile of

traok n^ar Loeteey warn being f IniahtM by Loeknoff

peopleyand ao<Mnrdii to ^le Looknev Ssi^o^ the

imtire grade was to be finiatied to the i^rioooe

emmty line asnd ready for stool within a wssk.

Messm* Pai^ mud LenfMi, the promoters, nade

a trip to now Tcrk and i t was "understood" at

Lookney that "this v i s i t to the great netmpolie

had for i t s purpose t^ finanoing of the road*"

"On their return wo may erpeot to see some

developnent in trai^ laying on the /iltus road*"^^

^^n^aoek Avalanche. January 19, 1911, s^.4,e«3. *nReprint frma tha Locda qv Beaym in the

Ldbboa^ Awalaai^e* January 19, 1911*

Avalan<^e* Jioiuary 20, 1911, P.»f

56

On February 9, 1911, ^mgineer Thruston

"chocked out Contractor Hurley on the last of

ths grads on the Altus road hot ween Lookney and

Silvertcm."

"This complstss ths grads to a point seven

a i l e s eaet of miverton* It ia believed that

traMOk laying wil l begin within thirty days*"^

Tet t^s report of the railroad O(»nais8ion

i^owing railroad building in progress or cont

plated in April* 1911* did not mention the

Alttui road.®'

Mothing was done on ths road from Fsbruary

to June* On Jime 2B^ 1911* the Avalanohe car­

ried a frcmt page story about "new l i f e being

injected into the old Altus, lAibbock, Hoswsll

and 11 Paso Road* Since the Fort worth and

Denver was built to i«siaphis ths psopls thsrs

wsre enxious for a "How Ismphis to El Paso"

road t o bs bui l t over ths old grade* Up to

th i s dots 1 ^ milsa of grade* virtually the

entire dietance betweoi Lubbock and Mei^his,

with ths exception of the Cap Hook, had been

oompletsd at a cost of #1600 par mile; the

& Avalanche. February 9, 1911* 5«p.5*0.i

Ibid. . AprU 13* 1911, p. lO,c*l .

59

right-of-way had been secured for the entire

dietai^e of 380 miles from '^aphis to Kl

Paso* In addition to ths amount sxpended on

the grads, bonuses aXoag, the l ins had been con­

tracted foT, idiidi, when added to the grade,

the towneitea and the right-of-way donations

anountsd to "soiaething like a million dollars."

All ths work wae being done according to contr<ict

with ths Hailroad Cbnstruotion Company of Texas

wtiioh was to build the l ine , absorb ths bonuses,

and thsn turn back the constructed railway to the

A. L. H. & K. P. Hailimy 0<»apany. Application

was made 1^ the coispany to the H. '.^. Conmission

of Texas for permission to isaus bonds on the

assets of the "partiallv oo^leted railroad."*^

An editorial in the Avalanche explained

Lubbock*8 att i tuds:

"Xt aaama that thsrs i s re­newed act iv i ty in th is witsrpriss and ths people of Lubbock should bsst ir thsnsslves to help secure ths road. . .

58 Heprint from tha Houston Chronicle in ^^^ I ubbock A^valanche. Juno 29, 1911, p . l * o . l .

* Thsre i s ons very palpable fact in connection with our traffic and that i s that we must get another road into this city i f we ever hope to aoooi^lieh mxcih ill the jay of developnent.

"the "lanta Fe has plainly shown that i t i s not goix% to do anything for \is more than i t ie of necessity ooiapelled to do* Xf ws emn get one or nore roade to GOfsna in i t will bring the Santa Fe to terms*"o9

Mr* tamon and Parks eslieequently ^med back

the road to -ir* Kennedy asd he conceived the idea

of bu i ld i^ the mad piammmiX by suoceeaive in-

mn noe of bonds on ^ e rtmd as the building pt^-^

greased* Me claimed he had se<»ired pemlesien

t»om the railroad oonniision and out l ine his

l^sn as follows I

"AS soon as fifteen miles of traok have been laid frora Mwi^his to L^eview* the f irst ismie of bonds will be nade. Then the steel will be oarried f i fty niles Airther to Silvertcm* th^see thirty miles to Lookney and then fifty niles to l t sook* etc. There will be a new i s ^ e of bonds every f ifty « i l e e . » *

inxi agjs, jsaiaasSS, jun. 39, i «u , p.e.e.a. . , 9.pt«b«r 38, 1911, p .3 ,0 .3 .

631

The bona:; o^3ntr:;ots »or;; as follo:?s;

i ta^is tii6,ooo C*C. Slaaiuhter

Land Co. 350*000 Lakeview 37,300 Hilwerton 85*000 LiX^oiey 45,000 Petermirg 33,000 lAtbboak ^ .000

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtm

Total #884,500

A iouA a quarter of a s^llion had been spent

mi^e*^ aooar<llne ta ^tt, Kmmmli,.^

Tio l ine sas "i ins omm oamfl^Uy and the

oontraots r^iewed" l^ tr* iimuyadfm The prospeote

for sork to bsgin were believed to be good, A

Houston osi>italist, lir. '^st, hsd beoone

intereeted in the road. T ie ifff ifiy <ftf said:

"Tor aoma tX^^a thsrs has haim very l i t t l e mikid <m done so far as the i>e^^e of this part of the iMunty ore oonoi»mad about the \4tuo Lubbock $t Hossiell nallroad that m. K inody hSfga to agitate several years .mom Many ]>eople have often expressed thenselvea as being doubt«» ful idiether or not the road would 0wer b<% built* but !r. Kennedy has always aoAd that he intended to oaxry out hie plans and i t looks very muGh like hs iu going to aoooa^pliidi fdmt he has been tryiac to dki«"83

^h^LJi^^ pnjXnsm^ oototar 38* 1911, ^,^l*n»8 A Mm ^^m/j^. Ootober 38* 18U, p.l*o.5.

"hether or not r. Kennedy J.-a oulit the

road from iUtus to l iollin with the I.O\A.^ aonsy

dsrivsd ^TOf^ ths tO;i;a along the route iron

Hol l i s to Lubbock — or whether he intcndea to

build the road fx:x& tw^^hXa to Ltibbock ^ith

bonus rfioixey from pTO^^o^ad ext^nsiona i s not

known, but !'r« Kennsdy iimeuiately lei'w tox Jul

Paso to raise a bonus for the road. '

The road frors Altus to the Texas s tats

l i n e had bemi sold t ^ Uie uiohita 'iPiil^n and

florth western.^

Mr* Kmmady told the people at 171 Paso that

the Altus, lk>8wsll* and ill Paso muld hrvc a

short air l ine to ::1 : aoo and ^ould f^horten the

diet jics ftom i:i raao to Oklahoma City by 24?

miles. It voulvt ooimect at Altua nitK the

Ori^at* the Frisco and tlie -vlchit;: Falls and

Korthwestem aad i t would cross eight noxth -nd

south l ine a from Altue to J osiel l .®^

Mr. Kennedy then sold his intore&iL in the

Altus to n Paso road to » r. * . ^eat of

rk Avalanohe. Hovenber 22, 1911*

Jb^d*. flavsnher 3C, 19U* p.5,o .3* 'Reprint from the J^ Pasp T i s ^ in hnf^l ftr^m^fp ViowmdmTSS, 19 p»o*e.34.

the

83

Houeton idio set about the task of building ths

road frora ? emphiB in January* 1912* ?'r. test

asked Mmrphis for a " 35*000 eai^ bonus* a clear

righV-of-way, xnd the 53 acres of land in the

eouth part of Memphis held in trust by the

original bonus coamittss* Mr* \vest, in oompany

with C. L* Sloan and llnginser lam Houston, went

out over the line to iftiow the people that he

wae really going to build the road* The Menphie

l? oor , oonmmitsds

^mm West is a railroad buildsr and not a promoter and if our people can come to a MLtisfactory ^preenimt with him it will not be but a sdiort while until we will hear the raml^e of the iron hor ss coning in fror the weet*"68

Mr. West solicited stock subscriptions at

Lookney and promised that the road wimld be oon»

pleted by Ootober 1, 1912, if the stock subscrip­

tions were liberal. It was said in ths Lookney

paper* "Mr. t est d o ^ not ask for a cent of noney

until the trains are running into Lookney and

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm»m»mmtmmmmm

R e p r i n t from the Memphis Danoe rat in ths V^book Avalanche. January 11* 1913* p.7* Qm3m

84

then only half Vhen tha tra<^ i e laid to the

north line of Floyd county and the other half

when the road i s oorr 1: t ? to Memphis."

By fishzuary 1> 1912* Lookney had praotioally

raised ttie $35*000 whieh }tTm "^at ai^ed of th<

t30*000 bonus and ^ 15,000 stock.

"'*e believe ths building of this mad will

make a new epo<^ in the teild^ up of Lotncney

and floyd oountiee," oommented the Lockney

Xt a^^/ptmxad that f r* feet waa really build­

ing the mad* for he wae isidcing arrsngefsents far

material to be ediii^ed to Lubbock* The Avalanohe

relateds

"Mr. West stated i l i i l s hsre that the firat work would be ^ e ^ao i i^ of stesl spans across the fellow House Canyon after which there would be no obetmotion ux^ t i l the Ci p itock was reached.

"Ms said that as soon as a l l prsliiiinary arrangsmioits for ths naterial are made that offioee will be eetabliahed hsre mid nain-tais^d p^rmonsntly* The large

87 Beprlnt ttom the j^kiioy aeaoon in the Lwyoek Avalani^e. January as* 1913.

^ i d ! . February 1* 1913* p.l*e.5.

06

eteel bt'i v«| gjin requim mmmMsX -^jeia tine and only abCMt one ^ila of track cut* Hi > >f th<% t*»minal can he 68 Ifl red until thia ie oce^ letedr^

Mr. ' eet told the :.e>, le at Lookney on

Fihruary 2:1, tSiat the woxk <m the c ^ H «k wsa

about findiahed snd timt as so n as the figures

were ooNi^led he would leave for (Siieago to

na^e final arr^ogenasts ^ begin oonat motion

ot t^a r o ^ .

1^. West ma to have all the n^ssary

naterial on the ground at LubbocSr by April 1*

19ia» t^e j v -ay i reperted. "*

f^ people alnaye believed the best about

the pronotere for oven vdmm ' r. " it asksd

U^Q^smaj for duplicate oopies of t^ notes and

ecntraots nade wi^ Wtm Kennedy, ^ e lookiyBy

l aflffln oaMz *Mr. ^mt*a aotion In cmlling for

a nopT odT these n^tes ie aooi^ted by our pe<^l8

aa forl^ier evidenoe ^lat t^eee parties mean

bueittess tmd are arranging details as fast ae

mmmmmtmmmmmmmmtmmttmmmtmtimmmmmtmmmmmmm

^*HsitefH^ j^yaaaohe.. February I, 1913,

int fmn the JautBKL 8»gg» In ^ e n*n,8.3«

68

possible in order to corsn^noe woxk on the mad

at once*"

On April 31, 1912, the Avalanche was ex-

peeting at any time to see cr*r loads of build­

ing mntaxiaX arriving in tlis yards at Lubbock

for ths road. Tlte auU^iOritiea of the road had

promised to be in (x>nstruction work on Hay 15,

1912* To obviate ths objection that l i t t l e work

had been dime "in the Oap Ho^ the promoters said

that they wmee going to dig a 500 foot tunnel,

deolaring that th i s ^ u l d cost Isso than ths

68 foot cut that would oth^wise have be<si 73

ne<»3sary.

This enthusiann was mtstainsd through the

nonl^ of i^ri l although act iv i ty had praotioally

stained. The editor printed sudi headlinss as

"^srything Shaping tl^ Fine," "(^mtracts All

B ^ i ^ Closed," ":ir* ""oet Oslls Bonds in ?Torth

ISast," stc*^*

Mr. '^est was obviously ;}ust another pro-

noter* He had eeveral big "eastern capita l i s ts"

ixT'.m^.

Btaoon j 6. Ul3.

, April 18* 1912* p.l,c. 1 and 3.

87

to inspect ths road for ths purposs of finanoing

it, an act that alwRys evoked enthusiasm*"^ He

tried to scare Silverton into paying up its

bonus, by threatenii^ to miaa the town and build

a new town elsevhers*^^

The last mentlcsi of the Altus, Hoswsll and

Ml Paso Hailroad was on July 13, 1912* Kven as

ths Bu>vsment was sinking into Irrevooabls obliv­

ion, the editor eaid: 'l^e ripples on ths sur­

face aaam to indicate ^at somsthing will bs

doing soon*"^^

The Santa Fe had startsd work on ths Texioo-

Lubbock branch of the Texico-Coleman Cut-Of f and

with that branch assursd, Luhbook*a Citisens

Coamdttee had no reason longer to support ths

bluff*

Ths deeds to ths right«-of-way hold in trust

by the various bonus oonaittses in ths towns

along the right-of«>way* reverted to the original

d<mors* Mr* 0. L. Siaton, who owned the ssetion

adjoining the townsits of Lubbock* held the

grade in truet for soms years aftsr hs had sold

74 i>Isa>boek Ayalanqhe. Jtms 6* 1912, p*5,o.3* Ifllbltt.. JnXy 4 . 1912. p .7 ,o .3*

iSB[>» Jbly 18, 1913, p .5 ,e .3 .

the land on either n i e . e ha.i ^oi>e- th-t

mma oHie? roud rj^r.t be inthicol to Imlld to

Lubboek in th \t .!ir' cti'>r. • ni he intended to

give tha graao to tha" road, \yixt ^ en i t

f inally bccma obvioi a that no road would evtsr

hnild t ) lub .'a! : ir- that (.!i recti it"., he ar l''. «he

ri t*«*of-''- ay t.") th.) adjacr?'t ;:roi:-ert:' o mer/'.*

The "-eat ';«pcas and ttort^i.«m, pronoted by

ITT. !. f,. !ion mn.-Mt, i^is to n«5 fron nr^rttan

to a Otiorth m coiKiectiim with the 5-;fait a * e.

. t jiton cltlt£vtu]£ hailed, Itu bsgiiming as the

heart pTOi o?dti;on over nade to thiit town by any

ocatpany and - f it esnlhu4la^ti<ntlly a';xxit oub-

eoafibin^ the 'iO,OC^ in .oimn and atock asked

by tita road officials* ':bri itim f n ! l ^9y^r

pradioted:

' 'thcm the road i s ncn^^tod ws n l l l be on the crossing of t io big trwnk liasis and ^Ith the roimdh '/»:-i< '.! mi'^ €hor:&p there will bs nothing to prevent ^laitan ftom making one of theexnatusit o i t i e s In ''feet Tex.-is*"Tv

nsen

Heprint fron tha Itrat^n ,- -OTtfl,: : in the lA^bock iVitlr.niihe. tssptOMber ^ 7 l 9 0 7 , p,X*8,4«

Mr* Bon TXirant, "president of the Consoli­

dated '3HiouritieB r^n-^tmy of Mew Tork City and

London, ''Cnfrlr jid, * vj . branch offioe in Dallae,"

b^an his rroj^^t in r;tanton in ^ e early part

of 1e]*;tenber, 19C7. He oarae to Stanton cUid held

a conference with a fe v of the prominent c i t izens

of that town and told them of his intentions to

build a road to be knoim as the l^est Tsxas and

Morthsm, begiiv^ng work t>iem and building to

soeie northern railroad connection and also south

to Saai Angelo.

The people of strmt >n slipped aad accepted

the following oontract ae "very satisfactory

evidenos that the com any means business"}

•Ths people of Martin County cuQid B tan ton are required to meke v^ 150,000 in bonus and stock sub­scription payabls one-third n^en the '??ide i e complete to Lanesa, Texas, and bra^^oe when the road i s in operition to sows northern railroad conzieotion* General of-fioee and shops wil l be located in r.tanton, Texas* and oonstmotion wil l bsgin within sixty days or probsbly Uiirty days from date thereof*

^®Hr)rint fma the Stanton Reporter in the .t^boiric AvalMiche, Sentenber 37. 19QT>

mm V m ^ . — — — — -

p.«*o«

70

Stantjn citizens are to get Lafiiena poo-le to mbooribe 1®,000 in bonue and stock*

ni^pied;

Consolidated >oiiritie8 Conpany

Psr o. 0, Bon Durant pmsident"

Itanton was to havs fifteen days in whioh

to sscure the subscriptiott*

The taat<M5 :i^i3ortcr urged the people of

Stanton not to miit to be o3licited by the cofi

nittee but to go voluntarily amd say what they

would do, for i t t¥aa claiJ^d;

"It i s not i^iving sone^iag ai^y to subsoribe to a railroad* but an investment and one that will bring greater returns thaa anything you have ever put money into before* This $50,000, i f i t brings the road* wil . be worth 1^0,000 to the coxmty at ths sound of the first whistls and everycme i^o owns land will reap the rich benefit* You are not giving a cent, but rather gettir^ ten dollar a returned in enhanoed land values for every one dollar inveeted*

"Xf the road doesn*t eone i t

79 Heprint froa the 3timton Heporter in the I»-ahboek^Avalana . '^entn^»« 27. 1907,

71

won»t coL.t you a dollar* but i f i t does co*?>e, you wil l be taany dollars better ofi , so hunt ui-the comiTdttee and subscribe your prorata* If evsry land owner does th i s we are guaran­teed the road, but i f not there are other towna v h i < ^ ^ l l *ja% up Mnd leave ua o u t . " ^

^ * - i ^ ton Hsport^ I-AS .roiui tv; <jiriOunoe

the next week that under the directevi efforts

of the oommittee appointed at the mkii-> a/^cting

^40*(K)0 had alr<Nidy been subi»oril^d und signed

up in notee*

"It i s Indeed gratifyiix to see the people putting up so l iberal ly on thig pre^oai-ti^m ai»i i t flihows their faith in the abi l i ty of the pmnot-eta of this mad to do ae tl-tey aay thi^ wil l do.

"The promoters are anxious to begin work :\nd have sired the oowiittee that t h ^ have teams and wheel scrapers mady for woxk as soon as the notioe i s given that the money i s ready. •«*

Mr. Bon Daxant ocmtraoted with Lonesa for

a bonus of $37*500 md agreed to assuns ths

60 Hsprlnt from ths S t y t o a Reporter in the Ltiftbook Avalanche. ^x?tenber 27. 1907.

**f^.* October 4 , 1907, p . 7 , c . 3 .

72

reexK>tt8ib i l l t i e s of the Pimhondle Short Line

t o Lamesa. Lamesa had pledged ^25,000 to the

Pnnhandle Short Line and this anount was to

be supplemented hif " 12*500 additional s u ^

soriptioa* The road was to be ccnaplsted fron

Stanton to Lanssa in seven months and to acme 82 northern connection within two years.

On Ootober 35* 1907, ths Avalandie said:

"The railroad from the south i s ge t t i i^ closer to Lubbo^ every week* ^hile Mr. Bon thira^t and Mr. H. B* Cox of Stanton were in La eesa* a committee frora Ta­hoka was sent to interview >fr. Bon Durant and he returned with them to Te^oka. A nase meeting was called on October 15* and the followix^ contract was closed. Tahf^a sgreeci to furnish the rig)it-of-^«iy through Lytm Cotmty* twenty acres for depot grounds* twenty aores for atoak pens and a f 35* 000 bcnms. Ta­hoka was given ten days to secure the bonus and ths railroad oompany agreed to begin construction work at Stanton not later than Kov^iber H , 1907, and to have ths road to -Tah<^a not later than twelve months from that date."

The Tfthoka tews reported.

R e p r i n t from the Ija fo. , County Hews in the Lubbo^ Avalan<die, Oot< >er 18* 1907* p . l , 0 . 3 .

73

"Thexe was very l i t t l e enthueiasm shown* but i t was looked i xm as a straight odd business proposition. The knocdcers were so hopdessly in the minority that they out no ice at a l l . Monday night tmmd us with §30,000 sectired* Meteeeday ni^^t $30*000 az^ hf Saturday* ve will have everything as i t should be."<'3

Mr* B(m Dumnt did not get the response

from LublK>ok ^ a t he desired; so he gave out

the report in Tidioka that he would pidc out

the location for the city eight miles east or gut

i^st of Lubbo^.

^ * %t#bo^ ifal yt<frft retorted:

"Mr. IN>n Ourant OYidently is tryii^ to run a bluff on L«^book hy giving out such re­ports for the press, but he id^ght ae well savs hinself ths unneoeesary trouble for his little bltiff gftfie will not work with our people who are at all tines ready to do their part on anything of this kind, whsn approaohed in a gentleaanly, busineee-like manner* Xf Mr. Bon Durant wants to oorae to

88 Reprint from the Tahoka Mewe in the U^S^SSL fj^m^^f Octob«nfe, 1907,

A^.3,e.3. •Reprint ttcmi the Lvm Oountv Rewo in

^ J t i f e ^ | E ^ S t N^SaST,

Luhbook and 'vajtts a bcmus, he can get any reaeonable amount he should ask, that without a grumbls* but to try to scars ua into driving up an sxorbl-tant anount by telling us stories about cities height niles east or wsst of Lubbock* is not going to increase our enthusiasm one dollar's worth* Luhbook stands ready to do ths pxopax thing at all times and that without sny bluffs on ths part of WQuldi-bs railroad pro­moters **9b

74

Xt waa rusorsd that ths nest Texae and

Morthem was backed by the Santa Fe and that

the road fror. San Angelo to Lamesa would bs

extended to Plainview and f i l l in the gap

( later sui^plisd with ths Texioo cut off) that

would oompXata the Banta Fe route from Galveaton 66 t o the Pacif ic . Xt s i ^ t well have been tha

intention of the i roisters cnr^dtually to s s l l

out to tho Santa Fs.

Mr* Bon Durant retradted from h i s "bluff"

in a latter to the editor of the Avalanohe.

denying that he had issusd the statenent and

expreso€Ni his desirs to corrsct the false

pa Lubbock Avalan<^s* xovmaber 1* 1907,

Pi lp .4*o . l . '^"Ibjld*. Hovenber I, 1907, p*6*c«3.

loek had no railmad at th i s t ine .

75

impTeaaion. He said that i f L^bock wanted ths

road he would be clad to talk business with the

people*^

The D*i>onnell Conetruotion Company began

work on the grade out of Stanton in Woveid er*

19OT* Thirty-^five teams and a long string of

i^seled eerapers, excavators and every device

known in railroad ^>nstruction at that tims was

moving dirt on the grade* Col* M* L* Heed, "a

\^ o<mtractor with headquarters in Kansas

City" i^o had built ths Abilens nnd Horthsm

to Stamford, ths Hoscoe, snydter, and Pacific

and part <^ the Orient, was also "figuring"

with Mr* Bon Durant on a big block of grade*^

The oontract was elosed with Mr. Hse^and

J. Smith of Fort forth with a "big outfit in­

cluding a machine fcrader*" Mr. J. F. Brooks

of OklahoBHi* and Mr. ^ r l e y of Forney were

g ivm oontraets* one hundred tecmis wsre strung

out f<nr six miles on ths survsy* Mr. Bon Dursnt

was in Fort Wor^ wsOcing prsparations for s t se l

laying to begin in thirty daye*®®

67 nnJiP^^^ AV^anohe* Moveoher 16* I907*p.l,o*3 g^Ibid^. Movnrtwr 33. 1907, p*4,c .3 . ''•Heprint from ^ e Stamtoq Reporter in the

Lubbock AValfin<Ae. Movenbsr 39, 1907, p . 1* e .4 .

