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"About this time, Pop was given a team of mules and a wagon as payment of a debt. However, he had to bring them from Post, Texas, back to Lamesa, a distance of about fifty miles. Without warning, a Blue Norther hit, covering the ground with sleet and ice. The mules wouldn't move; they huddled to stay warm. Pop couldn't see any landmarks. In the dark, he found a tree and tried to climb it to get his bearings, but the trunk was too slippery. He kept trying . . . " Read more Look inside

After a life's career as a photojournalist recording the horrors of wars and Police Actions throughout the world, Will McCord mentally walks once again through his days as a youth. "My mother would call me by my full given name whenever I would trespass against her ethical, moral code of right and wrong. I learned not to trespass very often, because I hated how it would make me feel when she would sternly say, "William Terrance McCord, you come here this instant"! She is gone now; died a few years ago of cancer down in Lamesa, Texas. . . . Read more Look inside

"Vladimer Orlando Key, Jr., was born March 13, 1908, in Lamesa, Texas, a small town in the western part of the state. His father, a lawyer and farmer, dabbled in local politics. Key later recalled that his interest in modern politics, as well as his keen insight into the peculiarities of the Southern variety, sprang from his personal experiences in  . . . " Read more Look inside

by Dr. Bo Brock

A collection of humorous and poignant stories from a veterinarian in a small, dusty farming and ranching community in rural West Texas. Dr. Brock gives you an intimate look into his small-town and big-hearted perspective on life, animals, and their owners. His unique perspective and tales of doctoring beloved pets, cantankerous livestock, and occasionally their owners will make you smile, laugh, cry, and . . . Found Inside: "Buddy had made friends with three dogcatchers and knew most everyone in Dawson and the surrounding counties . . ."   Read more Look inside

From the earliest financial scams of the seventeenth century, through the headline-grabbing Wall Street scandals of our times, History of Greed provides a comprehensive history of financial fraud.

"Defendant Rod Cameron Stringer, of Lamesa, Texas, claimed that his stock trading strategy had generated annual returns as high as 61 percent, and total returns in excess of 600 percent. The SEC's complaint alleged that, in truth, Stringer . . ." Read more Look inside

Red Water, Black Gold: The Canadian River in Texas 1920–1999 tells the story of the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle. It is a tale of grand designs, high hopes, deep holes, politics, fishing, follies, foibles, and environmental change. "Lamesa City Council member Tracey Campbell, picked up Haley's complaints and wrote to George Mahon and others, but come November the majority of townsfolk decided that they preferred river water with a debt to the federal government over groundwater without debt " . . . Read more Look inside

Lee Brock was born in Lamesa, Texas, in October 1923. His parents were cotton farmers on the plains of Texas where he learned about hard work, wind, windmills, horses, cattle and the beauty of nature. In school he learned to express his thoughts about his life in poems. He was saved, baptized, and called to preach in a revival at Seminole, Texas, in 1938 . . . Read more Look inside

Winner of the Belmont University Prize for Best Book on Country Western Music. Alan Munde and Joe Carr are the best known as superb bluegrass musicians. In this book they demonstrate that they are also good historians, and that they understand the full range of styles generally associated with country music. "Hutto was so interested in Nathan and Robena attending the contests held at the Lamesa-Dawson County Fair October 15-17, 1936, that he offered the twosome a ride from ' . . . Read more Look inside

This is Volume 1 of a 2-part genealogy of the Harris family, tracing the lineage of Robert Harris Sr. (1702-1788). "Elizabeth Sue Cox was born August 8, 1940, to Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Green in Sherman, Texas; and reared in Lamesa, where she attended elementary and high school. Upon receiving A bachelor's degree from Baylor University and her master's degree from Texas Tech University, she taught government and business in Lamesa, Shreveport, and Dallas . . . Learn More

by Sherwood H. Brock

From mule drawn plows to wrenching on jet engines and WWII island hopping in the Pacific by way of California, the life adventures of a Texas sharecropper's son. "The destination for our move, this time, was another farm in Dawson County, near Lamesa, Texas. Prior arrangements had been made to rent one hundred acres, again on shares, from the owner, a Mr. Harry Morgan . . . Read more

"The story tells of Jimmy Don Perkins, a short-order cook at a cafe in Lamesa (even farther west than San Angelo), who ... He goes on to quote “the venerable Texas food authority Robb Walsh,” who offers the origins of three separate types of . . . Read more Look inside

This loving tribute to the defunct minor league teams of New Mexico and west Texas resurrects a forgotten period of baseball history. "Lamesa Rally Beats Dukes 6–3, as Dawson and Okrie Are Hospitalized. It's likely that banner headline at ... The night before, the Albuquerque Dukes had begun a two game matchup in Texas with the Lamesa Lobos. Those games, held in the small cattle-ranching and cotton-growing community south of Lubbock, would kick off a lengthy road swing . . .  Read more Look inside

Jerry "Bobo" Mason was born in Lamesa Texas [Jerry Hawkins]. He is the 2nd born son of 4 children to Jerry and Velma Mason [Hawkins]. Jerry received the nickname "Bobo" at the age of 4. Jerry's Older Brother and younger siblings, 1 sister & 1 brother, were also phenomenal & well known sports athletes . . . Read more Look inside

Excitement, daring adventures, and horror were not exclusive experiences of WW II pilots flying combat missions in bombers, fighters, and gliders. Rest assured, the training of glider pilots was replete with stories of nearly equivalent adventures and misadventures. "The plant life was not the only vexation th this western Texas glider school. At Lamesa, there were special "ground hazards," as Hoffman called them, including centipedes, vinegaroons, and rattlesnakes . . .  " Read more Look inside

But Granny!

This book describes the life of a West Texas family, beginning with accounts of a country boy's early childhood and meeting the love of his life on Devils River as had his Grandfather. "We had not been in our new home but a short while when some of the Fawcett kin folks from up in the farming country around O'Donnell, Texas came to see Grandma and Uncle Elmer. Now "Dutch" Hahn and Uncle Elmer were a bit on the mischievous side to say the least. Betty and I had gone up to headquarters the night before . . .  Read more Look inside

"Around the age of 10 or 11, his family moved to west Texas and he graduated from Lamesa High School. As a legacy to Corn Hill, Governor Preston Smith was quoted as saying, “I was walking down a cotton row behind a span of mules and reading an old newspaper about Governor Jim Ferguson . . . Read more Look inside

The distinctive high mesa straddling West Texas and Eastern New Mexico creates a vista that is equal parts sprawling lore and big blue sky. From Lubbock, the area's informal capital, to the farthest reaches of the staked plains known as the Llano Estacado, the land and its inhabitants trace a tradition of tenacity through numberless cycles of dust