76

All available ror i oontmotora were put to

woxk on the gra<ie ;).n-l by Deceatoer f i f ty ?»re

w«m put on tha j o b . ^ three Xux^e grading

naehines pouec MI by 19 hav^ ot horaois eadh, that

nowed a ^louaaixl yards of dirt a d^ , were at

woa^km All told, 1* .•Doraiell* ^ e engineer*

$mM thiit ifr'om &ix to aight ^omMind yardcj of

dirt ^t de^ nore boln i moved by hlo orcw :\TyCi

those of his aid>-^intrti0tors. Cenoral conetruo­

tion wo^ maM tMidng oa:pviad an without hesitatioii

t3»rouB}i rain iosd ImA weatl»ir in general* accorcW

ing to rr^ident Bern Durn nt of ths Seaboard

Horthem Conetxiicrli >n Oo«aps«y*^

Mr* Bbn Busf^it c ;iFvimaaly waa not ^>{irtloular

about t^iasm hie Toai^ rim for ho oontr cted rlth

;U]y t<i«n that would rut ur? a big enough bosiua*

Seninols* n tomn that ims (|uito inixious for a

railrosd eid like Many other tossts vdthout rail*

1^^ fooilitiOf^^ had a stimding offer af §^,000

to i iy road that wmld build there* la:* Ban

Dursnt imreotigatci ths route snd met with the

landing citirens to draw up a eontraot. '^on

80 lil^S9S^ AvaT nc ^ '?eGei8>er 13, 1907, lliP«l,8«5* '^'iieprint fron t l^

p.l.,e»o«

77

the arxival of Mr. Bon Durant md his sngineer*

Mr. Holland, a aasa meeting was eallsd. At

this neeting, ^ ?* Love, eashier of the Beni-

nole bank and in behalf of the people of the

oo'imty, euhnittsd to Ux. Bon Durant a proposi­

tion in si;d>stanos as follows; Ths people pro­

posed to p4qr $80,000 for the road, onn»fourth

to he paid in the pun^tase of s tee l . Needless

to ssy, the ocntraot vmM a o o ^ t s d . ^ Mr. Bon

Durant agreed to aoci pt f i fty pax cent of the

b(muB in land but daamadad that ^ e f irst Idiree

pm^ents be nade in oai^.^*' The surv^ for the

Seninole division was begun at onoe end i t was

thought that the gracing would b<^n by the

f i r s t of the mmt month, fha Sfainole sentinel

oonnentedi

"Mr* Bon Dursnt has evinced a diepoaition to be fair and reasonable in making a contract with o^ainole <— a ract idiidh the people spprsciats snd while the nuilding of railmsds i s a bttsinsss proposition, ahere they am badly needed i t does not

^Seprint from the S«siBQl^ r^andard in theJEM||teak Aval^one. Deoagerl f .

, Jemnary 3, 1808, p .2 ,c .3 .

78

s t i f l e sentiment and for yeara after this road ia built* the people iftio lived in this county (hiring ite f irst years (will) ohssrvs the growth, industry snd prosperity of seninole snd ths surrounding country — (asid will) see far and vide ths fer­t i l e farsQS bedecked in beauty by the handii^xk of many a con­tented toilox* They will not forget ^ e man tho first gave them hope and assurance (tf the oondit i^ that has b s ^ brou sht about. " ^

The enthusiasm of Tom Oreen county for the

Meet Texas mid northern was especially l ively:

"Taking time by the forelodfc eit isens of water fhlXey in the northwestern part of Ton Qitomi Ooimty have inaogorated an active mov^nmt to secure ^ e l ine of the west Tsxaa and Morthsm railroad ^an i t ex<-tsnds souUi fron St€mt<»i to San Angi Ui. After pledging a boni:» of #80*000* xi|^t«ofi»way and depot grounds, a oonmittss was appointsd to taks the nat­ter iq> with Presidmit Bon Dursnt 4^ the i^dlxoad sad to notify hin that they were ready to iiw e t i te te a oontract idien Jjjm de­t a i l s wers agrsed loqpcn."'

•"Ttoprint from tlie Tylor Oounfer Mean in the ladibook Aval«ioi^* J M ^ T V X ^ 1908, p«3,e.8.

79 By January 10, 1908, fourteen miles of

grade had haan thrown uo^and Mr* Bon Durant said

that 3000 t i e s were to be xmloaded at Stanton

for the road and that 12,000 more t i e s had been

bought* Mr* Bon Durant was going to put down

iZ^tOOQ worth of s t s s l uid t i s s as soon as the 96 bonue iaetallaente were paid.

Seninole heard the report that ssvsral

oar loads of s tee l were on the way to 3tanton

for ths u ^ of the Wsst fasnaa and Northern.^ This

was ei^^eoially disconcerting to them as they vers

having diffimilty in raising the bonus. It ap­

peared that 150*000 was a l l the cosmtittee could

iratise* The largest land ^lolders* Mee srs* Bulkey*

Hiley and Huseel, had giwen nothing*^

The M i m gPOTlr USS^M vidiculsd Seminols«s

ffisthusiasm for ^ e road:

"Seminole (psopls) say thsy are going to havs a railroad and that Capt* B(m Durant ia going to build it* "^11 now, we hope they will* but we are glad ve don't have to do without biscuits and

98 Hsprint frots the Dawson vOountv J^M^ in the Lubbock Avai^che* January 10* 1908, p*3*

^Heprint fron the ^mn9\Vf Standard in the yAi ffff Avalapiohe. January 10, 1908* p*3y

j[^|;||.* January 10* 1906, p.3*o.3.

80

nolasses unti l Bon Durant builds a railroad*"98

The 2m\ml^ ^>tapdar4 rstortsd:

"Mr* Bon Durant aay not build ei railroad to nerainole* For a l l any one hsrs knows hs may nsver havs intended to do so, but there i s mu( ndiolsBome faith in him here zind any town that would not endeavor to meet the terms lixich he offered Seminole should not havs a railmad* iro town on the plains hae made a safsr* better ecmtraet for a road than Seninole.«w

By Fsbrusxy 1, 1908, work on Mr. Bon Dur­

ant *s railroad had ceased* but the people of

Stanton had becor^e so Involved in the road * •

financially and otherwiss that they "could not

afford to l e t i t f a l l throu^*" The p»>ple in

3tanton b^ieved that ttey cotald build the road

themselveSjand ^ e y were thoroughly conviiused

of the fact that the road was abeolutely esssn-

t i a l to Stanton, that Immediately \xp<m i t s <K)fl

pletion the town wo\aId becoj^e a thriving d t y

rnd that i f the road waa not built fron Stanton

i t would be built from some other town on the

99 Heprint from Hxa Teyrv Countv Herald in the Labbocnc Avalaiwhe* January 10, 1908*

ftnP* S* c . 3. '**^spriat from tha pftftB« f standard in

^ ^ -" hocl: Avalanohf. January 10, 1908* p. 3, 6. 3.

81

T* 4 P. They begsn desperately to try to Ixiild

the «>ad frora looal subscription.^^

The company 'SB.B reorganised with T* J*

O'D^mell* president; J* T, Joiner* president

of the First state Bank of Lenesa, vice-presi­

dent; Paul f>unt3, caadtiier of the First Hational

Bank of St^tton* treasurer; Charles ^b«reol,

pmsidofit of the Hone Mationsl Bank at Stantcm,

eeoretaxy.^^ Mr* o*Donnell declared in Dallae

that the road would be built to UaSalhock, a die*

tnnce of UO miles, ^ a t fcmrtemi miles had s l -

n ^ y htmn graded, mid that the road had the

financial l^okJb^ to oonplete tha ocmstruotion

snd that he was in Dallae for the pvrpoee of

nothing Gontracts tost naterial la^ euppliee.^^^

Senator Martin," etate senator fron the Fifteenth

$Mnatorial Diet riot of Mi^oinri, took up the job

of proawting.^^^

Senator Martin had the report published

that f<nrty mi lee of steel was to be delivered

at Stanton hy May 15th. The t iee had already

£ ysl«>^6« Febxttary 7, 1908,

j^.*ibi4*. IMxuaxy BXp 1906, p . l , e . 2 . • * Febxuary 31, 1906, p . l , e .3* man can not be nom definitely

«i|Adentified« liWfffffi ffrffi^fTlfflr- F^Muaxr 31, 1906, p«i,e.a«

8?

been nnleaiisd at **tr»nton and orders placed for

nore* There seemed to be IM> nusstion of ths

early re»»«ption of work m the lins* Lsnesa

had fai led to mibncribe her bonus and i t was

eaid thet th« road would probably • ies the

eounty seat of Dawson County* l&tstani had ob­

jected to the contract which the proraoters had

proposed and «j :g*?sted a modifior^tion, but

Senator ^ r t i n replied* "^e will not oonrider

any proposition from the Lnmesa :eo} le other

than that sijibaitted by us.* >fr. Sfgrtln further

eaid that t-^mann. ^ad only n few days to comply

with the deniJjnds*

A aase neeting was held at Lameea ^id i t

was reported, "The cit izens hiving faith in the

integrity and honesty of purpose of certain

directors if the conetruotion con?:any, deolded

that in spite of the bad features of the notes*

thsy would accept the propositi >r rather th5n

do anything that would bale the progress of the

devel^iment work."

i r . O^Bonnell hast i ly eolleoted the notes

and ths contracts fron the other towne*^^

^'^Mbbc^c Avalan<^e. Maroh 6* 1908* p*3,o . l .

83

On May 9, 1908, the grade h^/^. been

flnishef^ to Brownlee, '*a new town near the

center of Martin County, half way between

Stanton and Lariesa.***" The grade was eventu­

a l l y f inished from Stanton to Lamesa^"' and by

May 1, 1909, 3t?mton, optlraistio as over, was

congratulating i t s e l f on the suooessful term­

ina t ion of the ra i l road proposit ion. Ths

papers were a l l slgnsd up and In the banks and

the psople a t Stanton fe l t sure that the l i ne

would soon be in actual operation frora Stanton J. . 108 t o Lamesa.

nothing mora was heard of the ^ a t Texas

and Horthem, although the company did succeed

in se l l ing i t s grade to the Santa ^e when i t

b u i l t to Lamesa in 1911 and i t was thOTj^ht that

the Santa Fe would some day build the l i ne over

the West Texas and Northern grade. ^ ^ but hae not

done so as yet . ^

lo^^iig^os^ ATal^PSftt May 8, 19(^, p* l , c .5* *T!Xbid.. January 22» 1909, p . 3 , c . 3 . lOB^eprint from the Stanton Heporter in ths

Lafesaai ATa afl<? , > May i» i909 , p . 5 , e . g . iO^'Heprint from the Smi AOKelo Standard ia

the Luhbook Avalanohe. Februarv 16^ I 9 i i , p . l , 0 * 1 *

64

ZiSUBL Panhimdl Short Line

Ths Panhandls 'Hiort line iras a pmpossd

road to bsgin at Hereford* Xt was pronoted hy

Colonel J* H. HiuMion* The "Colofnel** ^as bb-

etreperously energetio, large, uncouth and

hraggndooious, aecKirding to >ir* J* T* Xnnan,

foxner tiNiriff of Deaf Smith County.^^ For

tteny years the people of Hereford had been

obeeesed with ^ e idoa ^ building a road

eoutt from their town. The road was obviously

needed einoe there was no north and south rosd

across the plains until 1911. Fmntier ooxw

ditians s t i l l lini^sred cm ^ s plaine to the

extttit that evexTone was taken at his word —

even a railroad prcnaoter. Moreover* money was

easy. Fre iuent land bootae and many eastern

"euokers" iKtde the Hereford r^eople both pros­

perous and generous* fverything was set for

the "Colonel" to make a 1 ^ kil l ing.

The land salesnen of Hereford w^e the

heavieet ^>eottlatore in the Pai^smdle Short

110 ** J. T. Xnman to mithor* April 17, 1936.

86

Line. Many of these affluent gentlenen

epeoulated so heavily in the road that they

were impoverished «^en the bubble oollapeed*

By Auguet* 1907, Colonel Hanson waa "succeeding

nicely <^ his road" iri u. Ite of the oppoeition of

nany knockers, and ths people of Hereford worn

expecting traine over the route fron Hereford to

DiB &itt in 60 or 90 days*^^ Colonel Hans<ni

"reluetsatly" govs intsrvisws to the papere and

etomed at the rporter of the eyeford l}2aB :

"I am attending striekly to my railroad busineee X19

aad do not care to give knockers any inforaationT"

Oa Auguet 23, 1907* a comnittee of Lubbo^

c i t izens , dii^atched by the Lubbol^ Ccnraercial

diib* m turned from Hexefoxd liiers they had

gone to see about getting tha road for Lubbock,

the c<»3ffiittee was c^is^osed of Oeoxge 0* !folfforth*

John Mm McOee, K« P* l^rhart* J* J. Barten* w* 8*

Powell, A* A. rooplee* C* F* 3ttA>bs, n. C* Tux^

kinki^* J* J* Dillard, and H. 1* Fbrd* They

***nterint frcwi the Y * ^ n«^rint frcm the Hera^qyd Brqid In tha hmHtlH fttfjliOMbftr *»^*«* Q- iQfYV p.8*e. XOM.* August XQ* 1«07, p.8,e*l*

86

had been in conference for several days Trith

the promoters of the ro id, but said very l i t t l e .

Aooording to the ntory:

"An wolandho reporter ar-prosched a mniber of the eon-raittee with the hopes of receiv-inx some good news for our people, but thsy \mt on railroad alrr :ind assumed that dignified indifferent attitude 80 ch'or -otorlstlo of tha pxofeesional railroad pr^Kter aad said, •*'ifj hiive nothing for i^ubll^ oation*, but t^sy ineinuated that there was •^xraeltili^ doing' xfi) the l ine and that our people would be infomed a l i t t l e later ^ h n matters were a l i t t l e mota developed. "^13

Xt waa xonored at Big ^r ing ^ a t <^l«iel

Hane<KB had disposed of h is interests to a group

of business man of Hemford and Lubbodk* Accord­

ing to the MSt §SXimi m^flgaylff theee men nade

a t r i p over the proposed route from Hereford to

Big Spribaig and the >>eople of tho lat ter tons

became very anxious to somire ths southern

teminus of the road.^^ But they had an aotive

rival in Stant4m, another propoeed eouthem

teminus of the road. Ihe Stanton paper aleo

113 *-' *' *' ^v.-»laniaie. Auguet 33* 1907,

1M^,^« eprint frora the flj^ Sprt ng pitemrie^ in the Luboook AyalflWhtr Septenher 7* 1907, p . f , c . 4 .

87

reported a v i s i t from the pxomoterst

"Great thin^ s rsove alowly and the righteous get thsir duee. Our re^ar^ice ia to the Panhiwuile ^or t Line coning to Stanton, and we eay the rigliteo^ie get their dues because Stanton i s right, i s looated risfit nnd everything s lse i s just right for the road to ooide here. 3o ths syi^tons ars indicating at ths pressnt writing*

"A e^mittee eos^sed of L. Ocuf isnd Oeorge w* Mrvin of K«re» ford, fi. H* larhart and A. A. Peoples ot Lubbock* were in Stesi-ton on wednesd^ (September 1, 1909) to confer with our people eoneemii;^ the road and requestsd that a coamittee be sent fToa here to Lubbock where oomnitteee from al l the comveting towns are to make their reports to the ra» preeentatives of the road Satur-

"JMt what tlie oomoany i s wanting Stanton to do was not giv«ft out furtSisr than ^lat they wanted us to get up a bonus ntnd make then a propoeition to be accepted or x(Ejected as they see r i t*sU5

Tet Big spring was still waxing enthusi- ;^

antic over her prospecte for in the following

^^^^rint fron the Stantc^ Heporter in the Lubbock Avalanche. 3ept(^ber 7, 1907, p.8,e«5.

as

a n^oup of surveyors of "Uie Pnxlhcndle

Short Lino Hailroad established ooap there

and began a preliisinary survey to determine

^ e probable cost of enterin^; nxvl leaving

that town.^^

(kklonel a. O. 'U aught cr, *one of the

wealthiest isen in the state as well as one of

the Ifirgest land oimers in Texas,"* was very

anxious thnt the panhnndle •:^ort Line be built

md ^nXd that lie was "quite s i l l ing" to do i i s

part towards furthering i t s oonstmotion* He

looked xspon i t as a "wise well-»founded scheme."

'H e pro|«jsed l ine would hnve cut direotly

through h is 800,000 aore holding in '^sst Texas.

The road would have greatly ^ihaneod the value

of h i s land* !'s m&da a trip to Hereford to

confer - Ith the pr<»ot<*ri5 and then made en

automobile trip over the proposted route from

Hereford to 53tant(m*^*^

on his return trip he told the Lubix>ok

^valrmcht that he thought i t absolutely

"*!Reprint fttm the p^g Spring Horaldin the Lubboc^ |Val^che. iSeptetmber 12,

4,e*4. ^Mf^f^* s^tenber 20, 1907,

jj^yisor" pT^To

i * ^ . o , o « * * T b ^ . * S^teiA>er 30* 1907, p . 6 , o . 3 .

89

neoeesary that the road be built and predicted

that i t mould be built soon* He said that he

<Mmtemplated acting ac ] resident of the road,

provided he could ^^t '^eorge Oould to buy the

bonds* He ct- ited further that tho gradijig rns

in progress at the rate of about one-lalf l i e

pat day* Al»ut seventy toons were - t work

"ocnlng right doim the line*" Tlie /ival fiobs

was mare that i t "meant a road."^

Ths Pfsihandle n )0]i LIJMI surveyors etaticsMkl

at Big Spring reported that the railmad could

eas i ly be bui l t into that town. Tlie BIK .^ring

ffeyr^d subsequently declared: "Big O] ring

prospects for securing the l ine are very bright

csid idnile no proposition has hamk submitted yet*

the promoters of th is waotk ond the c i t izens of

Big Spring wi l l t et together whmi the tims

oomes. "^^

Colonel Hansom, after having abandonsd Uie

project for sorse tine* reeumsd the work by attea^t-

ing to proBRSte a branch l ine to Tueunoari.^^

^^LBtehttflfe ftfnlf iM ff- October 4* 1907, ianP»4* e . 3 . *-n»eprint from the Um Snrtoa Herald in the ildBUHl AVal^eSa, ^^ntiMSS? . . . , XSJI^OT, p»4,e*4^ ^aSSaa^ W ^ M A . . Oetoto.r 4. lOOT,

p.7, n«8^

30

The uor:: cei tho ran^jndle .*^ort Line had

been staprci for o iso tliao, but "tere-a/a muiie

oererai vali.-int e'JTo-tfi IJ got aa;-ii-..'.l^it.. iiw

tersifcted in V..c> so- a* TI.e :\ ref;ar< a'.t^ ® * «

"Triors no' srciao to bo a hopei^a p m ^ t of m>rk being roi umsd -J:I:1 ^.O road ocnpl^i^a* A man aho has tbe |:M3ner and it^ fluenoo to flnmxoo tlio roe^ if we nem only (tiow hits tliat i t i s n j aylnc pro oaltion, haa bean wired t^ e ^o at ^noe. e ona cQisvliiirflf h-xn of ^il;3 fact if -m all i^ull toneHter ^^ give him tha propiaer €r.C3'ur:c® ««it* Lot us send him down the li^ie witii a faeliag that Hsroford sssnts the m^i4^ii^ i s willing to tsoxic for i t 7 ^ »

A ^ sk lat^r t? o : < ft«:d r sid printed

^ i s t^l^raas fraa tha *hi^, financier** to Oolonnl

Hanmmt "Heni'letta, Tc:i« a :!ov<»sber ;a, 1907

Oolc anl J. H. mrmm Hereford, Texas

Will leave on t xsorso'jj'a train for fNnreford.

{1:1 i nk ) "

_ J t T

^ ^ Hwprint from the Mjarofora imind in the LaifflOCk ^m'ilim^a:MimaJitS"Tim 1SQ7.

81

The editor ^Hesiented cm the telegroi:

"Thie is the gentleman whom Col* Hsmsoa and othere have been expecting for sev-> oral daye* He ooriies to make a penK>nal inspection of the road and he and others will start down the line next week. The name i s withheld for the reason that outsids partiee iftio are not interestsd in the Sttooese of the road would uao the infoxnation againat the building of the Panhandle ^oxt Line. *^en he arrivee the Hereford people and the toime down the line will have the pleasure of mincing hie aoiiimiUitanoe and ^le ^tm^ expects to see every oitiscn give en eneouragin^ word by expressing his faith in the oountry snd i t s reeouroes. This i s the time for *lnio«tore* to kamp c»it of the miy, but we do not expect mtafoatd people to do any ^knoie^ing*. IRiio gentl«ann comes with suf f ieient olientsge to finance the road and i f he can be i&own that the P. S. L. i e i^roperty looated, which can be donOp he wil l tske inaediate stepe ia the Intereete of i t s ooB|3letion*"*^

Grading had been i^spended for some tine,

hot in Decenber, 1907, ^ e Pai^andle Short Line

resumed grading and was "pushing i t s work vsry

^ ' ^ ^ r i n t fron the Bareford Brand in the IMm^ AValan^m* MoveetosTTBr 1907, p.1*0.1.

93

rapidly trough Deaf Sni^ and Castm counties

with Stanton as its teaporary eouthem teminus."

Steel lading was to bsgin hy nscenber 30, 1907*

Colonel nanmam had etated that he hsd nade

a final eettlement with J* D* Miller and D.

Jeffries, ths old ncmtraotor of ths Panhandle

Short Line. Them was a balanoe due then

amounting to #33*500. This was said to have

renewed ^ e last obstacle in the pmgmss of

the wwrtt.**

Col^mel Hansom IWther stated ttet an

mtdmx had been placed for 340,CKX) ties and that

th^ waxa to come fxom off the Cotton Belt Hail«

rcMMi* snd Idttirty ail^s of steel had been oxdexed

direct l rom the foundry. Begotiatione were vae^mt

way for aa engine asnd cars to be uiMd in the oon-

etxuetion woxk.

The mad had already hami graded f roa Here-

ford to Dinmitt aad the contract was soon to be

let for the grading fxtm Dinaitt to stantcou'^

f^* ff6reford Brand saidt

184 * ^ l ^ r i n t fmn the »emford Brand in the

" ' AValanchf. Deosnb« 13. 1907* (*0.3. >* Decenber 13, 1W7, p«7,c.3.

•, Deon^>er 13, 1907, p.7,e*3*

93

"T!u» Q0!tt:n2iy i s plaoning to begin wyi'X .'r» the gxad Uig Trithin ; oou?»:e of wseks and i s «»xpfict >1 to be-in laying t i e s and 3tcc2l thc^first <2i& in Jan­uary <19C»)*-«i^

Oolcnel iiq^xfToa^ »the ia#ui of railroad huild­

ing*" ims lookinif after the < t|aipuent fo? the

road snd i t waa pi omeii to operate wrery jaile ot

Itie TorA rM soon as i t was ooni letod by the con­

tractors* ninrsitt was premised trains by F >>

ruary .md Hereford benen to eonsider v/hora their

uni(»i depot wmild be built* The i ^yaj o^ ^

deolared;

*^iam work begins on the road, when the f^eople see that the thing Is going to happim, i t l e a ^n0h that Hereford ie g o i ^ to s iOce a stride ^tmatd that ii^ll etartlo the optiniet 01^ of hia boots. Oood lyings will eone in hime^i^ md these good ti^lBgs «£Ui oall (a l l the) motn good things so hem we (lOiCig.ffir t i imty thouaand in 1810,»«r

The following letter from Colimel ^.

Biiuyrss to i^olonel K. J. &iker* es-land

»3f7r. 3fi,i fjf^y^ ^ ^ StereA rd flgfand in the iid^ltft ^ ''iVffyV ft' rkwiiirtini rx^ X907* p*3*n«8»

84

oonniBsionen i^ows the pmgmss of the road.

"X havs bsoone interested in the oonetmotion of the P.S* L* friMi Hereford* Texas* to San Antonio* via San Angelo* Pro­viding San Ang^o will oo^opoT-' ate with us nftie ean secure thie mad* for we have eecured the necessary financial aid whereby we are safs in saying that ths mad i s going to be built*

"we have twenty-tns nilee graded and r^tfiy for the t iee and rai ls mad havs ^ e mad sur-wsyed to Stanton on the Texae and Pacifie road* a distanoe of two hundrsd milsa* ^ e line looated* end the right«»of-way secured*

"Within the next sixty days we efhall have twenty«»aix milee of the road in opotatian to 0in-nitt and on January 15* we will let a contr 301 for grading ana hundred adles from Dinsitt to Ltdiboek. About January 15 or 30 we will put our engineering eorpe in the field to work on the sur­vey."**

Although tha toad was surveyed to St nut on*

Big Spring still had hopee and Ool* Haaeoa was

still "eyeing Big Spring*" the Herald asserted*

The editor oritioissd ths "sla^ere" in no un­

certain terms for eir iadifferenoe toward

-^^Reprint fmm ^ e J M AWCOIQ standard in the UJ»BSk ^alsSSe* i imi yr i: i8na, p. 4* e.4.

>

the "Colonel."

Col* Hansom v i s i t sd mxr e i ty in an effort to inter­est the people in the oonstruo-tion of the P* 3, L., he me i Miwn soioit eourtesy and i t i s up to us to do the right thing on h is return tr ip .

"There wi l l be a north and south railroad built through weet Texas and i f xm ars in l ine to secure i t , now i s the time to get busy. Xf Colonel Hanson has a good proposition to offer Big Spring, we i^iould amsaptm ^ e n ^ e meetii^ i s called to consider thie natter, every e i t i sen should aake i t a point to be presost. Don't eof^ with a wet blanket ae has be^i your custoa, but l e t ue woi^ together rni thie pr^oeit ion fenr i f we don*% we wi l l a l l come out losere* ^e a l l agreed that *if a north nnd south railroad i s bui l t Big Sprix^ must havs it* but i f ws wait ^»t i l ths mad i s aafnmXXf bui l t before we moks an ^ f o r t to secure i t , we wil l come out l ike the tmok holders in a enipe hunt. Before ws can accom­plish anything we must Kst np and hustle and i f Big cprin^; ie t e heoome the principal c i ty of West Texas* we mpt a l l join forcee in

Thinge worn getting off* howew«r* to a

pmtty elow etart at Hereford* on January 10*

138 "^Heprint fron ^ e gift Spring I^rald in g g ^ W y j |T^ftffm^f> JaniarTlor

96

1908* a neeting of the etookholders ^me held*

and a new board of directors and new officers

were elected. The xmvf board of directors wsre

J* T. .*o.- ll, G. 1J. Irfin, 0* A. F* Parker*

"* 0. Hose, C. ^. Dods«i, T. *. nhirley* all

of reford; c* K* MoLane of Dinmitt; J« H.

Hansom of Dentmi and A. P. Ooodenotj^ of Sul-

ptar* Qklshcesi.

The following of floors were elected to

serve imtil the regular annual electioni ^.0*

nsiw* presid«it; J* H. Hansom, secoi^ vioe-

presidnati "l* nlwards* secretary; C* w.

Doda^i, treasursr; A. P« Ooodeafiough, general

nanager; I* A. "qt^reo, as^iatant general

nani^er* The incKmspiouounoiess of the offices

held by the proiKiter, Colcmel Hansom and Major f

S<iayres is worth noting.

The ^a^d oonasntsd cm ths new direotoret

"The men ^o now have charge of the road are going to pnuh the buslnsss in suoh a manner as to reetore ecmfidenoe oiong ^ e people who want the road built; th4^ are not going to nake any big pronieee, but are going to use their know­ledge of railmad building &ad their aoq^naiatanoe with railroad people to further the interests of the road; thsy kaow what they are doing and every step taken by then

97

will count towards tha eoi^pletion of ^ e road* All the *hot air* in the road haa escaped and i s now hanging in ic ic les (m ths save of prosperity. "*30

. 0. H. Wilson, president of the Aoeriosn

Mn^neering Coa^any of Indianajolis, was sup­

posed to have investigated ths road in Febx»»

ary, 1906, with a view to financing i t . Re

and his party were to go otex the entire pro-

poi^d route of about 300 allea, starting at

Dalhart, and passing thmtjgh Hereford, Diiaaitt,

Midland* Sen i^t(mio* ^r^-JLdth Conito, Oakvills,

Port Hies, and into Hoe^port cm the Oulf of

Mexieo.

It was snnouncod from ths gsneral nana 'ier's

oiti^a at Hereford that contracts for constmo-

tion ot 300 miles ot the rosd were to be le t

within ^ e next sixty days and that actual work

was to begin in ninety days* The people of

Hereford and a l l the towns along the route were

"enthueiastic over the outlook. "^^

w* 0* Hoss wrots to ths Manufacturer's

-^^eprint ttom the Hemford Briayi in tho Lubboek Avalan<aie* January 17, 1908,

tmP. 3,0.5. _ Avalendtie. Febxuary 7, 1906*

p . i , e . r

98

Record that hio i'>:.i would be 750 allies lot«

when (Mnpleted. I t waa to oross the following

eountiees Dsl\a»* Motley, Oldhan* Dsaf smith*

Castro, Lamb* Hartley* Terry* Andrewe* Gainee*

Midland, Upton, Crockett* Sutton, Kennec y*

OValde* 2ava3Lflt* McMullin* La Salle* Live Oak*

Wueoef> ?ind palner, to deep water at Aransas

Pass. It was to be ultimately extendec! to

Denver* Colorado. ^

Both the Panhandle ^ o r t Line being built

fma Hatafo^d and the Wmt Texas and Horthsm

being built: frtm ^itaston tmre in progress at

t t e sans time over t t e sane route and the towns

eentrally looated realised that both roads could

not te built nxid they terdly knew idiieh one to

aup):»ort.^^

Mr. i^ss claimed t t e t h i s road whea COB^

pleted would xtai iM>rth and south through t te

beet portion of ' est Texas aad down through t t e

mkoooa Falley irrigatioon belt to Aransas Pass*

He said t t e t i t vooild ;:ut a l l the northweat

about 400 miles netirer to the ^ i l f ports and that

^ sS^Sl% Avalanctee. February 14* 1908,

^ ^ b i d . . February 14, 1906* p*5*c*2*

99

i t would put San Antonio 300 adles oloaer to

the great northwest. Contracts for grading

ISO miles of the road wer<> to te let about tte

f i f t e ^ t h or twentieth of February.^^

Hidlssid got very entteslastio about ths

Panhandle Stert Line and tried to secure the

ehops and rouis lhouse of the road for i t se l f .

The ]>eopXe of that town believed that Midland ISS

would probably te the southern tendnal*

Vhile Colonel Han ia was pxosKiting the

mad in the north imhi dlOr Major Squyrss

aade a trip to Han Antonio to oonplete the

contracts for the road* He reluctantly gave

the following interview to a rsi^orter for tte

"Mr* squyres* special missi<»t here at present i s in ooimeetion with t te t portion of the road be­tween Uvalde and Cryetal City* Aooordlng to t te present plana* San Antcmio will te included on the map ot the new road* ^ r* w.O* Hoes* presidsnt of ths ecnpany* T* Oarrabine of Kansas* presidsnt

^^Ltf^tei& Avalanete. Febmary 14* 1908* «iM|n.5*e.3. * ^ b i ^ . . Mar Ai 13* 1808, p . l*o . l .

100

ef ^ e Southwest Tsxas C^mstruo-tion 0osi$>eny* in eoa|>any wi^ Mr* Sqiqrrss tmd otters* will go ovsr tte proposed route fron Arteeia to i^xikport. Should this route te aooi^table* t te murvey will te nade at <moa aad oontracte eloeed.

"'Thirty-two Ailes of this l ine am now telng oonstxnoted by Aeher Hichardson,' said ^itm S^Hiyms. Twenty two fdlee teve teen graded south from Stanton on the Texae aad Pacifie railway and twenty<»f our nilea are graded fron Stantcm north amd twenty^two i^lee nM>rth f:ma Diaaaitt to Here­ford. Survive w#ve telng »kde frcn

'itt^ton to San Allele. Tte O'Donnell Oonetxw^ion Omspiniy had a laxge force of teams to comm^^oa work aa ^on as ^le l i i ^ was loimted.

"The large ^snstxuoticm com­pany of Sudsntts, Doli»>n snd Con­pany was to have the ocntm^t to Mild fron Dv^lde to Cryetal City; the Southwest Texas ^nstxaotion Ooa^n^ would eoni^xaet the line fron Hereford to Ontario (Oldhan County, Texas) to a connection with the Hook Island Systsm.

"This line of railmad ie alreiMly f iuiwioed tmd work will te puehed as fast as aon^y can te used. It i s sxpected to teve t t e idiale line oon^eted fmn cntario on the Hook Islatsd to Hockpoart on the 0^t in two years and the l ine from Stanton to San Angelo in eighteen months. There wil l aleo he a bran<^ line into Hoewell, H * '•• * " ^

rhis aiileage north and sou^ fron Stanton tms ouilt for the weet Texaa snd Morttexn pronoted by Mr. Bon Durant and graded by T. J. O'DomeU* Ttere man have been sons sort of oollusion between these

^-^ronoters. *^e! ir tnt fmn the jm tetoi^o iterese

the Inhho^ AvaleSte* Mardi 34, 1§&, repi Lnt fmn the (he Inhb

p.X*e.l*

101

Tory l i t t l e work was done 0:1 the road

after this , a l thmj^ a few arare bonuees wsre

ool lected. Big Spring had pronissd $50,000 1S7

for «ie road*

Most of ths bonus aKmey from ths towns

south of Laa»boek to Stanton had Xman oollsotsd

by the west Texas and northsm* Thsre was

only ana town tet^een Lubbock and Hereford —

Disnaitt* l^st of the expense of the Panhandle

^Siort I.ine wae paid by Hereford* :fo money was

collsoted from Lubbo<S:, although the i:K>vement has

l e f t a laet ing impression on the map of the to«&*

Avenue Q, t te widest avenue in town, was the

right-of-way est asids by the town of Lubbock

for the Panhandle Stert L iae .^^

Colonel Scniqrres and associates paid their

las t v i s i t to Dinaitt in Ai?ril, 1908, and sold t te

people of that town etoek anounting to ^'5,000

before they le f t the ooixntry* According to t t e

taipoTti

^^^ubboc^ AvalantAe. April 34* 1908* i««iP»3*e.S. ^^'City Ordinanoe — Map in County

Surveyor* e o f f i ce .

102

"Col. Squyres read two lettere he had received from a gentlenen now connected with one of the largest railway COSK panics* guaranteeing the steel* tiee* and rolling stock for ths

"Provided the people will

gads the road thirty^two lailee oa Hereford, th is oonpany

wi l l take the tends of the road at ^ 3 | an the dol lar.

"Col. 3<|uyres wi l l Isavs soon for Henrietta to make ar-rnngements with the Chartered Constructicm Co spsny to tsks ths work in hand* fheTi> ia not a doubt but wtet Col. Squyrss wi l l put forth every effort to push 2 38 t t e road to en iN&rly oonpletion*"^

The people of Hereford wer ^ slow about

loeing faith in ^ e road evan after ths

"Colcnsls** Sqi^yrss and Ransom l e f t . * ^ the

oross t i s s mxieh t t e "Oolcmels* had novsd to

Hereford wsre sold to ths ^mta Fa for the

ext«aeion ttom Plainview to Lubbock in 1909.

The la s t mention of the Psnhandls sSiort

Lins wae in 1911* when a propoeed l ine fron

Big Spring to Roreford waa aeouring oonaider-

ahle enthueiaen. Tte i||irg|i^^f eaid: "Thie

read would conveniently oone hy

^^Heprint frora the Dinaatt paper in t t e Lubbock Avalancm e. April 10* 1906*

^^1^.10* 0 .5 . ***V. T. Xhman to t te author* April 17,

1938.

103

Lubteck and would no doubt take up the old

t r a i l of the Panhandle fhort LiiM, that wae

a very prominent railroad project in thie

part of tha oountry at one tine."*^*^

MIMOH PAPK.t IDAD3

The Oulf, Texas, m^ western beoaae a

mal xailroad operatii^ on a small scale but

i t e plans of ^itensions were so fabulous as

to rank the story ot operaticms fron 1908 -

1912 i^th the paper milmads* In 1908, th i s

road was operating vith traokage rifrhts over

the Hook leland from Jackabc^o to F<^t north*

Xt was i^artered to teild 500 miXaa across

Weet Texaa to Texioo or Hoswsll, K. M. B«i

B* Cain of Tyler* was ths general manager of

the road.^ Actual construe tion was teing

oarrisd on in Jack eoimty and within s ix

montte ths l i n s was to te laid into the coal

f i e lds of Toung «>unty* The pronoters

stated: "We want to do aome actual work to ^ow

Avalanohe. Feteuary 23, 1911*

ASii*t B«>«irt>er 35* 1906* p . l , o . l .

104

the people t h a t taie l i n e i s not a 'paper*

road , but a bonif ied propos i t ion which i s

aotiaally being worked o u t . "

According to t he road cha r t e r , the l i n e

woM t o run from Bums Ferry on the Sabine

Hlver through Dal las and Fort :Torth, to Ben­

jamin in Knox county, and on to Texico or 1^ 143

Hoewell.

The Gulf, Texas, and "Testem was bui ld ing

out of Jacksboro in September, 1909, with a

" l a rge force of men a t work" and the road was

supposed t o be b u i l t to Lubbock within e ight

month 's t ime. Lubbock became very e n t h u s i a s t i c

over the prospect of another new road? Ths

road was coming toward Lubbock ^as fas t as

money and ma te r i a l would br ing them." I t was

a l so rumored tha t Lubbock would be a d i v i s i o n

po in t and ge t the shops of t he road. Lubbock

was sure t ha t the l a r g e pay r o l l would g r e a t l y 144 augment the town's p r o s p e r i t y . By the f i r s t

p a r t of the year 1910, the road had been b u i l t 145

t o Sea t em and was "pushing on Wsst." Ths

^^^ubbock Avalanche. Decanter 25, 1908, nAjfiTXpQmXm t?TXbid.. September 9, 1909, p.l,c. 1 4 2 **°lbid., January 27, 1910* p.l, c. 5 4 C

•mnenk already had the Banta Fe road frott Plainview.

105

teaine :0 r an of "alias had isanifeatc^^ aii in­

terest i-- the ro kd '** nnd L\d«io<A: telieved

that Fort 1* 0 tn md TI^II^® '" ^ anxious t o

tewe a «'.r-ii:>it l ine to ^ e cattl^^ ountry^^

The iHiMl/*,;i fe. M^iv^^mM cmr;i(nited <p, t*ie rocd

thus:

"Tliis ea-@t and went r!iil-raad i s ore^tli^ <iuite a p»od doixl of intorost 3101^ tte nouth riaiiui iu>vns* It i s a road that travsrses tte oountry in miNPh a manner that auikss ltd buildli:^ alnost tm assured f&ot* It nat only has str(»^ f infill cial bac^irc <^^ tte mxp^ lX)rt of a miE^ r of the i^xf best tawiB in the stats» but i t tr?iV0rs<ia i rioi. territ| rOs&ast i t s entlro length.**

on lay 5* 191C, i t was triid that ,!ie road was

uni:h$r oonstmcticm asssd would beeDr/Iete^ aerose

t t e plains « i ^ i n eightoim montte or tmo

yassm.^^ The road mua actually built to sey»

nour smd opened for i^er.ntion mx t'ay 10,

1910.^^ It wtuj r^ -ortod that w^gotlrtions

eere un^r -my with th« Hm c XslnrMi for t te

^ \ a i ^ S % iW^A.mifei> >otobeap 21, 11K;S, 147* * ' * * 14flJU4 » January 27, 191^, p.l*e. >.

"• '' .» Fi^bmnry 34, l^W, p.9,o*l* , May 15, 1810* p«8,o.5. , Mny 18* 1810» p.8,e.5.

106

oparatimi ef throtj^ passenger trains ovsr

t te new road between Dallas ai^ Seynour via

Fort forth, using the Ho^ island tracks fron

Jaduitem into Fort '7orth.^^

Tte road got out an illustrated psaiiailst

0^ toen^^five pages giving a description of

t te road and the oountry ^ m i ^ ihibh i t was

to pass. This vas a new trick of p^ l io i ty

for railraad pnnaoters. The pami;hlet declared,

"The future of '^et Texas and tte Middle

Plains ie the future of the Oulf, Texas, and

wei^em." Xt was to serve ^le Middle Plsi>ne

ae the ^^ta Fe served tte Mor^ Plains and as

the Texas and Paoific served the region south

of the 8BP Hook.^^ The fact ttet the grade

ocnetruction omax the rlaine was cheap, to»

gether with the fact that the road had acK ess

to idieap fuel in Young county, was l^ou^t a

oonsiderable advantage in insuring a pToaparafoa 153 f^turs for tte ooaipany.

SeyaKHir wae anximis to teve tte road ex­

tended to Croebyton to neet t te new Cmsbyton

South Plains l ine, for ttey fe l t t tet a

188 idti2|3fllL ^TTiJIllfftftlt- ^ r 18, 1810*

«jnP*18* e«# . *'**^Mp* June 33, 1810* p . l*e . l .

[•• Jane 33, 1810, p . l , e . l . O. '

107

western outlet was worth maoh .lore to Saymour

than tte terminal ims worth. ^^^ This sxtsnsion*

however* never iu?>teriall2ed*

A road was finally built from Jacksboro

to Salesville* (lalo i into Cotmty* Texas) tet

this wa the last construction of the Oulf,

Texas, and "Sestem*^^ Tlis road nas sold to

the St* Louis - i an Franoisoo Hallway Coa any

in 1938.^^

*l ^ fioe^ Island. Toxica. Viyii^^^> .ind ( k i i r

The f >ek Ielai»i* Texieo, Farwell and Gulf

plowed also to te a i^iper road* althoii^ t te

nana Ho^ Island Isd tte peopls on ths South

Plahats to believe ttet i t was a part of tte laxser

eystsn t tet had teilt acmss the %rth Maine.

The mad was chartered in Kew Mexioo in July,

1910*^^ and was to be teilt fron the stats

l ine e i ty to a eonaectioa with tte Texas amd

Feeifie st Midland.l^ Mx. J* H* Hsaly was

^'^eprint from l^e Se:nKiur i»per in tte II)

154?'

Lubbock Avalanche. Deoenter 39, 1910* ip.4* 0.4.

aa^.! M^^mMiP ^reabex 31, 1913,

Qor's aijLyaiiid Msffl||a. 1933. i^fm]^ .iyajtfift<fli.g.* JUly 14* 1910,

*^*^Sld.r Movert er 17* 1810* p.9*o.4.

108

president and proaoter of the toadi Colonel

Beall was ths "bonus** raan mid * F* Calbaoh

of the a-iibach Conatruction Oompamj of : ort-

late* Oregon* was the contractor* The ehope

and rouiMthousea were to te at Texlco."^^ Xt

was proposed to extend the l ine southwest to

Tucumoari* fro.i> Tuc ii icari to .lidland* aad

south from > idland to Pecos. Pecos slipfied a

contr* ct with Jr* Hcaly to pay a bonus of

1175,000 and t^e ricrht-of-wiy*!^^ Seniaols

also subscrited a bonus and signed a oontr:*ct

with Colonel Beall for the road.^^ A grade

was built through Palmer ^nd Bailey counties,

and rr. Hoaly had made arr^mgesents for at eel*

Lartl« bonus©it" ted been r i lsed, tind ai^lication

had been rtmda for permission to iSB\4e bonds.^^

By July* 1911, thirty-f ive relies of crade

had teen constructed*^®^ The eojapsny was

reorganised* tet i t tecame obvious that i t

did not have enough rsoney to build the road,

and a group of Amarillo business men took over

L /V:l"inche» rovemter 17* 1910* a.

109

16S the company* lothing more was ever hc-ird

of this road*

' he Co^jTado.

The Colorado* Hereford, and Oulf proved to

te another pt^^r rondm It was to begin at Hexe­

foxd and extend to t te Gulf. Mx* T* J* O'Donnell >

iftio had built the Orient and idio « i s latsr con­

nected with t te Panhandls ^ o r t Line and the

Host Texae end northern, was one of the proauyters

of th i s road.^®* The s i g n l f l c ^ t thteg^bout

th is road oaa that ^an the pr<moters fai led to

0(»aply with their contr ict in Septemter* 1909*

t t e people of Hereford th«aselves, undertook to

build the m a d . ^ ^ Hereford ted sutecribed a

$100*000 tettus for t te mad^and i t was thought

that additifmal money could te obtained by etock

subscriptions to co^ivlete the oonstmotion.^^

This project died a9 suddenly as i t had begun.

^^WjjaSfe Avq^anche. July 13, 1911, iia4P.l,C*4« *^eprint from the Hereford MSB^ ^» * ^

AValanshe* AoXil 34. 1908.^.X^o.a, .* April 24, 1908, p.3*0.2.

A: ril 34, 1908* p,3*c.2.

uo £aS81 £X9lS8i&

The Cmsgte* San Sate* and Llano TaUey

Hailroad had i t s eterter amended in Decenber*

1909, to extend i t s l ine fron Paint Hoek to

LubboaAc, a distance of 218 nilss* and inereaeed

i t e capital etoc^ fron 1300,000 to ^255*000*

The road was operating only fourteen ni lee

fron Miles to Paint makm It forthsr pro­

posed to build fron Colorado City to Tennyeon*

(Ooke County* Texae)* a distancs of s ixty 187 n i l ^ . This road was boy^t by the Oulf*

^lore^o, snd Santa Fe in 1913*^^

Tte Llano Kstaoado snd Gulf was a r a i l -

TOad o^a^a^a^ oi^iwEiised to teild a road fron

FloydMa to Plainview. The coaQ any graded

twelve ni lee and eold out to the Santa Fe,

one tendred oente on the d o l l a r . ^ ^

Tte Roewell and ISaetem Hallway wae begim

in S^t^ster, 1907, by Mr. isdward Keimedy of

Houeton* Mr* Kennediy olairaed t t e t he had

cured t t e right-of-way for the road fttm

187 i^bbock Avalani&e. Decesber 18, 1909, ^ . 1 5 , 0 . 1 .

L, Woventer 38, 1913, p*7 , e . l . [.* JMy 1, 1909* p*3,o*4.

in Hoewell to Lubteck and t t e t Hoewell had sub-

soribed a >xmus of 1 230,(XK). Xts oonatmo-1V6

tion was raijarded as a certainty.

The Shaf ter T..aks Hallway was* aooordii^

to the H W ¥ ^ Hei3ortey. '•an eateriaflse weU

worthy of consideration." Midland f s l t t t e t

I t must teve the terminal fot th is road*

Attorney woodruff waa in charge of the road*

Xn 1^07 a preliminary survsy was teing

made for the proposed railroad fma :;;uanah

to 51 ?aso* The roule vas to run fro a quanah

via Dim^ens, Brosnfield, ^dd Carlsbad to 1 1

Paao. Tho 4valaiiiOhs iHkid, "This i s snotter

road t t e t X^teook mm% not lose sight of* W^

mmt a U ws can get.""*^

The most aii i it ioas project of 1907 was

the Fort forth to Hoswell railroad. The

port on t t e rosd wast

"After having epent ^ e past nine montte in Mew Tork, Judge

^«iidil88j | Avalanohe. Septemter 1^, 1907*

^^W^^^ fron the Midiaai ss^aia ^ the l a y e e k Avalatiehe. 0ot^>er 4, 1907*

17a?'..v»w.^ Awalftm^o. Septemter 7* 1907, p.tf*

113

Janes W« .wayne tes secured sufficient flnrucial baokli^s to build a railroad tetween Fort Torth and '^cjc^icli, 1I*M.* eonditioned tr.-on tte degme of 00-operation rendered hy teg lasid holders whose proi^ erty wi l l bo traversed* It i s figured th<it the railroad wi l l te a losing proposition for a nraater of years and the natural desirs of f inan-oiere to sscure rsiwterse-ment from ths asiluuioement of valuee of property ndiieh would follow lamed late ly v^^on the eonetruotion of t t e railway* upon this one oon^ dition d^ends t te question of wtetter or not^thm l ine wi l l be teilt. "1^3

Tte promoters, nmmd aa friends of Janes

Hogg, were going to put up $9,000,000 to build

t t e road* J. vj. Poet o f f e r s 1100*000 oaeh for

the road to build through his land* and Colonel

C. C* Slau^ter offered 100,000 acres "^ach

would yield the road an eatimated t::, 500*000

f ive years after the conetruotion of the toad."

A North and South Hailroad Company was

planning to build a road across ths Plains in

t t e t dimotion.^^®

Tte Louisiana - Hew Mexiee

^ \ugg2£iL ^YflJ>iyfc > Septsobex 14, 174I > p.4*c.5« X7 JSlM«» ^^^^'^^ 14, 1907, p.4,c*5* March 37, 1906, p.3*c.2.

xxz Railmad Conpany planned to teild a road

from s ae point in Louisiana to Hoewell*

M* M* via Dallae, Jaoketero and Lubboek*

Jaokstero votsd a ^25*000 bonus fot ths

road. B* B* Cain* presidsnt; Captain

^aSxn F« l^tt , chief engineer and J. w. 176

Pinnon, ptoaotad ths Jaokstero bonus*

Ths Plainview ZAibteeic, and Post City

Railroad was a project that 'r* C* w. Poet

tr ied to accoaiplieh. The road was to te

teilt from Plainview to p o s t . * "

!^is South r ia ins Railroad Conpany was

organised at Hale Center for the purposs of

teilding a mad ttom Hale Center to Plainview

and from Plainview to Floydada. The road when

eoni^eted would "op m up t te gmat shallow 178

water telt of the staksd platos."*'**

The Dallae and Hew Mexico Railroad was

to teild from Dallas to Hoswell, N. M.,

across t t e middle p la ine .^^

The Peeoe, Toyah Falley, Great South-eeetexn Railroad Qoe^any planned a mad to

^ %u^teek Avalon^e. April 17, 1907, ««7p737oV4« tmtfitH-' ^ ' ^ 24, 1906, p. l ,e*3* t ^ m « » teoeari»er 35* 1908* p.8 ,e .3* ivufciaf^^ Oetoter 3* 1908* p.8*e*3. €k.Z*

U4

qpen a large ssetion of nest Texas* Xt was

pronoted by w* s. Swinehart. ^®^

The tesinsss men of ^sn ti^ed to

organise a oompany to build a mad fxoa Sen

Antonio to Texioo.^^

The Oulf* Soaah and Pacific Railway

(kia >any was chartered with a oa^)ital.of ^50,000

1^ "Im P* Soash. The l ias was to te teilt fmn

Big Spring to Lsmesa.^^ Big Goring was asksd

for a bonus of ^65,000.^'

Tte Dalbart to mid Hallway Cempany was

to teUd a mad in ssptenter* 1^9* Mo teausee

were aidced, tet eubeeriptimie to capital s t o ^ 184 were eo l io i ted .*^

A "People's" road bi^im in Fort Worth for

the pinrpoee of teilding a road fron Fort ^orth

to Hoewell ted $110,000 eubsoribed in s t o ^

aad $400,000 in tenuMS.^^

The Denver and Oulf eecured a number of

bomiees frma towns in ths Psnhandls* Tte

road was to te teilt on sn aferlins fron DCTVsr,

^^^iffljook •M«n.6.e.34

, Jaimary 15, 1909, p*6,0.2* * Septsnter 9* 1909, pt.ii,p*5*e.5, , April 1* 1909* p*l,o.l* ** Septenher 9, 1907, p.3*0.4. * Jbly 1* 1909* p.3*o*2*

115

Oolorado to D a l l a s . ^ ^

Finaneial arrangetaont ^ were said to tevs

been nade fot the teilding of tho Fort worth*

MiMtral Telle and -Testem across tte Piddle

Plains to Mew :iexioo*l®^ The Wichita Valley

Railroad Company was plannin^^ a road fron ipur

to tebboek in At gust* 1910. Ths road was

eventually to te teilt into the coal f lelde

rf Mew Mexi4»i.^^

The proeK>ters of a road fron Fort " orth

t o Rotan to Texioo via Lubbock* a^sd Hotan

for a bonus in Moves^er, 1911*^^ The Stan­

ford and Kaeteim HaHway was going to teild

from Stanford to Fort Worth* Ths "aKiving

i^ ir i t" sxpected to bsgin work the earl irst

IKis^ble (April. 19U)*^^

A half-domn new roads that nst abrupt

ends wsm attsi^tsd in 1912* Tah<Aa telisved

t t e t t te town had oindhed the Fort tforth* Poat*

Tahote* Mew Mexioo Hailw&y in Febxuary* 1913*

^^*^a^e* Avalanote. March 34* 1910* tMpp.3,e.8.

•^"^., Mar< 34, 1910, p.3,c*6, *, Miguet 35, 1910, p . l , o*3 . , Movemter 30, 1911, p*8,c*l. , AprU 6, 1911, p^4,o*l.

XXB

Mr* C* w« Post was the "moving spirit** in

th is road*^^

Or* B* H* Bryant, chief engineer of the

Peascm Company and of tho Msxican Borthwestem

Hallway was Inveetigating ^ e route of the ex­

tension of the Mexico 'Northwestern from IS.

Paeo to f>uanah. ^^

Tte Midland Chanter of c^mimxoa tried to

revive the Midland and Horthvestem Hallway

Conpany snd build a road fmm Midland to osa^

inole and from Senla^le to ^eagrave \tiere tte

Santa Fe would Join i t * * ^

The Texas, Oulf, and Morttem m.s chartered

to build a standard guage mad from Tnouncari,

M. M» to Ssn Ant«io, erossing the Texas and

Paoific at Midland. The survey began July 15,

1913.^^ The ehope worn to te looated at 3lid-

laiui and work was to te begun frcna Midland 188

and pu Mid teth waye.*

Midland votiMi ^100,000 as a bonus for

ths Texas, Oulf, and lorthwestsm in ^ptenter,

1913, and the Coanercial Club guaranteed the

18 \uhbook Avalanote. February 23, 1913,

' *, July 18* 1912, p.l,c.6* *, Hovenber 3, 1912^ p*3*c*3. .* Jsly 16* 1913, p.9,o.3. , July 16, 1913, p.9,c*3.

U7

oxpeneee of tim siirvey* The perwaaent sur-

vwy was nade fbr savtsnty-five nilea north-

went of Midland, llie «ngineer etated ttet

tho amll Btada and tho lock of any surfioe

atmoama ot roqgh oountry would mke thnt

rend tte dheas>eist to construct in tte tmited

tnataa. The building of ths road was "poei-»

tively atnntred. Aortal ctmstruetion m>tk

om t^ gmde ^as to be^in at mtsmm the towns

cHT iindrewe ^a^ senii^^le had aleo eubsoribed

bt Rmes fbr tha tm^dm^^'^^

The Tex^», Oulf, m^ "^ item was teild-

i i^ r gmde out of !^dl««id In ?oi«*>er* i s i i .

The work was to cemtlnnHi on a amaXX scale

until a few mota d^alls oould te arrai^isd so

ttet work eould ^am te .miaiied atth all

possible a^pemdm Tte dmd^ to tte ilightHif*

way had not a l l teen moured. Arrongensnte

were being m^dm for nateriad mmh as oroes

t ies , amd raHs.**'

iSSSSSL S^BBiSUk

Tte f^oseoe, Stqrder, and Pooifio Hoad

^^^a^aaSfe '^^^}mf ^'•Pteater 13, 1912^ 1 unP* 1* 8»3» > *^^SAAt*» ^ serei HUP 14, 1913, p . l l ,o .4 .

118 I

was bui l t by a group of " eat T^xas capital­

i s t s , most of whoiB resided in Abilene* The

road was teilt froa '^^scos to Fluvana, a l -

tteiigh ths ori^^inal charter 8tat<^ t t e t the 198

road was to te built to Lubbock. ^ork

was in progress on the Hoacoe, Onyder, md

Paoific in Ssi tembisr* 1907.*^ After numerou':

interruptions the mad wae coimoleted to ^nydS^

and work was begun toward Flirvana hy J ms*

1^)9.

Xn July, 1909, the rejort cans out that

the Santa Fe was .r in.:. to build a cut off

from Texico to Ooleiaan. This would of course

parallel the noscoe* Snyder, and rac i f ic froai

Snyder to Lubtec: and the l^jitter tr isd to re­

strain the !5ant!? Fe from teilding. ^iether

or not i t was the intention of this oompany

to secure an option on ttie route and force

the Santa Fe to buy them out* the ^yalanohfi

asserted that the same com .my had nade such

a bargain in Yinn-itxA by securing a key positicm

^ S e s Appsndix XY. talfSaSt Ava^an<ais. Septenher 7, 1907,

'^''"jtijyi., June 10* 1909, p*8,o*3.

119

and forcing; tl <=? ' anti Fe to buy thcr;, out.

Moreover, the an^.e c rmany had aurveyed a

road to ,ib8sne, coid t'.^ i uit i ?e had avoided

that town* Governor ''Jesi-tell of Xexas, sup­

ported the content! >n of the lo- coe, ^yder,

juid Pacific that the "lanta IV was freezing thers

out, but pO';ul<ir opinion on the Plaina r-js 201

behind the 3anta Fe*

The Hoscoe, Inydor and . aolfio xae cof&«

pleted to Fluvana September I , 1909*^^ Xt

was for a while a railroa i terminal for the

^outh Plains. In July 1911, i t was reported

that the nosooe, %yder and Pacific was

chartered to Farwell.^^ The Scxath I lr ins

people never became very snttesiaetic over

the Hoscoe, Snyder and rcif ic*

the Texrs Central was one of the oldest

Texas railmads* It had a l ine from ' aoo to

Hotan, and i t planned to extend to the Mew

Mexioo l ine , intersecting ths South Plains

201„ jiMteaak Ay>a-tf snf> * ^ I F I> 1909,

£^tMi*» Ssptenber 0, 1909* p.7,o*3. *^lSS*» ^^y 13* l»llt P . l .e .3 .

130

through Lyrni eounty northwest* Ths pronotsrs

tergained with Fluvanna, Poat, Oail and 204

Tahoka**^ Tl e proposed l ine was to run

through scurry, Garxa, Lynn, Terry, and

Toakma counties, a distance of 175 n i l s s * ^ ^

A survey was made to Fluvanna snd Oail (in

Borden county) f e l t that the mad was a

oertainty. Tahoka »!*de a fmbetantial bonus induc<^nent^*^ and C* w. Post was anxious to

securfi the road for his town*"^ Ths Tsxas

Central sold a leaee of tiventy-five years on

itfi l i n e to the M. K. T* in Deoemter 1910,

mad t t e extensicm idea was dropped* ^ ^

Bead

Considerable intsrest was ^own in t t e

Pecos Valley ' >ad, an independent railmad

oow^aay ^ a t wae trying* to extend a road froH

peooA to eoneidiere in the Panhandle* In 1907

a l i n e was pt^oaed to go through Plainview

^ ¥ f e ^ y| ffl«Mft !5^«Sf» 35, 1909, 2 1 ^ . 4 , 0 . 3 ; Febmary 17, 1910, p . l4 ,o .3 .

g.B May 5, 1910, p .8 , e .5 , ,** May 13, 1910, p.3,0.1* . , woventer 35, 1909* p*4,e*3* •» December 39* 1910* p*2 ,o . l .

131

and Texioo.^^ This promotion ima not aotive

again fox f ive year^. In 1912, i t vas revived

with a.plan for building !* road frora peooa

northenf^t through 3eninole, and Brownfield to

Lubteok.^^ A meeting of the railroad oosh

n i t t e e s of the various towns along ths propossd

routs was held at Brownfisld in order t t e t the

towns fiight cooperate to secure the mad. The

editor of the seninole Standard. F. M. Stell*

wrote to Mr. JaiE s L. Dow, editor of the

"Otter tois^s are vide awake i^ma anxioue to divert the mad ftom th i s routs (Pecos* Ssninols* Brownfisld, Luhbook)* tet i t seems to me f^at eoneert-ed action on the part of ^aainole* Brownfisld md Lubboi^ ou^t to get good results***

"In arguing for Seninole we wi l l also pull for Bmimfield and Lubteck and va hope t t e t Brown* f ie ld and Lubboek may do t t e sane so ws can mk» a oomson fight for the mad. "811

>- book Avalaache. August 9, 1907,

310r'*!i J Fsbruary 39* 1913* p . l * e . l 4 3 . .** F^mary 38, 1913* p.l*o*l 4 3*

(Siapter XT

THl ATOilSOIf* TOP^A AMD 3AMTA FK

The peoos aad Northsm Tsxas Railroad

Company, a euteldiary of ths Atchison* Topska

and Santa Fe, had teen <^iartered under t t e

lawe of Texas, Mar< 19, 1^6 , for f i f t y years*

Am^adteents to t t e charter vers f i l sd MarOh 14,

1908 snd June 18, 1909* The road mm opened

fron Anarillo to t t e Texas - Ham Mexico l ine

Mar^ 1, 1899, and ftom Csnytm d t y to plain-

visw, Texaa, Fsbnmry 16* 1907*^

SAMTA FS

l^l^tinview ]t£ Ifibboek

The f i re t railmad that reached the South

Plaine was the Santa Fe extenaion fron Canyon

t o Plainview (February* 1907)* The next road

waa the Plainview to Lubbock extension* finisted

in Koventer* 1909* Xn Dscenber* 1908, i t was

known t t e t n. o* Lser hsd a contract to extend

the road to Luhbook*^ A b<nius of 1 50*000 tokd

yQQr*s Hailroad ff fplfl r 1910* p*785* This sesns to have teen the way Santa Ta exteneione worn nade* Private contractors teilt thsn and thsn ths road vas turned over to t t e eoi piany for operation. I t was often uncertain as to wtet big oonpsny was basking a ocmtraoter* This pmbably hslped

^:^^i„®i?®gioters to put omr thsir sohsnss.

133

right-»of«waqr would te rsquirsd* Although

nothing was to be paid m t i l the road waui in

operaticm* tebbook had sons diffioulty in

ra i^ng the bonus* since ths non-msidsnts

r Ti aed to subscribe*^

The Lubte(^ Avalanche carried editoriale

about the bonue every week for a month* The

sp ir i t of t t e s s was: "This road oould miss

Lubboek and i t would te a severe blow to ue.

Let not i t te said of us that t t e tenus could

not te raieed. Get busy*"^

A surv^ing crew was placed in ths f i s ld

i^ortly afteorward, and the l ine was to te

located so that ^ e r e could be sons estimate

nade of ^ e cost of ths right-of-way*

But the tenus rei|uired had not been

semired two weeks later* therefore the Lubboek

^ v i ^ ^ ^ f urged;

"It tehooves each and everyone to eome to the aid of the tenus committee, to raise thie in f u l l by the time t te l ine ie located eo that them

^^Ateaat Avalanohe* DeoeaOier 17, 1908, ^ . 1 * 0 . 3 . ^ b i d * . Deoeaber 4* 1908* p*l,c*4*

134

win te no dAy on our part in eloeing the contract*

"Xt ia tJ to ua to put up a oaah bonun of 150,000 tes ides daipot grounds and othsr considsrations and it . is high tims m were at it."^

A large force of men wae put to work the

firet week in January, 1909, on the survey, and

eeveral poseible mutes were eurveyed*^

Lubboek eeeured the b(»nis in lees than a

month* s tins and signed ^ e oontract guaran­

teeing ^ e right-of-imy tefore the route had

b^mn decided ir on. The oontract was signed by /

W* A* cnUen, preeident of the Soul^westsm

Construeticm Ocmpamy as i^rty of ths f irst part

and F. w. tiheeloek, mayor of Lubbock and "ahout

f i f ty of lAJ boek*e test mud most influmitial

oitisfBis," as party of tha eeecnd part. Actual

osnstruotiixi was to bsgin by May 1, iSQQm^

By the f irst of June, 1909, work wae teing

ruehed on the road fmn Plainview to an extent

t tet was "nost gratifying*"^ More thaa two

5, ^^_^^ .„_*^_^^ Deonater 18* 1908, UibbcMk Awal^Mhe, ^i*e.l.3* i I.

* Jsiaiary 15, 1909, p*l*e.6. * Janoary 39, 1909, p.l,o.2,3 4 4, , June 3, 1908, p.l,0.5.

135

hundred and f i f ty teams were at work on the

grade ;iAd there were nuaerous railroad osnps

a l l along the line from Plainview to Lubbock.

A <*big outfit" rna beginning woxk cm the canyon

just north, of Lubbock.^

A c i ty ordinance was passed giving ths

rai lmad €K>npany psrmission to use oertadn

s t r se t s and alleye in t te city of Lubteek and

authorixing them to d o s e oextain s trsets and

a l l e y e . ^

The Southweetem C«nistmetion Conpany

was laying t r a ^ out of Plainview at the rate

of a Bile and a half a day by July 1, 1909.

The gradii^ was praotioally eonpletsd to t t e

Canyon north of Lubboek. The work them only

required n tarn more dsys. The road eould

appar^itly te f iniahed to Hale Center by July

4, snd trains were expected at Atemathy by

July 1 5 . ^ Xt was thought that the track would

be complete to Lubbock by t te middle of August*;

On September 9 the p i l e driver oxew was

at work on ths last bridge tetween Lubbodk and

MMoXsmaham Jime 3 , 19( ^, fima 17* 1909* p*6,o«l . , July 1, 19M, p.l*o*l«

Plainview. Xt was about a mile fron Lubbock

and the ooaipletion of the bridge meant "the

naming of trains into tona" as the t r a ^ -

l4ying gang was distr i tet ing t i e s ahead of ths

driver, and as soon as the tra<^ mac^ins

eould oross the canyon i t would t ike tet a

i^ort iMle to oompXat the tra<^. The Lubbock

people were beginning to "feel" the advantages

of a railroad* The j va: anche eaid:

"Cheaper e(ml wi l l be one of ^ e great bless Inge to t te Lubboek psople as wsH as a nw^bat of otter coift^diti^ of l i f e* "13

By tha naaat we^ the people oould sse t te

saK>ke of the engine.

"Today t t e iron horse i s ters* ^ e f i r s t to blow i t s stsamy brsath into ^ e bracing ateosphere of one of the grandeet oountriee in the world* The untiring efforts of our people to get a railroad have teen crooned with success*"13

*\tthboek Avalanche, septemter 9, 1909* 2^A.4»,e«8 4 8 . ^tSJlJ^*, Septemter 1 ^ 1909, p*l ,c* l .

137

The following weak the p i le driver

eroeeed t t e canyon, and tte track was teing

la id into town* Traoks snd switotes were bsing

laid rapidly. Ths Avalan<^a waxsd snthusiastiCi

"Thie i e indeed encouraging news for the teeinesr? and othsr internets of t t e town who teve haam patiently waiting for t t e iron horse. Buslnsss wi l l piek xKp in a l l l ines amd immy iaiprove-msnts t te t teve been waitii^ wi l l get under iwiy."l»

On September 30, the work train and crew

with eixteen oars ot arterial worn "teid^ly

engaged in t t e work of getting down s u f f i o i ^

t r a ^ in tte way of switcdiea to aooonodats t t e

grsat nuaOier a^ cars" that i t would taks to

brix^ nis material needed for conetruotion.

Xt wae said that three long switohss

f u l l length of the yard had teen i?ut down that

week iliich would hold an invnenss nunter of

oars* but would not te sufficient to handle

a l l that would be etoi^)ed at Lubboek*

14 ^^Lubbock Avalanohe. .^ptemter 23, 1909,

P*l*0.5 4 8.

128

The work train vas ocaipoeed of ten oars

of t ies* oma of water, cms of o, i-ies, two of

rai ls* ths traok layer* and cabooss* Ths train

was in etexge of Conductor '3. S* Koerpel; Coy

D* ^Cormack wae the ragineer; Claude M* Amold

t t e brakeattn; and (Xiarles Jenkins and David

Smith were brakaaen* J* Boatnan was in cdiarge

of ^ e titeel on .the power oar*

Ttem were eighty i^xiccois with the work

train idio did the ttaak laying* l^em was a

great deal ot work to be done in the way of

putting in the "T" md switches, and i t would

take ^ e crew a l l the tiate the next week to

ge^ the tra<^ in aha pe for the f i r s t passenger

t r a i n . ^

The f TfliitBBffllt 6nidt "Lubbock i s siors

enough a railmad ^wn and the novelty of t te

thing tee worn off* The railroad ia one of

t t e eetabli^ied inst itutions and opportimity

i s knocking at the door with a eledgo hammer*^

Freight eervioe was ee tabl i^ed . Tte

I'nbbook Avalanohe. Septsabsr 30* 1909, , ^ ^ 1 , 0 . 5 4 6. l ^ b i d . s Septsnter 30, 1909, p*l,o*5 4 6.

x ^ f irat freie^it der>ot was a box oar tmd pacsenger

service wae coming soon and It was only a

q^st ion of a fev. ciaya until tr; i'iio w mid oe

"i oing fu l l bl-ist — the i ^ r i l l uotem of the

whistle" waa already heard.

TTiO 'louthweotem Const motion Oo;] any

tumisd the road over to t .e Banta Te loin any

for operation ^ovaiiber 1* 190 >. The -first

pass^igor train t ) T jbbook had -• rived several

days earlier (Ootober ^u), and everything in

Lubteck ted turned out to me t i t . The AVg-

lanchq related:

"Lubboc: had the f irs t real sure snough pasaeagear train Monday l a s t . . * There was a larj^e <nrowd gattered at ths depot to bid i t malo<ma and quite a bit of enthusiasm waa manifested* Tae Lubbock Livery Com.oany waa them w i ^ t t e i r cab and bus and the b'' i;;age trun^f^r man were also in evidi^oe* sverything ted the rppearinoe of an old t ine coming in of trains, except the tmuaually Ifxrere oroiid* Thus has ths dream of Lubteok's o i t i -2€ms been reali'sed* It wil l not mean the stopping of ter txaroh tovf!rd higher -vid bigger things, tet wi l l amy wtet t t e appetite for greater effort* Lubbock ex­pects to have at least sixteen p.-isiienger trains a day coning in within the next two years*

130

Lubboek wi l l make a c i ty of twenty-five ^oueaad oeople within a few yaara.*l7

8y January 11, 1909^ Luhte(& was having

two passenger trains daily with thxou^ service

fron Amarillo. Tte mail now reached l ubbock a

day fi^LTller than foxnerly. Ths sohsdale was

as foUoimi

Mo* 37 Pauisenger arrived 3t30 V* M*

Mo* 83 Loeal freight arrived 4|25 P* M*

Mo* ^ Passei^er departed 11:10 A. M*

Mo. 94 Local freight dej^urted 7 J 3 0 A. M.18

SAMTA Tl

P^afpview t? FiilT lMlhl

Tte Llano ^staoado Railway Corspany, organ­

ised by local tesines3 mmn at Floydada, had a l ­

ready teilt a part of the grade o'> a road from

Floydada to Plainview. The grade and right-of-

«ay was bought by t t e Santa Fe in June* 1909*

Xa ths agreement sntsrsd into ths S^ita Fs was

^^L»|bboek ^TftlfflBflilfr Oetober 38, 1909* p * l , c . l 4 3* Lubteok's papulation at ^ i s tims was about 3,600 (Oeneua,

* ^ 1 0 ) snd i s sstinated now to te 30,000* TfiUil^t Jamary 6* 1810* p.l*c*l*

xn to complete the vork ^s.'i rapidly aa p:o«ible*"

The construction com: any promised thr.t s teel

eould b^ laid int) no/.lada forty driyo rJtet 18

tha ri4;ht-of-isay v;n.s sf*cured*

P. c. Abemathy md C. »f* ' rjfd, «off ic ials

of the lanta Fe," drew uo rx ontrrxt ta extend

the road to " ickens to connect 'Ith the 3ta&-

ford and Itnstem in that county,^ tet this

projection tias never made.

Xhe track layer was at tsork on the road

in Dacaaber, 1909 laying t?MO': tor ' rd :,ocknsy

and Floydada pmd i t :a3 expeoted that t'lr* l ine SSL

would te completed by the f irat of the ycror***

Heavy rains the following weeic cmised the

dusrp to ;;ive v/rc/ tmder the heavy trrck-l?>ving

engine and work was 2top])Rd twaporarily* About

one-half ^ e distrmce from Plainview t ) lockney

had been covered* The ^ e l e along the 2*oute

were terribly eeterrassed by the rain* The

Lockney Byioon npologired:

R e p r i n t ttom the Flcard County Howe In t t e Lubbock Avalanehe. July 1, iSB'a*

««^.11*0.4. " ^ e r i n t fron the Diekens paper (ncoie

not p iven) in the Luhbook Avalanote. -•August IS, 1909, p. lO*c.l . ' *:<^5rint from the Plainview Me ^ in

the Lubbock Avalanote. DeoeaSlS? 3* 1808; p.8,e . l ;

138

"The heavy rains of this wssk has dons

one thing, whioh ^ e reeldente of Lookney

County owmot say they are proud of."

loxk wae xesuned in fbbxnary* 1910 snd

ths big Barley track-laying aa^iine was at

woxk en ths road running into Lookney. The

Beiuioa reported:

"Tte railroad people are nsklag every

effort to rush the work and in a vexy ehort

tine the eteel will be laid into town* the

dietaaee now renaining to be laid being leaa

than eix adles."

Tte liim waa eoaipleted in March* 1910

and regiiar train eervioe ims eatabliahed en

Maroh 15* 1910* tie train l e f t Floydada at

8 A. M. for Plainview and left Plainview at

3 P. M. for Floydsda.^

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmfmm \ \ \<^mmmm»mmmm

^sprint fron ths Lookney Beacon ia the Lubbock AValaadhe. Decenber 9. 1909. uli*o.<"

_ tvalsnchSi p.8*e

133

SAMTA fR

TMiihMk nn

mtm T* J. O'DcnneU* Uie railxnad nen ai

t te Soulli Plaine, eeonxed a eontraot fron «MI

Banta Fe in septenher, 1909 to build a road

ften Luhhoei: to LaaHiea by ve^ of Tatete in

Lynn oennty. Tte length of t te pmpoeed l ine

was te te eixl^ aOlee. Mr. 8'DenneU had bnUt

t t e grade ef the feet T«eas si^ Morthem from

8tent«a to tensea snd the ^kmta frn eecured en

0fp8ien on ttis ^tadBm

Tte iprad Rg on t te tenesa teen<ii mxa te

bsgin wi^ito ^ i r t y day8* ^N»rveye worn to te

nade tessdiatti^y and ^ s oonstmetion "pnelied

and nea^deted to Lsnesa in ens year."^

Tte mad waa a^rtually huilt fron siaton

JMnetiott on the Lubtesk-Colenan eeetion of

the Texieo eut off en ariiieh woaHfc hegan out ef

labboek in January, 1810* The grading wae in

pxegreee In Febxuary, 1810 on ttae "feeder"

l i n e . Tte editor of the JUBBl SSBMOSOL »—f nade

an anton^dle trip out to ewse of t te eaape and

septemter 8, 1908, AWalan^e. p.7* 0 .1 .

134

related hie oa i erieneMS

•Tte 'ban* adii^ we ftend to te tte etrip of grosnd he* tmen «ur "ptt^ ttet ie plenei on eeeh eide ef tte *8nBp* te f^omi^ Hie d^rt* wae in noet plae«i tranped and eeraped eneeth encMgh te nake a good ante vend. After paeeing one er two aampa where everyone worn hney we eaae to a draw running into Tahoka Late itere Miere was an eighteen or twenty feet f i l l ai»i fMMPe thw wem hney indeed with the wark a imt half done, fe went on nor^ to lAUb-in two adlee oi the Jimetien (liEteteaO pneeing eevnral eaai^* al l taey m^ t^atm ie found nUne ef eonpleted grade aU ma8y tot t te tiee aad rai ls . Mo one oma imaliee tew etanrt ^ e time mtXl te uatil tte leie^» native 1411 te eeen mui heard in Tel ta imleiM te eeee how stert t te un l UBiished ga^ are sad tew 35 nuah weam hae been dmie alxead^.*^

Xn Aporil* 1810 tte Dsfecn County iHnre

re Mirted Uutt tte big traek-laying na^iae waa

at WK on tte north end ef tte Laneea bxanA

of t te senta Fa and predieted ttet the xneA

eoald te eeaiileted by July.^

^ ^ ^ i n t fxon tte Lvgn Ooyr tv Ne ae in tte

^^^^rittt fmn the tmmam Qtrntt Mewe In tte ianiaeSi yptlnnfit - ^ ^ " ^ p. 3,0.8.

138

the big M r l ^ tratfi»laying nadhlne was

laying eteel six nilee cut of Tateka by tte

niddle of Wan nt tte rate of a nUe snd a

<inarter a day. ons haadred and fifty Mexieeaui

wexe at work enrfaelng ^ e tra^ES. Tte IfVan

JS&ffiSX WBUL rejainedi

^Qt amaxma tho traine am net tern yet but we aOght en wiPLl eay ttet Tateka now hae a xnilmad or will teve within . two or three days. Doeen*t i t \ sciBMl good to the nan wte hae eone tern a ^ i^tinatly waited for the xoad* te Ite famer i te has be«si able to pleat only aytent half tte land te eould tiwate for tte nipple reason ttet^ i t «siate tee suoh to nai^et it."«^

Tte next week tho gmde wtm ^i^^eted and

i t waa pm^eted ttet tradne muld te nnming

into Laneea within i^xty dayn.^

Regnlar fmight aad paeeenger eervioe was

eetaMieted ever tte Itee Oeteb«r 1* 19M. Tte

lYP^^i^a I Ndleed the road eonetxoetion:

^^fM^Int fron tho Lvnn Couiity Mewe in t te a J i i t t t t afnlanirtie7l!ay 9. ifemTo^ld.e^l. "W^eprini ttom the Mmm Qoxmtt Mewe In

the jhigaft v^^^m «gy ^ niB» p.3,e

138

"A need gmde has MtahUeSed end tte ecdnKhaed trateui wUl te allowed te enexate at good speed, pmn-tleally e l l of the roadOMI ie on eolid rock and the raile am of tho teavieet nateorial.

"f swrteea statione l i e hetween Ljobboek eaed LsiMan snd as tte country hae teen dev^^ing xapldly during tte PMit yaHKX idieed of the rail» reed, i t ia nrobehle tbmt tte hneiaeee will juetify at least four ^nnniger traina dally aaid two fmighte^*^

t t e nail eentrast foat t te railroad whieh

^l»inated the fad^ful nolea and tteir drivem

hennse effeetiwe iFatem^y 3, 1911.^

Iten Mi had proad eed a tM*O00 bonue for

Ike mad but ite bonne hmd not bona padA hy

8eplanher* 1913 amd me ooa^^^mn was forced to

f i l e emit to nolleet i t . ^ The i^enlt of t te

nnit mm aot gtven«

*^fattafe IF^m^^P septemter 83, i n o , «iP»8,n.8,

^.* r^xnaxy 8. U U , p.8 ,e . l . 2*, septanter 18* 18X8, p .3 ,e . l .

137

SAMTA FS

Sesveye on the Texioo-Oolenan bmw^ of

tte Baaata Fe hegan ia 1907* Althoogh n definite

reaxte ted not been detemined, sw^water sad

8nyier tA% eonf idsnt of eeeuriag tte read end

teHtett wa8 "hoping" tot i t * ^ Tte arrival of

tte senta Fe earvi^^irs at myder evoked a great

deal oi em^iueiana. fha ^tsdot tiestextt Li>£ht

deeli^ed, ^Mhould s iyder #st toiie road, ae

a^otf indieatien poia^a, we will enjoy a boon

nneqiaalled in Hie hietory of t te ^eet. Me are

sure to te a tens af ten thoueend people inside S4

1^ two yeeim.* Bneetmkter waa rejoicing over

t te fa#t ttet i t woald te Hie only torn wwt ef

fbrt n^rth with three railmade.'^

fne prewione anxveys had been nade tot Hie

fenone "out off" leading fron Texieo to riala-

wlew and than^i to Brcnnweod via Abilene* but

the Hsil ^rHi Hecoxd of inguet 81, 1907

Avalanaie. Angnet 18, 1907, i.e.8«

, Aaguet 33, 1807, p*4,n*4. exae and Pacifie, The Kaneae City,

Mexieo, and Orient and tte S«ita Fe.

136

reported ttet a aee eoprwey waa teing nade

froa Texioo via Leihboek and Sweetwater te

Coleman. Thie route was said to te the

a^iorteet poeiable tetween OolsanBi or 8mt

wood mad Texieo aakl would therefem, proniae

t te snet feaaible my of ^nmeotheg tte Oolf

divieion witli tte tmneeontineatal att Paeifie 36

Coast divieien. Masiy people on tte south /

Plaina believed ttet i t wae inpoesiias to

build a railmad up ^ e 0 ^ i^^ ai^ i t wae

naaored ttet a faery expeneive tunnel would

teve te te teilt* They wore naelh eoneoled

hy Hie aswertien of Mr. ft. J. Bradatew, *n

milmad engineer of expi^ienne and ability,"

who mid ttet the gmde eould te eonetxneted

for 41300 per idUe.''^

The eaofwey waui eoai^leted fXMi Sweetwater

to nsyder about Hie firet of Septeaiier, 1807

sad Snyder fslt enre ttet tte Beats fe nould

te "pulling traine into aiyder in le«i tham SB twelwe nontte."

m?m^%^ *«B«»t», 1807, L** itoveet 80, 180T, p.l*e.3.

in tte Wh»8}k AinlenQlie* SeutsJgnr. 1807, p*7,e.9.

Them mm quite a bit of wmgllng

amounting to slnost a vexbal war tetween tte

tSSiSUL QSSBSSL ^^^ " ^ ^ aneti»ter Reporter

ennneming adssther Abilsne or Sweetwater ehonld

get Hie xnsd. Abilene aoensed tte eitisens sf

Sweetwater of bribing Hie Santa 7 amxweywre;

3wontwat«r aeeneed Abilene of "xaieiag Heaven

and Sarth wiHiHae Santa Fe offioiale ia Mew

fork snd CUnego txytog to get tte road.*

There was also a gmat deal of ri«yjry between 38 uoxcnan ana UJEOIHIween.

Tte nowey^m weiNi in L^ibo^ in Oetober,

1907 tmd Lwlhboek'e reaetien wae i^irited* tte

Avalnnefeie eerr i^ the etoryi

"l^e maepo of suxveyera Hiat teve been o^^erating be­tween Sweetwater asid teMeok for tte pnet two ncnHm an* rived ia Ladftboek laat fnesSey nad etmc^ ensp in His aorth-wnet part of town. Thegr teve eoiqE^ted the eurvey ae far ae Uiteeek end teve ran a linn in a northwesterly direetien thmeigh tte eonthweet pert of town eplitting tte overten

'neprtete fmn the 2a£La£ Qo^ftr Sews end tte ametwi^er Rsnprt^nEtie^

p. 3, e.3.

140

Addition in Hie adddle xnnaing on in t te eane di­rect ion toward the J. 0. Borne p l a ^ northneet ef town* They clain to te teg a pemaiMnt enrmy and oi oouree thie meiaie t tet eoneHiing will te doing along Hie l ine eoon. For eone tina thie a^eten of railxoade hae had nen in t te f ield looking over t t e lay of the eemitry snd a nunter of xapid anrmps hare teen w^e in trying to Innate tte anet praetii^l rente, bait none oi the foxner anaman* hae been eo ear^bU^r nade ae the one they am new woxkinf on snd i t i s on this nseewnl, linked sdth oHunf iiKtidentn t tet pmwee ttet Hiie sturvsy i e f i te l and t tet i t maamm sonethiag fsr the towne on the l ine . Our peenln mpe quite oonfident of f a t i n g this xiMid tet Hi^ s t i l l am not going to Imre any geqpn team f L|lt to go nR^tl^r mnSe."^^

mam Hie anvenent got und«r miy two yeare

later* Tbrt Morth beosne enthueiaetic about tte

mod amd teg^sn sgitating for tte Santa Fe to

teild fmn Luteal to Fort ^ r t h . Xt was said

t t e t tattj ot f ifty nilee of grade had teen e

atn^ted on a propoeed road fmn Fort ^ r t h to 41 AllNHrqtterqne<

lifitttiL lilfflii'lSBflllt- October 85, 1907, ^«p.l*s.x« ^*Syijl.* January 8, 1808, p . l , e . 3 .

141

The Santa Fe tegsn unlon^ding building

naterial at Farwell in February* 1909 and i t

was asasrted that construction wozk was to bs­

gin at Farwell immediately. Uthouf^i there

vas s t i l l some \incortainty concerning the

route the road would tn'.te. Probably the

b i t terest rivalry bctwocn any two towns for

the road was tetween Plainview and Lubbock.

By 1909 Lubteok was conceded the victory, a l -

thou^ Plainview was s t i l l exsrting every

effort to have Hie sxteneion oone throu^

there* Tho FaraNill Banner said*

"Mhiie the Plainview survey i e the longest route by about four­teen a i l e s , yet i s ths most praetioal oxm as ths survey to Lubbock ie throui^ a range of sand h i l l s that w i l l nsoesaitats sn additional lo t of work not usually encountered in the con­struct 1 ^ of road beds in rest Texas* 43

To «hii& statement the Aval<aichs angrily

retorted:

"The banner man diould poet him­se l f on this oonatxy before ex i t ­ing such sn ar t i c l e . Thie ssme

HReprint froa the Farwell Danner in the Lubbwric Avalanohe. Sept enter 17, 1909, p . l , e . l .

143

etory was circulated some two years ago and ths report was sent by l e t ter to the preei­dent of the Santa Fe railroad wteee company was at that tine nsuiing the surveys for ths Plainview roa«l froa Canyon City to Plainview and ths out off survey was being discussed genemlly throu^out th i s coun­try and t te rsport ted just about knocked Liibbook off the Ctiristaas tree so far as getting the Texioo cut off when Hie Lub­teok people got busy and aent n ocnmittee (Messrs* o* L* Siaton snd H* B. Heed) 43 to ^.iosgo to oonfsr with His h i ^ autter i t l ss of the road nnd as a result of th i s ^mfer^ice* a representative of tha tOQ^ was snat doma to in­vest igate the claims mads by our people vmd reported to the eo»* pany* after idiich the present survey from (^lenan to Texioo Hiroiigh Lubbock was nade and the work of grading out of Plainview east was stqf>ped.43 This alons goes to ahow that Hie railroad peoi^le look ^apon the Lubteok route as the moat feasible nod pr ict ical of the two. "44

By ifay, 1909 Hie Avi iiChe was glad to rsport:

43 I Bt OMilL Wa;]L,fiR7> ff> Septenter 17, 1909,

43P*l»s*l. Mr* Siaton had <^fersd $1*000 to pay t t e axpamaoa of a man to inveetigate the Texioo-Lubboek route* tet the offer was declinsd* (o* I.. Siaton to aiitter,

44April 15* 1935.) ^ij^teek AvalftHAs> Fsbruary 36, 1909, p«l,e*l«

148 "There is something doing

dom an the Coleman end of t te line t tet ie making a no lee like railroad building ttet sounds good to the fortunate towns along tte pmpossd line -lA^teck - snong them*"

Work was to begin by ,Tuly 1, 19or e d t te

"profile and specifications" were in the hnnda

ot contractors Harris and Sparks* The o<mtract

was to te let as so-^ as ttey eould maks t te ir

^t inate .^*

The oontract for the Texieo-Coloman out

off ims to te let Juns I, 1909 in Amarillo. It

was to te two hixEidred and slxty-fiYs aiilee long

md i t e eona^moti<^ oost was sstinated at a

nillicm dollars* Ths high oost was attritetsd

to the ten miles of very haa^ry work on the Cap

Hoek and Hie teavydrork in Molan snd Taylor

oonnties* It was Hioug^t t tet the road would

te in qpsration in sight sen mcmths. The Ava-

:^fiiehe oonmsntsd:

•Ths rosd will travsrse one of the greatest portiona of tte unitsd States aaMi wil l put i t (South Pladns of ^eet Texas) in

^^ fliaaflL iBiaasay^ ^^y 37, 1809, p.i*c.i*

144

direct toueli vith ths Oulf ports aad inland naxfcet ters and will nake a new em in Hie industxial demlspnent of tte country. Xt neens t te ecQvexaion of thoneaadB af acres into i^roductive fame. Xt mesne st lenet a few c i t ies and dosens of thriving tonas. So oHiex railroad proieet In t te hietoxy of Texas ted been of gr^iter iaiportsnee to say eeot i te^x to the entixe state . " ^

n o fallowing week i t was ennouneed t tet

Hie eontraot wae awarded to Hie 0* 8* flterp

Oonatmetion Qam^amf oi Kamaam Oity whiiHi had

also hnUt tte Selen ont-eff. t t e ooet was

eet at ^2^000,000. Tte Ripl^ read* (as the ,

Santa Fe was ealled), would aomnplisli ^ this

laet etft-»eff, a dixeot l ine fxoa Oiaveeton to

Ssn Frsnoieen, "wirtial^ a IMMI transomitinental

mute." Lubboek wae alnoa^ inartioulatei "Coai-

aMmt ie unneeeeeary. Tte «tt off pxopoeition i e

eettled. Tte oontract tee teen l e t . ^rk will

bi^in at onoe agyH Luhbook gete the xoad aftiia^

nI l l te one of tte gxeateet txunk llnee on tte

Aneriostt eontinent."^^ A hood iaeoe nae floated

48 i^bOQi^ ^^;Wfr8r • '^s 8* 1808,

l l lM*' ^^»^ K08, p . l , e . 4 4 5.

145

t e finanoe tte road, althoigth Mr* Ripley

declared that u/xnay yma not inasdiat^y needed.

The piarpose of tac oomipaon was to spread tte

paopnents ovsr psriode of tiae ia order to seoure

am^m tmdm by t te ti^s they wers needed, and

yet not aocuaailate more than oould te uaed ocn-

wsniently over a givsn period. Sueh a aistio-

nlone pise of finasioing stands out in glaring

eentrast to Hiat of tte saialler tooj^ atteaiiited

in f^rt Texas*

Soaie legal diffioulties wers aiet ^en the

HosQoe, ^ofdot az»l f^^lfle tried to foroe t t e

^ksnta Fe to buy out i t s l ine , fte asaM ooa any

t te t ted teUt the Hoeooe, 'kiyder SOEUI Paeifie

ted semired a strmtegie p<Mrti<m of tte Belim

out off route and hsd forced the Santa Fe to

hny i t out at a fancy price. Litigation wae

started at Abilene and Oovemor Onapball of

T^uis Interceded. He aroused Hie reeentonnt

of the "iteet Texas towns who wem anxioue for

the f anta Fe to te huilt and te was aooiaeed of

oollusion with other railroad intemete deeircne

of defeating tte Stanta Fe*e eeawtxnetion. Thie

^^tmohoak V^^mf^r ' UM 17, 1908, p.3,0.3.

148

oehady^ buslnea: was ec»ideKned in no laoertatin

texna for tte iKsncXits of ths Senta Fa road

were obvious and th« towM along the road had

not teen asked far bocmses*^

The Coleman paper deeoribed tte bsginniag

of oonstmotion:

"Tte preparatory novnsents neeessary to the eonetmeticn of a great railroad ars anaeh aiiailfcx to Hie nobili»ition of a gxeat CLXBgr. Men, teams* toole and a l l t^e para^emalia of eaiii) eqaipege hnve to be procured* brought to the front asid aasanhled in soxking shape* Thie has bemi going on tern nnw for i^aarly two we^e. mery dsy carl^Uls of material ata brou^t to Hie f mat, unloaded aad under t t e directicm of trained offioiale plaeed in order for aotive uee. Xt ie a great undertsdcing nxtd no o ^ w i eae prehffi»l i te angniHade until i t i s wiHiessed* The different sur-veyiiMi: ereww ai»i ^ i r aesietante tmd ^uipage aake up a l i t t l e amy ^eauelvee. ttere will te eix eanpa of the eurvey i i^ witpm dietriteted along t te l l n ^ two of milah wi l l te located in Ooleann County for t te next eix amitte. All the woxk trains of wa ons have been >>ft «l*nc out equipaMnt and euppliee to tteee camps* Houses, i8M»de, aoiul o<»rals had to te weeted.

"CSBMiieeariee of each division

48 P y^ia& fSv^m^h^ ^^f i> i909, >*l,c*l.

U7

tevr teen busy laying in amp^ nliee «ioh as gxoeeriee, eats, blankebi, etc*, and atmataX ot oux nerohants teve enj^rsd a lunrative trrie. iSwery train bxinge now men into the e i l^ and thi liotel^ are fViU* Ten-noitatf vork began on t te road last Saturday but the fbll gradii^ foree tee not oonaaneed operation.

•Mr. 84 Sa Hi of Cdenan has oontracfted to grille t te f iret three nilee of road lead­ing out of CalsBMa*" shen te ie ms4r te ^art* Hie osiMMien will be si^ropriately o^ebmted and p e d i i ^ wttnesfed by every eitiwmi in toinu*81

In August* 1909 S. H* Harris moved a con-

etxuotion ^mp to post City foad 140 tsasw wexe

put to work gmdii^ to rard Snyder* ContxsoHtte

wem daily ee^&blieiiing oas^s and s t a r t s te

work along aiwaty f 4»w miles on tte road «ad

"d^pt was flying*"^ Tte hMiviest work* begun

s<»Be 8»>ntte before, was at the Cap Ho^ and

the mad wae to te teilt froa teth Lahbott

end Snyder and neet '>t Poet* The road was

^Ttet seems to tevs been a Santa Fs peliey to teve a looal eontraoter grade tte firet three nilee out of

g^every town. ^^eprint fron ^ e Coleasm paper in the

Lubboek Avalanche. July 1* 1909* £r^.7,e.3. "nyttftStt tis^ltfie^ Aqguet 8* 1809,

p.A*8.8«

148

teing teilt rapidly out of Colsnsn snd s t se l

was teing laid from that end. Io gmat grade

d i f f i cu l t i e s were expected between Colnssa snd

Post and i t T7a8 thought that the division oould

be finished quickly.^*

To construct the grade to the t ^ of t te

Plains out of Post, ths engineers of ths Ssata

Fe were at wo:^ cutting a gaah in tte earth

several miles lore: said eome sixty or eighty

feet deep, l^eti blasting was necessary amd

the right-of-way up the Cap Hock was perforated

with holes dril led by oxdinary well-dri l l ing

machines. The holes were dug to the level of

the road ted, f i l l ed with dynamite and powder

snd siarultaneously discharged. The Snyder

f s s t e ^ ^ ]( t waxed Sequent in i t s de soriptioa:

"To f ^ l y oppreciate juet wtet th i s work asaas ons Hiould v i sua l i s s a ahore l in s or ths b«i<fli of a mountain with the broad meHi on one elds snd the brakes h i l l oountry on t te ot ter . The Cap Hook evidently nskee wtet vas one time the bcnndary l ine between land and water." At plaeee i t i e steep and rugged while at other pointe t te ascent

51^ ^hboek Aval^<dis. August 13, 1909,

n . l , c . 5 . "ThM Hisory ie act neei^ed by nodem ge81ogiste.

149

i s leua abrupt and affords a nodsrate ascent to ths table Irjmd above. At ths partlottlar plane idiero tte out in qaeeticn is being vc de the riee la grad­ual, tet of coneideraaa.e length hence the uecos >ity for a deep ftit*

"The ,^ate-say to tte Plains i s g«ieraLlly known as cailnney House Canyon tmd pmbably affords leas d i f f i o a ^ in His d inb than any other point on tte Ca Hoek for a difltanoe of eeveml hundred Kilos or from t t e Denver and Fort murth mad on Hie norHi to the Taxas and P ^ l f i e on the aoutlw weet. Tte gxadiag tern, however, in con(«idered the heavieet on t t e f axieo ColnMn oott^nM xued and idien eoi^leted will be a veritable

leet Texas (hilars Cttt."n8

Tte Santa Fe Oonpany ordered fox delivery

in 18X0, 130,000 tone of 80»poiiad eteel xaila

to te need in Texae and Califomia. This enonnt

iRia reported to teve oost $3,000,000 amd t t e

gmat«r part of i t was to te used on the Texien-'

QoXamm enWoff.^

fha people of Laridhook were eo enthusiaetie

over the road t tet they eeoured Hie rlght»af-

vny southeast to t te eoveity l ine aKmthe tefore

^Seprtet fmn tte SgtkBL ^^aSeSOL ^Mht in tte Li boek Avalanohn* ^as^vmt 13*

gggJMSJW, p«AJ. ,0**3. *^tfe!?e8k Avalanche* Angust M, 1909,

p«X,e.8*

150

i t would be needod and without i t s even being

aaked for by the railroad company. Aa the

Avslfanoh^ put i t , "T e c i t i sens here not wiah-

ing anything to come up that might poasibly

delay the work simploy got together and sscursd

thiai property."^ So enthusiastic were t t e

South Plains people over the road that the

editor of the Avalanche ted to run front page

etoriee about i t whether he had any news or

not. On September 16, a fu l l front page was

devoted to i t although there was really nothing

new to t e l l except that the work was progress-B7

ing nicely.

Vork begsc on ths Lubbock-CoIsauin branch

on the Lubbock er<d of the l ine on Ootober 35*

1908. ^ At f irs t ths old track-laying maehias

used on the Plainview branch was en^loyed tet

the following week a new and larger machine was

brought down to te used. The work was at f i rs t

delayed tecause of a shortags of material.

^Tt^bte^ 4valandhe> Ssptealber 3, 1909, _p* l*e .5 4 8. P^Ibid.* September 16, 1909, p . l ; ^September 38, 1909, p*X* This wae the date of t t e arrival of t t e

ggfirst passenger train fmm Plainview. ^ Lubtaook Avalanehe, October 28, 1909,

p*i ,c . l*

181

tifl bboci: \ms teln^ uotd as a eupply point**^

Lubteck also 'hacime Intereatod in seouriag t te

division • ipt of the mad with tije mundhoues

and idiops but Xacke a .i fev niles cf teing

e»i0tly half way tet^saa Sweetwater and Texioo;

therefore, t! s railroad oosspany Md out i t s om

town fifteen miles south of lA aboA sad nnsed

i t after HiO risn in Lubboek Mho had teen nost

act two in the milroad ncveaMsit and Santa Fe

"totA, I'r. n, L. Siaton.^ Uihbook's idMMsrin

over the failure to seeure t te shops sas

oesdini^ bitter.

The people watched with interest t te

pmgrts^ of canBtxuctic^* ^ e Aralaaete

porter demribcd for the anaseaent aad edifV*

cation of his regulars tte tmek-laying nsehtnei

"One cf the nost oenplioated and at t t e cane tine noet p e r f ^ naehines ia operation to-day i e l^otehly the fhnrley Tmek»Laying Machine. Xt dlstrlbutM the t ies ahead of the raile and by i t e own power !90ves i t s s l f snd a Isng

^ ^ ^ l ^ i E ^ i a a ^ October 38, 1908, bid*! - - ;

153

string of core londed with rai ls and t i e s . Them ie one of then in opexation on tte Oolenai^-Texieo cut-off below town at t te present t ine. Mx. fhmrley waa twentpHMNren yearn in perfecting thie auMihine. Xt ie elained t te maehine wXXX lay ckbout four miles of t r a ^ a day and i t oiay reqaima a t:imll crer of men to operate i t . Tte raile are etxmg along esmh eide of & etrit^ of oars and are fastensd to-gether* The t i e s .re piled betwe«i t te raile on the caspa snd as tte engine of the tx EOk layer feeds the raile* i t aleo feeds tte t i e s idtidi are piled on the raile sad onrtiaA to a ocnveyor. Tte rai ls pnm througji t te engine men anile Hie Hlee go overhead. One laim i r ids in tte f rane woile and Inwem tte rai le by neans oi a derrick to the track. Its i perati<xs i s praotimlly done by one ntm. The ermine and teller ef this maahtma are of a h i ^ horse |K»wer ii5 tidting into oon-sid^Mion t te iNBMmee enount of load i t mofran md the ooeiplexity of i t e nectoanisn i t aii|8tt indeed te reckoned tma of the pressnt dny wondem."^

Tte eurvey om t te LidnKiek-Texloo branch

etarted Moventer 18, 1808.^

Xt Tsas neeeeesry for Sapoetwater te raiee

Miitsmier U , 1808,

^^^2g|||I, tfovenbex 18, 1808, p«l ,o.5.

153

#31,000 to lAzrc ierr 2 ^ acres of land as a

Ideation IT order t > obtain t t e Santa Fe

divieion points and ^csps* A mass meeting

fww Ofslled by tho "n<^otiatlng ooiarsittee,

ThesMis V. TnsRTnel nnd ' . t . M<^auley end t t e

sflMunt was raieed in l e s s than fbxty-five

f»lnute<«."^

Fivi» hundred wwi were woxking out of

on the road and tsaimi wer«» ex-

peeted tl»«^e by January* 1910. Oontmetom

Karnes «nd mfilifmddfm hsd f IniHsed theix pawBu

t ions of gn^e work fifteen ni lee in e a ^

directl<m furim 'lips^etw ter snd had moved twenty

n i l ^ west toward myder.**

f^iildlnp ftom LiA bock wae stopped ic

Wovenber beea^s^ the oonpany was out ot heavy

etfNil tmd Hie bif tra«8t<-laying naiSilne rma

sent to vork on l^e Plainview Floydada bmaeli.

fmsNisrev* daring the eospeweion, a large aanunt

of iMitwrifa W0IS uRlnaded in t t e yards at

^

R e p r i n t ttom Hie Sweetmter a^^ortof in ^^^ 1 >#<iKjek Avalafiehe. Meventer IC, 1909, •% fy 5 \ '

^^''^^•» MeeF-wA er y^ ^868* p.&^e.i. Int frtya the ^fdof •leetem Light in Liiteeek Avalan^e. tyaama^mt i . Tflon-i7e.l*

tte p. 15

^

154

lAS >ook and by ^eo. iber 9, the track*laysr

waa back at .or-: ott ^f Uibteok.^

3t<?el ho^ h'cn 1 id fxoa L!Ubb«>C'. to tte

Caj- Hoek by t <3 A!Mie of .Vpril* 1910 and t te

crew on the south end of the line K- d laid

steel from Coleman t > near Swestmtter at Jin

Med Creek wtere a very lar ^ * bridge was teing

bui l t . Tmm Jim Hsd Cmek to Sweetwater tte

ron^ bed TIT about rea*iftr for the tracks and

nearly a l l th«* grade fron Sweetwater to tte

scurry County northern linn had teen coaipleted

and traek-layors ?? r» sot>n to te pot to work

at Bweet^mter. A new ruling of the railmad

ooaadnaian In t^^ protest of the Texas and

Pf*45ifio Rgainift the nmta Fa's orossing i t s

l ine at "^^et^tater ted teen in favor of t te

foxner tsid the lixttm had to alter i t s ^adm

at Swe^t^wit^. The e:^m work oost the '3anta

Fe about ^100*000 and c? aeed a delay in OMI

struetion of ?!ever?tl aiontte.^ Rolling stott

w?%e already In the ynrds at Oolsnan by t te

lat ter part ot April, 1910 aad 350 ai«» wem

^ub^>ock Ar- lgnt^a. Dscenter 9, 1909* iipp.i,e.4« ^XMd*, Airil 17, 1810, p.1,0.5.

l t3o

•npXoyeJ ttere iTorking in H o OBterial yards.

B'^rattki Inxu '>.Ti e.. ^sre built tetween Col8-

mm and /oi-^l. Ore rf the largsirt of these waa

the one acros i jiid !:oJ rires^* 975 feet in

lengHi* and 115 feet :.lt:li. All the brid^sa

were constructed of steel vjad ooncmte aad Hn

roadway of roc^ ballatBt. 3tatl<m bulldinb;s of

Gonereto wem teing ereetad aaui several new

towiM were laid out along the line; silver

i ^ l e y , Hovioft, Goldisbom, and Buffalo Oap.^

^mdreds of car loads of material were

belnp asaenblod In the y efds at IMbockm^

The woi* ims rm fmazin^ fete of c iv i l engineer-

inff to rany of the riain® people* We A after

we^ the editor otWK ented, "One can hardly

realize ^9tet a m m noth job i t i s to oonstxuot

this totid until te witnesses t te progress of

t t e work."^ It was said t tet every effort

poseible V;BS being mode to finish tte work t te

earliest possible* "However," the editor

commented, "this i s a trenenloua j ^ and aiueii

Heprint from the Colenan psnr in Hie yfyihteelf xvalangte. Amtl 88, 1810, ,P»1B,C.4.

bid*. ^MPtii»4 - » n ^ 7 . 1 8 , e . 4 . , i^tenter 1, 1810, p . l , e . l .

158

work yet renaine to te dsne. Ite ssnta Fe

ie eaqpending an enoxnoue ewmnt of noney on

Hiie read* tet i t wUl te the beet and noet

inportant mad im the etate. *^^ 8y septaidiBf

33, X810 t te grading froa snydex to Poet wae

eei^lete aad track-laying was begun .^^ Tte

f irst passsnger train over the line fron Cole-

men to Sweetwater, (eighty-five nilee) was xmi

October 80, 1810.^' This wna a ^jsoial txain

omitadtting <^fieial8 of Hie mad. Preeident

Ripley predieted t t e t Hie mad to Texieo would

te finiahnd by August 19U.^^

Ite last treetle on tte Cap Rock wae

praet inally eoaplete and tte tm^is^loyer waa

ready to begin layii^ t r a ^ into post the

latter part ot fomm^aotm^^

Trala e«rviee was eetahlielied fron Lubboek

to Poet in January, 1811. Tte tmin te^ed dona

in the noming aiH o«ma bask in the aftexnoon.

Ttem wa« no *T* at Pest ttemfore tte txain

went down hai nnurds ia oxder to te able to get

luhbook AWi*Xanfl8 e> Soptestisx 8, 1810, ,«J>*X5,e*4. ^ h | d . , Baptaaibat 33, 1810, p.5 ,e .3 . ITIbid*. Moventer 3, 18X0, p*ll,e*3* T w n » ^ IWventer Xf, 18X0, p.9,o.4.

[at in tte 18X0

u , sovemoer «r, xw^u, p.«,o.e. Fint fron the Bweetwater Heporte Uri boQk Avalnnohe. Mor^ater 34,

), p . l , e . l .

X87

a fnrward palX u^ tte Cap Roek.^^ on Jsnuaxy

X8, 1911 the traiHc was laid to Lsnins, twenty

nUee norHiweet of sweetmtex* Thie naxked

t t e eoeq^tion of 83.6 nilee ot xoad on tte

eouthem end of Hie l l i m . ^ only a eixty-

eig^t nile gap fron Lanine to Poet reandned te

te f i l l ed in and Hie traHK>»layiag gange were

working on both ende and expected to neet at

QBf^mtm^

Tte opeaUng of the freight and atptaam

offioea at Poet "aburked a mam era in the hiatory

of Hie town," ae»>rding to the Post Mewe. Hien

Poet City was founded e l l the f r i g h t had te te

battled wdm^y mkXaa ttom t te nearest railroad

town, nig Spring* over rough roade end later

tte ilsse<^ mjdmt and Paoific had extended to

nvmammm amd t te t town was ths receiving etaticn.

f te gravel for ballasting the xoad was

brought fxon the gravel pit north of Lvibboek.

A etenn iHoml was kept teay thnre and tmlns

oonsietlng of elghteeB to tweatty-five ear Xeade

78 LffteQCk AvaXanehe* Jenuary 5, X91X,

flMp.X,e.S 8 8. ^^Reprint fron the Smetimter Heporter ia

t te UMMOk Avalanebe* January If, laii^ ma9^ X* S. #. •«%>•€-• , January 17, 1811, p.l,o.3.

[.* January 18, X8XX, p.9,o.X. ij}3

166

Of gravel l e f t lAibbock every day* Tlie work

was fumlchinr: e^^loT'^dnt to a laxge nunter of

people* The AvrIlrno^e commented: •The Ssata

Fs i s spending a great deal of monsy in th i s

ssetion and of course Lubbock i s rscsiving sone

benefit Hierefrcn**^

Loooaotives and equipment for the new

l ine wexe ordered fxoui t te Baldwin Locomotive

mtka on Jsnuaxy 18, 1 9 1 1 , ^

Two large bridgee tetween Post and snydsr,

ons at Hie Double Mountain Fork of t t e Brazoe

and another at Sand Crot^, tcgoHier with a mnher

of smaller bridges, dslayed the progress of coa­

st ruction somea^at, but only forty n i l s s renainsd

to be conpleted by F^ruary 8, 1911*^^

The train service to post frcn Lubteck hsd

to te suapendi^ in ths la t ter part of Februaury,

^^en the train jnnped the trai^ Hii le trying to

tec^ down too fact* the traok wae torn up for

ssveral hundred yards*®^

By the f i r s t of April omXy eleven n i l ee

80 Lubbo^ Av^anche. January 36, 1911,

aiP5lt*«4. " p ^ ^ ^ . January 36, 1911, p*10,e*4* Misprint from ths flSZdlSE '^••tsm Liitht in

the ^uboock AValan^e. February 9, 1911, g«p«5*e.a. kfltftBAlL Avslanote. February 33* 1911* p . l , e . 4 .

X68

vsnatnsd to te eonpleted and twenty dnye was

sspeeted te ooatplata the road.^ the follon-

ing week the large htid^ acmes Hie datnma

had been eonpleted and only four niXee raawlned ns to te ooa^ leted. fte road was eonpleted by

tey X, 1811 and teg oeXebmtiene were teld sXX

aXoag tte route. laHnieiastie omwds tuxned

out to gmet ^ e firet thmogh tmin* ^mineee

aetiwity was greatXy stiamXatsd snd Lateoek

•none other towne, f t assured of a nunter ef

new bueiniNM enterprieee. Tte deveXopaest of

Hie eenntxy was certain. Tte etory ims toXd:

•The Ssnta Fe hae eXoeed the Xaat gap In ter gmat eeeen to ocean mid fron oeeen to GuXf mdXnay. The hniXding of thie line hae teen aam oi Hue really great uoderHOdbme ef the Santa re railmad and has placed ttet oeaq sny in a position iSwrrty i t ean fiKMiM>sts with the Southern Paoifie in passenger traffio havixn; stertcned tte dietsnes aMseHiing ewer five hundred niXee^ with tte oeXenen-Teodoo oat off .^*

^ IflUMft ffi^^ahom FAxuary 33* X9XX* AiA«X*e.4. 2 2 ^ . * MpatX 37. 18U* p.9*e.l.

.* nay 4* 1811* p«l*e. 8*8. ilf«

160

But i t was aom(^ tiais bsfore the road was

operating reni l ir freight - nd passsngsr trains*

The troc: hrd to b^ ^ rf' ced*®^ Chi Jims 15*

1911 the l ine was ooenec for thmugh ssrvios op

tetween Ataarillo and Sweetwater* Thia eer­

vioe waa to be continued in operation unti l

fauLl* at which time the entire l ine waa to te

turned ewer to the operating department and

then through train aervloo frcn Galveaton to

Aaiarillo and to Pao<m Valley and California

v ia AnariUo was to te established*^^

Xt was believed t t e t the whole Isngth of

tte Texio<^Coleflmn cut-off would be completed

by HovembiMf* 1911. The Alf5Aaai7hft coBmenteds

"Then i s the time whim i t wi l l be interesting to watch the grnydual ef iect t t e t thie new l ine wi l l teve upon the tr;mscontinsntal traff ic of t te imited Statee**. Xt i e thia route ftom Lubteck to Can­yon City thence to Texico t t e t wi l l te oo u >tably stertened when the noted cut-off haa teen co l la ted* making a atraight etee l t m i l ihrou^ the virgin northweetem oountriee* Tbe l ine wi l l not only form a new route to old territory

BV " LubteA Ava3 anche. May 11* 1911, AaP*li^«b* * *"*A.f ^^y 25* 19U* p*l,0*4*

., June »9 1911* p.l*0.2.

161

hiH it will aleo develop tnx^ ritory H I M O poeeibUities a m go even yet only faintly realised.^

SA8TA F8

Tte enxweyore wem working out of Luteoofc

tennrd Clovie in |[ rea§Mmr* 1908,^ (tte ro»d

f r«i Plainview to InMock had jnst been eoa^

pXsied) snd tte survey ma finit^Md by tte

Xatter part oi DeoesiNar, 1809 amd tte gmde

etakas w«re set . Tte snrveyom ted soms dif-

fieuXty in orosfting Ite eand hiXXs.^

Xt mas telisvsd ia f^bximry, 10X0 ttet

eenstmctimi nouXd start northwest fron teteocSc

tnnard Texiso* Xt wae statedt

•MMnt aXX the pn^iailnaxy work hae been <ksie mXative to the beginning ot ctonetmeticn on Hie Texioe-Colenan ent^of f tm^ ning neat frcn La iteek and tte aetnal grading and tra^k laying will ba^in in the near ftetum*

•Thia eete forever st rMrt the elain of eone people ttet Hie eut-off would not teild ont ef thieJipan tet would te sun

imS^sSBm eediex Movenoex is* X808, p.X*o.5.

Deceartier 33, X8(», p.X8,e.4. ratomaxy XO, p.x,e.8.

X83

te i8iy 7, 18X0, Mr. M* 0* Abexnathy

sn sgsnt of tte Santa Fs, net with tte

Farwell^^Nxieo Coameroial Club ocnoemlag

the righVof-my and bonue for tte ^ nile

etmt<^ of road* La: e landholdere along

ths mad donated a bonus af $200,000* Thie

was to te the leaet expenaive eeoticn of the

cut-^off. Xte eatiaated oost was 3X,350,v>wS;

Hewewer, the actual grade work did not

begin until May X* 1813. Mr. i . R. Denniscn

scoured Hie oontrsot f<Mr i t s eonstxuotion snd

te eid Xet a nuaSier of grading eentoBOts and

wotlk wats began in a nunter of pXaeee. Be

open^ his head offioe in Luteock in tte

offiee buildis^ of tte Houston Inaiier Ooaq>sny

snd he also eetablieh^ a oc^miasairy there.

Aomrding te the reporti

"Mr. D« t* Jones* Denni-k*e mamgenr, eaid in sntetenee

ttet tte entim line tetween 1 8 book and Texieo had been covered by grade eontmetors under Mr. Dennieon e x o ^ the heavieet part

^Tj^y^he. May 12, 1810* 0 . 1 .

183

of the grade, about twenty-five nilea out of Uibbook w!iiOh ^t. Denoi 55011 w/oi i put h is own out­f i t on. 7 .1. . place i s Hisre the l ine crosses Yellow Houss Csnyon emd ie about ths only rsal heavy grading on the entire line."**

Traok laying was to SXlow oloss tehind ths

grading and the /oad was to te in operation by

January 1, 19ir. All work was to bs done out

of lubboek* Matsrial was being aooumulatsd

here, and a large foroe of men were to te put

to work* Many railroad mam and their fani l ies

wers moving to Lubbook*^^

But esnething had happened to neoeeeitate

another aurvey* This survey startsd Juns 13,

1912* The aurveying crew was c<^i^osed of ex­

perienced man under J* w. Valter, residsnt

engineer* I'r. Jsnes leedel, ehief engineer

of eonstructir^i with his asi«istant, J* H*

Hediag, establishsd their offioee in Lubteek*

By July 4, 1912 th i s survey was twsnty milss

out of Lubbock with the grade stakss and

May 7* 1913* p . l , c * l . ay 30, 1912* p*l*c*l 4 2*

*, June 13, 1913* p«l,o*l*

XS4

elained to have everrything in readineee for

grading*^ There had teen difficulty in se-

eurii^ the ri(^«*^-vay from some non-resident

lendteldere and eeveral lav suits were inst i ­

gated to condsna t te property*^ 8y the f irst

of mgust 1813* •sveiythlng was lively along

t te grade l ine of t te Santa Fe eut-off" and

the graders were mating good progreas**^^

OriMiing was begun fxo?!! teth Lohteek snd Teslee

this tine with t te gr^ing erem woxking

tOfward a&3h othotm By Septeadier 13, 1913*

tw«stF-f ive nilee of gmde had been eoe^leted ^

out of U0ihoak m^ ten nilee out of Texioo.

Tte eoe tfwiy hoped to oonplete the grade by

January 1, 1913. Twenty suV^cntmctors wiHi

300 tenas mato at woi^.

The tam^^d foundation vas to te of

white gyp fron Hie Luhbook quarry* tte trt^ik

wae to hate 90-poend rai ls , creosote treated

t i e s end oxitfrhed stone ballasting* Actual

eteeX-laylng vas to begin Jsnuaxy 1* 1913 out

of teth Ltf^ock and Texiee.^^ Tte f^lowing

m^tmtmmtmt»mmmmm»»mmtmmammmtmmmmmtmmmm

••feid,* M.y • , iSOa, P.4.S.I. * Augmt X* XSX; p. l*e .4 .

;«, SepteaiEwr 5, 18X3, p.X3,e.X.

\y

X88

week f i f t y nore te^ioe, a new grading crew

and a larf^e n imter of new men were put to

TOXk.^M

Grading wae praeticallv eonpleted by

Moveaber 14, 1912*^^^ Xt vas frsely pre­

dicted t t e t trains would te runnii^ ovsr the

l ine by May, 1913.^^ Ttere were only two

points in ths l in s where outs and f i l l s had

been necessary. Tho resaliider of the oountry

was l eve l , »id i t was said that for a distance

of about eight miles eaet of Texieo no grading

adiatevor had to be dcme. The rai l laying and

teXl^iJSting were to begin simultaneously so

t t e t the road oould te ixaaediately opened for

t ra f f io . Through passenger eervioe frcn Oal^

vestcn to California was promlssd by ths f a l l

of 1913.^^

The f i r s t train ussssd ovsr the Lubbook-

Texioo cut-off Tlovemter 13, 1913.^8 Althoui^

regular eervioe was not sstabliated unt i l

March 1, 1 9 1 4 . ^ '

loek Avalanoha. Septeidier 13, 1912, o*l.

* Moventer 14* 1813, p . l*0 .6 . , Deo«aber 4, 1913, p . 9 , e . 3 .

^, Movead er 38* 1813* p.lO*o.l . [., Movemter 13, 1913* p . l * e . l . ;., March 8, 1814, p . l , e . l .

Chanter 7

3HALL '}1 HAILHDAD8

vLr9f?hTtop SmtfH riains

Ths Croshyton South riains vas one of

ths few indep»ident roade that were really

bui l t . It was built by ths aresby»D«iaBSt

(Ths C.-B.) Catils Company. Ths eompsny had

t t e monsy to teild tte road aad no pmnoting

was necessary, a l thou^ ff8,000 In bonuses

was s o i l s ited from the towns along t t e rosd.

Mr* Julian M* Bassstt was general manager of

t t e ro.-^.

The'Croebyton South Plains Hailroad Co»-

S eny established i t s offioe in Croebyton on

May 1, 1910 ^id began a eurvey ftom Cmsbyton

to LiU»book. Ths C.-B. Cattle Coi^any wanted

a railroad oonneotioM and Lubbock was the

nearest point. Lubteck aspirsd to teing ths

"Hub of ths Plains" and was glad to pot yxp a

bonus for ths railroad* Ths inexperinnoed

railroad builders found, "It has proved a

bigger task than ons might imagine t o figure

oat the grade aoross ths Plains to Luteoek*"

ftT8^17htr ttay 13, 1910* p.l4*e.4<

.Vi?-

1-7,

ISS Mr* Basaett, however* like most railmad

pmnoters, tecau o of ths facil i ty of grille

const mot ion* was enticed into tte eoonomio

fallacy Hiat imilronds omtld te teilt anyVhem

snd oaid for. Re pliwmed on the second week

to art and ^'ie rood eventually to Tivnaasari*

M. M. *wv' tried to forii a compsay aftsr tte

railroad pro»sot*»ro rm- o a « u ^ public!red

tour of inepeotimi over tte pr< ;>osed route

in the latter part of U&y, 1910**

"Mr. BfMieett tf^He tw t te t emxy tom alsng t te l ine i s anxious for th"? road sa^ that Hwy a l l offnr great eneoorage-aients* t t e t wne are to mLO mpirte am to wtet t^ey esn ^id wil l do thl<^ "Will te pawMid upon by Ite dlreetore of t t e Croshyton South ^Xaine Railmad Mnpany in Omabytcn at their f irst direet(»r*s neeting on Hie f i m t day of June. Tte enxweyom on Hie Lt3(bbook br?m^ are expected to f iniidi the pemail en t enrvey fron Lubboek to Croshyton this m^m said i t ie expeeted Hiat at t t e director* s meeting i t wil l te decided Hien active gmding • 4 Y t >iMr4fi.e3 will begin.

^

igafi jxsiffiHaBb ^^y » . wio* jp.16,9.1. 3H^rint from tte Qrortwrteto Bene in t t e Lutoboek AvaaanclMu May 36. iKo, p.X6* 0 .1 .

170

Mr. Basaett further propoeed an extenaion

frosa Crosbyt<Hi to Spur and odenented that t te

mirvey from Croebyton to Spur for the Cap Book

ascent was t t e next step* although i t i s quits

obvious t t e t tho sx tens ions teth frwa Luhbook te

Tucuacari and from Cro8l;vton to ^pur had suaXX

olianoe of materialization.^

By Hie lattor part of June 1910, t te

arrangeaMnts had besn coaiplstsd for ths con­

struction of the Croebyton douth Plaina Bail^

road. A contract for bonue, right-of-way aad

depot grounds had bsen closed with the oi t lssns

of Lubbo<^ and the oompsny with Mr. Knox as t t e

chief engineer, had finlshsd t te final survey

and was ready to take eharge of the construction.

Orders for teilding materials had bsen placed

and t te road was "to be rushed to ooapleticn."^

The contract embraoing "every i^iase of t t e

oonstxuctivs ds ta i l s , grading, bridgss, snd

traok laying* vas 1st to W. H. Dsnnison oi July

1* 1910 at Lubbock. Mr. Dsnnison volimtarily

put up a thousand dollar tend guarantssing te

f inish t t e mad by Dscemter 1* 1910. It was

said* "rmry available man wil l te put to

work. This msans that ths work wil l bs pushsd

to miaiplstion without any unnecessary dslay.

Alrsady largs conslgnnente of material are here

ready for Immediate use and an immense amount

wi l l arrive shortly Hiat wil l te rusted to the

fmnt*"^ Ground was br^sn at Li^teck July 31,

1910.^ Tard l ines as far sast as ths canyon

were built immediately and track-laying bepan

August 8* 1910 by hand* The grading was pueh-

ing ahead with a l l poeeible haete.^

In the lat ter imrt of Septnatex* 1910

the grade with the exception of t t e canyon* was

practically eonpleted* The bridge work here

would require at least a month*' On Oetober 10*

Mr. Dennison f inisted ths grads «:>rk and Hiippsd

h i s tools to Colsman.l^ Ths bridgs work was

pmgreecing rapidly snd ths work was teing

rushed to eonpletion as fast as m«i and teams

oould aoocnplish i t . Mr* Bassstt was in ths

libteck Aval^che* July 7, 1810* p. l ,o*l* * July 31, 1910* p . l * o . l .

.* Angttst 11* 1910* p.l*o.2*

ivt i., Septenher 39, 1810, n.l,o*l. [.* Oetoter 10, X8X0, p*l,o.6.

Xf3

north eup«xvisii« tte slUpnsnt of tin

renalnder af tte oonetmeticn aaterial.^

By Hie folXowing week Cmsbyton oouXd

easiXy eartdeipate tte arriwaX of tmine.

^^^ ilfiUdUdkgl 3SMiMM 6aidt

"AO eoon ae the Csnysn i s eroeeahle with the tmok-l«yii« entf i t tte stsel wiU begin to eceuieot Cxoebytcn with l^Moek and i t will take eonethii^ like twenty-five days te Isy tte txsA aad tern %ha train tooting in a part of Hie Plaine for wa firet time. Oroshyton will bsgin sone of t te noet mbetantial develap­nente in ter hii^ory ae eocm ae the traine am In operation. Me had better begin to thlak ohomA that boiBn| note we nade for t te road."**

Ordeare for tte ruling etoek of the

pany wmta plaeed in ^ e Xatter part of 8oV' 13

X8X0. fte Aval vaeha ecasasntedt "We uader­

etand ttet tte xolling etoek for Hie mad has

been oxdexed delivered In Lubboek not later

than Jsnuary 18, 1911 whi^ soanda vexy aniAi

^HnWtook Avalanehe. Ootober 30, X8X0, , ^ , s . l £ C

>, October 37* X8X0, p.X5,o.X. 1.9 Movemter 34, X^O, p.X4,e.X. tV.

XfS

XHee LMaihDek*e aeeend railmad will eoon te

a tts^^ing real i ty.*^ the ftfXXoi i« week

Hie heedXinee of tte AvaXaaste ennouneed the

arrivaX of Saglne sna^er one of tte Croebyton

Bo^maa PXadwi. thie engine wae to be need in

trai& Xay i i« .^

The toad was eo near ecnpXelicn ttet tte

pnepXe of t t e south Plaine were alree^y Bppw-

^atlng i te besM^tei aXl oaHh vexy l i t t l e

steel ted heen laid. Hie ftTllnntflR >*ldi

*tte onenlng oi txaffIn on this xoad will moam weioHier depot for Luteoek. Xt will nean the toii^^lng cf a mssber of new faeai-Xiee te oar team and nom enh-st^itial ii^mv^»inte are asesred. Xt will opam tsp traffic to t te people of croeoy Oeunty mid enable then to eosNi to Lubhoek and get eeameetioB with tte saata fo^m gmat eyeten. Xt will open up a new trad^ territory for LeMoek ead will <Mniee our eity to build into oi^ oi tte gxnatest idioleeale oe»» tern of the ^kntth Plaine* The Omebyton south Plaina Railxoad hae be«i a live propcMition aXX tte nay along and is etartiag oaie of the fttture*e a^et iaiperteatt trunk l ines ."^

^anMwnk Av^amnie. Deoester 1* 18X0,

gseenber 8* X810, p . l , e .3 . Smenher X* X8X0, p.X*e.5.

Xt4

t te ttmam Xine idea wae dexived fmn tte

prosdee ttet tte xoad would eenneet with tte

stanfoxd aad Morthmetem at spox.^^

t te nenegensnt oi tte Cmsbyton south

Plains was deeoxib^ by the Houetcm Peeti

"Oeeteye in Cxoe^ County tarn tuxned thmaeelvee into rail­road httildere. i^mta a few yeare age t t e ammmmX tammd^'mip of the Bar M Bar ranch awe teld, tiee n ^ gmding nateriala am piled SKamtain h^^. Om tnesday Hie nanag«r ^ tte ranidi, Jalian M. 8aBM»tt* in mal Mew Tom eXoHiee, a "hailed* tet mod a Rarvmxd nseent* ren^etmred at tte Bmsoe Mot^ in Roueton. no oama to moMm iUi^irr ee to tte pnxeteee of tSatftn^^mmm aAlma ot steal xaaie* Ee dmpattad last nii^t for Dallas on ^ ^ t sdMiiiMi*

*1^s Santa fe, Peooe Hilley l ine ia to Ifee wm^ at IflMook snd t te 3t«aford McrHm^stem is to t te oamtm I5ie ter M Bar xenoh was in hetween end hae nevex been stocked up with anything woree tten Hie Mi-f i eowtey mo<». two yimre sge *CrosbytaB* was laid oi^ oa the s i te of a foxnex eoxxal.

"Oeners of tte Bar M Bar mnHi who were IKI enseeastel In t<Nm building, pl«an«d Hie rail* road ttet ia now beiag iHinstXttoted. Mot a bcmd tee been ieenad on tte toadm Xnstei^ tte 0. 8. Live stoek Oce pany, oaning the Bar M Bar ranch.

^\ti|lft!nt irid-«^<^* Dse«Bbex 15, 1910, p,X*8.X.

xts

sInpXy de<aared a dividend en tte Xand and has teiXt tte radULread'«. *"

:iT. 3a5sett aai-*:

*Ve are going to bxaad the eountxy with eteel xaiXe snd oak ^kne and then we are going to round up ae mamf

kO as oaa eonvenientXy en tte ooinitry to amho

thinge intemstittg in tte theat graining and Xand tlnk-Xing bueineiNi 8iat &iaa with real iMIprieiiXtam.

*8veryone out our way hma mmof. fha country nevex had a miXroad, tet we teve bemi aimeasilating otter Hiinge einee tte prl^e of Xamd amd the prise oi steers went mp at the mne tinla. Men we are gn-imf^ to m^km i t eo we mn ipst i ^ o tte wa ld withoat riding a day or tira on a eow peny be­fore we eateh a txaihs.*18

Mtnal track Isying hsgns January 38, 1911.

Material wae aXrmdy cm tend to eoeqpXete tte

m a d . ^ 8y Febmary 33, X8XX, traok had teen

Xaid oat 30 adXee fr ni t Moaft* ReXp was herd

to get^end a Xaxge mmitoot ot Mexicans had to te

brought here for the mxk*^ the xoad was mmmmmmmmmmtimmmmmmmmtmmmmmmtmtmmtm

^^imam mmxtimm. DM«*W U, 1*10. i!^r*

m^ . Janmry 88* X8U, p.X,e.X.

,*, F^xnary n* X9XX, p.X,e*4.

xts ssnpXeted and t te firet Hrain xsn omx His

Xins June X3, X9XX. Xts sonpXetion gem

taMnait eight paeeea«er traine a day .^

t t e nasageamit tried to eeeam bonasee

to amtamd tho mad to Bpaat tet fs iXsd.^ t t e

snmey wss nade tet ^ e mad did not pay out

aAd the 0. B* Live stoek Ooa aay aoXd to tte

Pas^andle and Snnta F e . ^

t t e fisansh* Amma and Paeifie wae inoorpemted

Jenaary 38* 1909 in Texas ae aueoeeaor to the

AMm, Hod Mwtm amd Morttem Railway Coi^ieny.

The Xine waa pmjeated fmn Quanah* t^iaa* ia

eemMNition wiHi Hui 8t. Lsnis-Ben Franoieeo

Hallway to 81 Paso* texa^ fXm Ronw^l, Men

M^iiss* a dietsnee of about 400 nHea*^

In Deeeaihsgr, 1808 the Qnanah, Acne and

Paoif io had Jnst enrweyed the line fron t uanah

to pa»laKia and work mm to begin mmi. Tte

nasMger of the mad nade a v i s i t to Luhbook

_ JHttO 13, 19U, p. l ,ea< , septean^ 31, 181X* p*6,e.x.

Aae 8, X9l;^ p . l . e . l . aailxoad Man^* 1910, p.X838.

X77

and the ^ ffttomuh obaerved: "They were reticent

on Hie subject but Hie infomation t te t the pre­

liminary woxk i e under way was obtained fron a 3fi rel iable eource*" The road warn managsd by

^m Laxaras* A contract mam signed with Paducah

for a tenua on April 1* 1909 and grading tegan

tte same da^r.^ The oon;)any worked rapidly snd

trains were operating fron r nanah to Paduosh on

Ootober 35* 1909* Lubboek was snxious to

secure an extensi<»!) of ths road: "The point

t t e t the Avalanehe desires mostly to ca l l to ths

attsnti(ai of the people of this town i s ths ian

portanee of inducing th is road to corns to 28

Lubbook."

Ths projection of the Qaanah, Acne and

Pacific from Paducah to Hoaxing Spxings was

oottpleted July 1* 1913***'' tet the xeaainder

of the extension vas just a paper mad*

The favorite device of thie s<dieae was

running eurveye* In F4bxuary* 1910 a corpe

of surveyors of ths Quanah* Acme and raclf io

^^kdSttttk i^va^anchs. Dsosaiier 35* 1908, ,1^^.1.0.4.

I** April 1, 1909, p*4*c.l* [** Ootober 38, 1909* p*13*c*3* [.* ootober 36* 1909* p*12*c*3*

PQor*s Railroad Manual. 1910* p*l366*

179

aroused a great deal of enttesiasa in Otoahj^

t o n . ^ "Rie road was planned to run thmugh

tte oountiee of Cottle* Motley* Diekmie* Cmsby*

Floyd* IteOe* Laa * Lubbock, Roekley, Cochran*

Bailey* Lynn, Terry and Toakum into Mew Mexieot

S800*000 in bonda were to be flated* The

offioiale ted not given out which town would

te on the mad althou^ i t waa declared ttet

the eurvey had haan finiehed* Matador* eounty

a^it of tetley ooimty, was asking a hard fight

sgainst Aft^s to seoure the mad. Matador

offered a bonus of #100,000 for ths mad*^

Xt was predintedi

"Tte extensimi of ths Q* A* and P, to ths Texas-Msw Mexieo bcumiary will work rad­ical obliges in the Plains country* Merchandise, instead of going a l l around ths northern part of famna and down an tte Santa Fs will come through luanah in car lots and train loads and will move without the intervention of wagon freighters « . dirsot to ths point of deetination*^

Heprint fmm the Oroebvton SSSt ^ ^ B February 10, 1910*

»p.X4*e.3. ^i^boek Avalanohe. February 34, 1910, •^•X*S«1.

, Febn&ry 34, 1810* p.l*e.l. '.* May 13* 18X0, p.l7,c.l.

178

Xt was a "well-founded rumor" t t e t the

Q* A. and P. ^as tecdced by t?ie it* Louis and 34

San Francisco* It was eontmlled by t t e t

soaipany in 1930*^

In May* 1911 n new survey was begun* d

The corps was instructed to find ^ way of

getting u) the ^ap ook in Hotley county,

thence on to Hoswell and Ml Paao and also

in the direotion of Los Angslee* "^e ^u^ai^

^h^^t^^^ said: "How does that striks you

i^oswsll? Get your bonus rea<ly for you* 11

sure need to dig ti^*"^ The cuanah, \cme and

Paoif io was mrking on i t s sixth survey in

the early part of Juno, 1911*^ Tho Obaorvsr

dsolarsd:

•Xn the face of present developments the early eem-stmction of the Q* A* 4 P* to Lubbock and ^^osvsll ia a foregone conclusion* AS a atattsr of fact t t e sxteneiotts havs been positively decided upon and work wi l l , i t i s stated* te underway befom Septenter of t i i s ysar* Six

^Lubuock Ay^>lm#f> neeeiHier 22* 1910, . 1 0 * e . l . ^ T* to Rallroi^I Uanua^* 182^, p.1378* ubboek Avalaiyte. May 4* 1911, p*6*e.3.

^' Heprint fxoa the jJMfiaaii Oteervex in the

XBO

ith"s ttee wiXl plaoe c taneh on a txai»oontin«eital line*"

t t e xoad wais to te extended fxon padoeah te

a eoB»eotlon with t te Santa Fe, a dietsnee

of 90 a l l e e . ^ Xn tte latter part ot Jmm^

t t e eevaith eurvey wae begun* Tte SBUUBUL

Oteervex wae e t U l Hmqpiag i t up* oarrylag

the teadXine, "Projest Mot Ahsndoned." Xt

eaids "ttet tte St* Lcute-Ssn Fmimieeo

RailrQad Company tes mit given up i t s plane

i e etewa by t te aetivity displayed by i te

engii^ers in loeating t te route for t t e propoeed

I t o e . " ^

the engineere reported that t te aeo^it of

t te Cap 8 0 ^ nt tetader was ii pKHUiihle and

ttet t t e aeeent at Hiite Flat waa the only

feaail:de one*

Hie towne on tte Plaiae wem woty maa^

intereeted in tte aiovenente ^ Hie mad, and

a ainS»er <xf then wem putting up a h^td fight

for i t . Plaianriew aad Lubboek wexe using

every neane poeeible to get the road end

'^E^xint frem tte fflfm*; Oteexwex in t t e

^'IJiy^, Jusne 9 , 191X* p.XO,e.X.

. •

X8X

Xai^e bcnueee wem telng offexed by each

pXaoe* t t e Padtenah papex eaidi

*tte med ie heeded fbr 81 Paeo and thenee to tte Paoifio oeeen, but i t wil l take nore than an *%yptian ele^t»eeer* to gueee anything about Hie towne i t wi l l as HiroM^ tefom i t reastee t te t city* The pronotere ham eold t te ir bcnde and Hiem ie no douhl hot wtet mxk wiU begin on ite ncmetmetifm eone t i n e ^ . daring tha next three aamHie."^!

in tereh, 1913 i t was r^erted t t e t tte

Xate bend ieeue of t t e jiuanah* Acme and Paeifie

wae puxeiHiaed entirely by the FrisiK> and i t

wae thought to te to a l l praetioal purpoaee,

a Fi^seo l ine, t t e eerventh survey had deeided

listen a 100 adile extesMiion fmn Pathioah t e

Maluutor, thenee to l^oydada end on te Uatohoakm

I«ribboek wma elatedi *tte IcaMI talked of,

XdglsaXXy ejqpeeted, proiOietimaiy prof itaMe

exteneion oi t te <>asneh* Anne snd Paeifie

xnilmad now ^>peare to te on t te eve of

^ftsprint fron tte Fadaeoh p«nr in t t e Avalancjie. Jttly 8, X9U* p.4*e.X. ^^^mlammiOm Marsh 14* 1913* p.l*ea<

163

An Knglijjmmatn, !)x. Pearson* s millionaire

idio had invested heavily in ^ s t Tsxas snd Mew

Mexico oi l lands, became interestsd in tte rosd

and new faith was inepimd.^'

On Septenher 12, 1912 tbe contract was let

wiHi the Texas Csnstmetion CcM sny of mrt

Morth for the teilding of forty milee of mad

fxom Padnceh vestwaxd.^ A laxge anount of

auiterial had aXresdy been eolleoted at Quanekft

Bonds wers then mid to extend tte mad to

LttteoiSe.^

By myvsn ber His ttsnah* Aone and Paoifio

had eoi^eted eeveral nilee ef gmding out of

Padueadi and oontraots had been let with gradisg

oontraoHire for the renaining dietanee tetween

^idnmh and i^earing Spi^aipe. Tte xoad wae ex­

pected to mae9i Lubbca^ hy mm of floydada or at teekney tte n^tt suai H»r or f a l l . AU news

epeke of Hie liiM between vmdmaah amd Lubbenk.

Three teaadred and fifty teams were em­

ployed 1^ Oetoter in moving 350,000 oubie yaxde

mmmmtmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

^jfjfmii Awslanete. Angaet X, X8X3,

L, SeptnHier X3, X8Xa* p.8,e.5« r., Asintet X5, 1813, p.XS,o.3. ., oetober 3, X813, p.X,e.X. 9 MevealMr X4, X8X3, p.3*s.3.

X63

of dirt* Culverts vers teing eonetmoted aaid

IdHere waa already anou^ nateriaX on hand to

Xay fifteen miles of traek.^ Actual txnok

laying toward Hoaxing %»inge began in Deoemter*

1813.*

the mad ms finiaihed to Hoariag Springs

daSn 1* 1913 and tte aotteneion aovensnt grad­

ually died out* Xt wae last mentioned in Maraih,

1914 in ^ e |[ ubbook jyalaacl^a*^

)0 itamf01 '^mm

Tlie Stanford and Morthneetexn wae teilt ^ ^

fron Stanford to Hie oentex of tte Spnr tamidtS^

ammmd by t« F* t temeen mid Ofrnpany of Mew Tork.

Jndge Bale, neiyar of Stanfoxd, was pxeeidsnt of

t te xoad whi^ was banked f insnoially by tte

SwemMm iiHKereete. The sgitation fbr Hie mad

teg^i ateut tte firet part of Jannary, 1808.^

In AprU i t was resorted ttet tte big 500,000

nam 9pur Hanch hawing been eold for #3*500*000

Awsl fniche. Moveiiber 31, 18X8,

^bld^**Bscaib« :», 1913, p.X0,e.3* ,*, Max^ 8* 1814, p.l,e*S« '., Deoeitidex 35, 1808* p.3*e.3«

* J nniaxy 34, 1808, p.6,e«3.

XB4

was teing surveyed and cut up into fame for

colonization. It was believed that the ssttling

of this largs tract of land assured ths teilding

of ths Stanford and Northwestern into Dickens

ooinity**' ^

Work was bsgun on ths namford and Horth-

westem in Fsbruary, 1909* Fivs hundred toans

wsre strung out along ths lins* Contracts were

let to complete the grade, and orders were

plaosd for the teilding material* ties* rails*

stc*^ The original contract mU.led for a road

seventy-five ailes l<»ig» tet it was dscidsd by

ths Swsnsen interests to extend the line eight

nilee farther into the spur pasturs and sstab-

lish a town at the texninal. The xeport said:

"The road will go across ths famous Duok Creek, two miles and the terminal town will te looated in ths Dookum Creek 7al-ley a little to the north of the Spade branch and in one of the beet sections in all that region."

The town was to te called Spur. The road wa

5 Ubbook Avalsnohs. April 24, 1908, jP*3*e*4*

February 12, 1909, p*7,c*l.

r

XM

Xater to te extended to the Staked P;. .ii -?***

b5 Lubbock Amlandhe. Jbne 3, 1909, p*4,e*5.

HPILDGUK

Just how much money was expended, how

auch time was conjoined and how :mich nervous

and physical energy dissipated in the ra i l ­

road movement, ean not be definitely deter­

mined. Lubteok in 1910, a town of only

3,500 was rsported to have subscribed over

a half million dollars in cash bonuses.

Other South Plains towns subscribed about

as much in proportion to the number of their

inhabitants. The total amount raised in

cash bonuses by South Plains towns ran well

into the himdreds of thousands, i f not into

mil l ions .

Every road, cither real or paper, was

given a right-of-way. Many of the independent

roads that turned out to bs only paper roads,

actually teilt grades. The promoters of these

projects were given unlimited credit by local

merchants and many local tradesmen were bank­

rupted when thsy fai led to col lect the accounts

of the railroad promoters. The total enount

of ths region's financial resources absorbed

in these projects i s d i f f icul t to estimate.

Land values fluctuated on a wide margin

according to the vicissitudes of popular

faith in the railroad projects. Many

fortunes were made and msny lost during

this period. It was a time of wild

speculation.

180

T t ^

•x.,^.

AODsndiai j^

Artiolee of Xnooxpomtion ef Hie PaidiandXn

Stert Line

"State of Texaa

D«if teith Oanaty

Enow 4XX Men by Theee pmeentei

t tet we* J* 8. Ranaon, 0. w. oodnen, J. L.

M paa* ^ t e p. ^idbn, J. t . Kemrd, H* B. BeaSh,

said J* Ri^, eeoh ae^ al l reeidmt oitisena of

Deaf naith County, Texas, snd w* tm Kittlenm,

Jae. O. Axehihald, J. C* Malinger and .v. R.

Donaldacn and S. O. Plane, each and a l l x^ident

^ eitiesns of Bouldex Ca>inity, Coloxado undex tte

pmvii^oi» of the reviesd etaHitee of tte state

a€ texae, do temby fern ond toeorposrate ouxw

eelwee into a woXuataxy M»oelntion for t te

pasrpoee of surveying, loeating, gmding, teild­

ing* oaniag, operating and naintaining a standard

gango xailxoad to tte end ttet we nay her^»y adept

the foXXewing ^barter.

ORABTSR

ArtieXe X

This aesouiatinn ehall te known ae tte

•Ji

X8X

•Panh^dle Stert Line ^-lU Road Ocnpany": hy

idileh n vse i t H*all o.rtxact and te oontxaeted

wiHi, sue and te eued and txaaieaot a l l i te

hoeineee.

Article XX

this eoxpoxation i s f oxned fox the purpeae

ef anrveying, locating, grading* teildiag, omi^

ing* aMdLataining and < ;>erating a Standard Om^e

Railroad fxoa Hie town of Hemford In Deaf teith

Oonaty, texae, to a oonneetion adth tte texaa

and Paeifie l^aixoad in Maxtin County, tenae, at

or within five ni les of Hie town of Stanton and

t t e leaigHi and di^anoe of oueh line of xaiX»

maid shall not exoeed two huadxed and ten niles

(3X0). And the route upon whiHi aaid t'anhandXe

sSiort Line ihiUUmad shall te ae foUowet Be-

ginnii^ at t te mM tomi ot Herefoxd in Deaf

SaiiHi asMnty, Texas, thenee xwnninic souHMaster-

Xy Himugb t t e ooun^ of ( eistro to a paint on

t te nox^ Xine of Laaib County within fifteen

adlee ef tte northeaet eomer of said Laa^

County: Thenee siouHMaeterly Hurongh Lsnb

Ooinity within fifte«ai nilee of t te northweet

oemer of said tele County: Thenee southeaeter-

Xf thvough sold Hale County to a point within

f

193

ten milee of the oetnter of the norHi l ine of

Lubboek Oounty; thence in a eoutherly dimetien

through said Lubbock County to a point within

ten nilee of Hie center of tte Morth line of

Lynn County to n point in Hie nov^ l ine of

Dnwemi County within fifteen niles ef tte

nortteaet comer of eald Dawson County to a

j^lat wiHiin fifteen miles of tte osnter of

the Moxth line of Martin CounSy; thenoe in

a souti^rly direction to a oonneetion with tte

Texae and Paoifio fhdXxoed In eaid Martin Oommm

ty, Texae, ^ or within fiwe niles cf ths tcrnn

of Stanton in said Martin (kianty. And to ]nn>>

etese* build, ecsskstmot, own and maintain in

oonneeticxi viHi «tid railroad a l l neoeeeary

de^te* round teneee, aiadhine HM^P«, off leee*

• t o . , along the l ine .

Artiele XXX

aaid aeeoeiation eheXX exiet for Ifee

period of fiftr(SO} ream, eeeaaenelng fxon t te

date of the f iXtog of tteee artielee in thm

off ise af Hie SeMwtary of State of t t e State

of tenas*

W; 1 ;'f

193

article XT

the parineipaj. t^fflee and plaoe of buelneee

SBir said panhandle ^^ort Line Railmaul Conpany

HiaXl te in the oity of Herefoxd in Deaf Smith

County, texae, and i ts main aaHiine ehope and

rouBid hoifliee in the state of Texae ehall te

le^ftted in eaid City of terefoxd in Deaf Saiith

Ccumty, T^iae.

Article f

The espital stock of said soapsny atel l

te t«o Risidred md Ten thonsend (13X0,000.00)

dellars «Bd divided into twenty-one hundred

{SXdO) tihataa ot Ite par value oi one hundred

(|1D0> ea^u

Axtiole fX

the Sttsineee of t te ChMpaay shell te

tmneaeted by nine (8) Dlreotoxe Hio eteXX te

at8ek<-hoXdexe in said oo nB sxation and elected

by t te etook-holders aannaXly on tte thixd

tueeday in Maxell, fha foXXowiag aansd ftoek-

teldere are tereby deelared to te Direotom for

t t e f i m t leari J. R. Reneon of Deaf taith

Oonnty, wte ehall te ] resident of ths Board ef

194

Dlreetore and General Msnsgsr for ths Company;

C, 'n. Dodson, J. '«!. Howard, J. Hay and V. B.

Bench, all reeident citizens of Dsaf Smith

County, Tsxas, and "s^ ^^ Kittlsaan, Janes (7)

G* Archibald, (8) J* K. Msslingsr, (9) A* H*

Donaldson of Boulder County, Colorado.

witness our hands thia 26th day of Maroh

A. D. 1907*

1. J* H* Hanson 3* C* * Dodson 3. J. S* Fuqua 4* Ji in P* Siaton

5. J. S* Howard 6* w* B* Bench 7. J. Hay 8. w. X* Kittlensn 9* Jsnss 0. Araiibald

10* J. C. Esslingsr 11* A. H. D<maldson

0. G. Plaos"

185

ippnrtf U JI

Articles of Incorporation of

Most Tsxas and Korthsxn Hailwsy Conpany

Know a l l men by thess prs ssnt a that ws the

undersigned, teing subscribers to ths capital

stook of ths ^Sist Tsxas 6c Morttem Hailwsy

Company, do hsrsby form oursslvss into a cor­

poration for ths piirposs of ocxistrueting, own­

ing, and operating p, standard ^ auge railway and

do hereby adopt the following:

Articles of Incorporation

Article OmOm The name of the corporation

herein omatedl ^ a l l be "West Tsxas & Northern

Hallway Company*"

Article Two* The p>'r]>o8e for Hiich th i s

corporation i s formsd miaiXl bs to locate, con­

struct, own, maintain and operate a atandard

gauge railway and the perforaanoe of any and

a l l thinge necessary for His proper location,

oonstxuot ion, opsxation and maintsnanoe of

esms* not inoonsistsnt with ths laws of t t e

Stats of Texas* 3aid railway to be oonstxuoted

188

from a point at or near tte town of KerrviUe*

in Kerr Coimty, in a ^orthwestsrly dirsotion,

thmugh amd to t te following oountiee in tte

•tate of Texas; Kerr, Gillespie, Kimble,

Maeon* Msnard, Conelio* Tom Grsen* Coke* sterling*

Olaeeoo^* Howard* Martin* Daweon* Lynn* Luboook,

Hale, Swia^er* Haadal to a point at or near t te

town of Aamrillo in Potter County* being a die­

tance of ateut four hundred and f i f ty niles*

Articls Three. The principal tesinsss ^^

off ios of the propossd oorporation s t e l l te

eetahlishsd and maintainsd in ths city of Big

Springs, in Howard County* Tsxas. whi<^ i s on

the l ine of the propossd railway*

Art i d e Four* The exiet mice of thie

eorpoxaticm shall data fxoa the f i l ing of

thess Artielss of Insoxporation in t te office

of the Secretary of ft >te of Texas and Hail

eontinne fox f i f ty yeare (50) fxon said date.

Art ide Five. Tte amount of the capital

stook of this oorporation Hiall te five huadmd

thoueand (§500,000.00) dollars divided into

Five Hioueand (5,000) ahares of one hundred

(tlOO.00) enHi.

187

Article Six. The naaea and places of t te

ssveral j-oroona foaiiig this association for

inoorporation &re as follows:

"tm P. Spears J. T. Pinson X* '* Pinson Jno T* Witt K* H* D. Caston J* A. wilhits Will P* Bdwards w. H, Cole 0* L* Brown S. R. ^rr i son

Dallae, Texae * N N «

Big Springs « «

Mine DirecH^s

131 to<^ to His amoimt of 'has Thoussnd

Dollars ($X,0(K>«00) pat evaty mile ot said

road iK> intended to be teilt and eonetructed

has been in good faith subscrited and five

(Sjl) pat cent of the amount so subscribsd has

te«i padd into ths directors naoied in said

Axtiolss of Xnooxpoxation*

Moventer 6, 1905.

1-

198

2 i i f If, r?anto F^

Gulf, Stfita Fe aad MorHmeatem Hailmni

^^artered SepteeOier 1* 1905.

Said oonpany was t o teild a road thmugh

the oountiee of Brown* Coleman* Callahan* Taylor*

Jonas, Fiaher* stonewall* Kent, Diekene, Croeby*

tele* tasmip l^ i ley and Palawr to a point on t t e

westsm boundary of the state of Texae at or

near t t e point immra eaid boundaxy was intsr-

seoted by the xadlxoad <tf the Peoos aad Morthem

Tsxas H* H*, a distsnes of 350 n i l s s .

Capital stoek: 1475,000.00.

E. F. Ripley wae on the teard of dlreetore,

therefore Hie eoa^sny was a branch of the

Ateliiecn, Topeka and Santa Fe*

300

Article IX

Tlie places fx^.v. td\ich snd to aftiich i t i s

intended to construct ths propossd railrosd*

Bd t t e intsrmedlate counties thmugh Hiieh i t

i e propoeed to oonstmct tte ssns are as follows:

Oomtmnoinfs in Molan County, Tsxas at a

point on the l ine of the Texas aad ucific Hy.

Co. at or near ths town of Hoaeos in said

County snd xuamii^ thence in a northwsstsxly

dirsetiiMa thmush the oountiee of Kolsn, Fiahsr*

scurry* Bordsn* Garza* Lynn, Lubbook, Hockley,

Coi hran and Bailey in ths state of Texas to a

point at or nsar ths osnter of the west l i n s of

Bailey Coimty, a distance of about two hundred

n i l e e . All of said l ins to te hsmaftsr looated

after a survey hereof on a nost feasibls route

to te hereafter determined*

<:Ni ital etoek: #200*000.00.

301

Hortteeotern

Xt ie intended to conetruot Hie proposed

rellroad fxon 3tamford in t?ones County, Texas,

to some point at or near i lainview in Hale

County, Texas* a distancs of about 165 ailes,

throng the intermediate oountiee of HasksU*

Stonewall, Kent, Dickens, Crosby and Floyd.

Capital #170*(K)0.00.

January 11* 1909*

w

303

Appendix JJ

Hailwav Connanv

Book T, p*421*

Xt i s intsnded to eonetmct the pmi?ossd

railxoad fmm Floydada in Floyd C^nmty, Texas,

to soaie point at ox neax Hereford in Deaf Seith

County, Texas* L\ distance of about 1 ^ a i l e s

through the intermediate counties of Briscoe*

Rale* Swisher, Randall and Castro.

Artiele III*

The priiMiipal tesinsss office of said cor­

poration a te l l te in Floydada, Floyd County.

Article 7.

CNipital stoek: §390*000*00*

Stoekholders a l l reeldente of Floyd County.

203

^laififi}!- i n s lyy! Pacific

Aone* Red River and ^;orthem Hallway

OeaQiaay etengss nane by amendmmit* January 33*

1909.

sscond part of tsesndmsnt:

Ths plaeee from and to vhiHi i t i e intended

to oonstmct the pr^!>ossd railmad are fxon

Qoanah in a veetexXy dixeeticn to Acme, a din-

tsnoe of ateut s ix odlss* and from Acne in a

noxtterly direotion to a point on Hod Hlver, a

dietsnee of about eight miles* a l l of said points

aoid plaeee teing in Hardeman County* to a point

in Cottle County* Texae, in the "Westsm Boundaxy

l ine of eaid Cottle Coimty, a dietsnee of about

50 adles .

204

AnoeiKilx VIll

Axtioles of XneorpoxatlMi of

XbA AiiXtib imhhoek.. tfoswsll aad JEL £888 Hailroad Coap iv

Know a l l men by these prsssnts, that we tte

undersigned

ISdward K^medy of Luhbo^* Texas W. V« !isnnedy of Luteoek* Texas F. r. i^eHodc of Lubbook* Texae H* %m Ctepman of Lubbo^* Texae J* J* DilAard of Lubbook* Texas R. J. Dillard of Lubboek, Texae Homer Howard of Loacney, Texae Fred Biffle ot Sllverton, Texas M. P* stmie ot • " 0* L* Slat<ni of Li book

teve associated ourselves to.^ether imder and

by virtue of the General Laws of tte stats of

Texas for the ]?urposs of foxning a railroad

eon^imy with al l the rights* prlvilegee and

inmunities granted for ench Ooatpamj by Chapter X*

Title 84 of the statutef^ of the <nate of Texae

and by any and al l laws supplssnntary thereto

and amendatory thereof and have adopted tte

following charter* to-wit;

Article I

The name of thia Corporation ehall te

"Tte Altus, Lubbock, Hoswell, and 81 Paso

Raillroad Company of Tsxas."

305

Arti<ae XX

The plaeee from rmd to whioh i t i s intended

te oonetmot the pmpoeed read and the inters

nsdiate counties thmugh which it i s pxopoeed

to oonstxuot t te sams are as foUowe: eomaenn*

ing at a point in Colli^svorth County eix milee

due west to Hollis, Texas (Oklahoma) ate xaanlag

thenoe in a southwesterly directi(xi through

Collingworth, Donley* Kail, Briscoe* Floyd*

Lubboeac* Ho< ley* and Jochrai Counties to a

point in Cochran County on tte line tetween tte

state of Texas amd the Territory of Msw Mexioo.

Article III

The place at a^ioh ^ e prineipal offioe

snd tesinsss of this oorporation shall te and

i s her^iy established and shall te aaintainsd

i s in tte ti^ra of Lubte<^ in ths County of

Lubbock* fHate of Texas*

Articls XV

Ths aaunmt of t te oapital stook of this

inoorporation shall te Fivs Hundrsd Thoussnd

(•800,000.00) Dollam.

Article 7X

The names and plaoee of residenos of tte

pereons foxnii^ th i s oorporation sad Hio are

enheoribem to ite el^lital stook ars fully

308

•et fsrth sn ths first pa^a hsreof.

Artiele 7XX

the names of tha perecne sho ehall eoneti-

Htte the teard of directors of this oorporation

for the first ysar, each of whom is a subsoriber

to the capital etoek are:

X. Mdward Kennedy 5. Fred BiffXe 3* M* V. Kennedy 6. M* p* stone 3 . F. I* ^ello<^ 7. 0* L* Slatcn 4. Homer Howard

The govemmaait of this ooxporation end tte

nansgaaasnt of i t s attaXta shall te vmtsd in

i t s teard of directors and thers shall te sleeted

by iHid from the teard of dir^^etors a preeident

and sudh other miterdinate of fleers as tte oor­

poration by i t s by-laws msy dssignats.

Article VXn

The number of Hiares of ths eapital stoek

of said corporation i^all te Five Thoussnd of

t te value of one hinidred (#100) eaoh.

Xn witness a^ereof we have hemwith eigned

our names oa this ths 17th day of April A.D*1808.

ledward Xammady w. 7* Kennedy F* tm HieUo^ R. M. Oha^mam J. J. DUlaxd R. J. DUlaxd Roner Howaxd

307

Fmd Biffle '. P* Stone 0* !. siaton

E* H. Green notary Public

8* K* Chapman slgnsd tefore Rotary rubllo* Grant Corbin

Jackeon County* Oklahona*^

e Ohartere taken fmn the arehivee ef tte Texas Department of vtits*

LubOoci:*a .^rst Hailroad )o/aaittee

"Tte following letter written by foxBMX

County Jbdge 0. ' . Shannon to R. c. Bums re­

cal ls the rather latere ting and somsidiat

auHusing first effort of Lubbock to secure a

railroad:

* Lubbock* Texas Aug 8, 1693

H. c« Bums Lubteck County Dear Six

I teve been trying to raise tte bioney fot you to go to ^aco and enclose you the l i s t of eub-soriptions so as you nay see hov ;mioh interest i s ^oun by the tes-iiMisa mesi of our town* Do just as you please about going* You uaderetand ttet if you go I will bear my part of the expense with you and Frank '^dieelodk. There ie #20 more t tet Frank Brown has in Colorado City*

Toum etc

6* M* Shannon*

"feUowii^ i s tte subscription l i s t :

Lse K* Antsn t5.00 Baxteous J. D. Caldwell #3.00 M<mey <^1.65 O* w, s i n g e r #3 .00 D* 0* Moore tS.OO

209

J. F* Morwood 4 Oe* 11*50 Xf I WiU

nntertainment '!30.00 for hin Seth Janeway $1.00 o. c*

olffarth "5*00 0*'i« Shannon

j*10*00 Total Isl.W

"Thia with the money Brown had in Colorado nade a grand total of 174.90.

"Lubbock waa then after the T* C* (Texaa

Central), oontiHinly known aa the Tin Can rai l ­

mad, which at that time had i te texninua at

Albany, tet idiich a^s threatening to extend

westward* . o* Bums find Juilge Crump eon-

prised the ^xi^sittee t tet visited Colonel HaadX-

ton in Waco* The trip from Lubbook to Albany

was made in a buggy and the route was through

Dickens County, through Payner* then the county

seat of Stonewall, azKi thmugh Haskell. But

after this terd trip ths Conmittoe met with

poor cansolati(^* Colonel Hamilton reoeived

then cordially but speedily terminated negotiatiene

by tel l ing theee gentlemen that they «!i>exe about

tteee years too eoon* as his mad would not te

.10

extsnded to any point ecrliex than t t e t date*"^

' mm

VfiatmlSiJif^^^M* Soread^ex 18* 1909, p.X4*e.3.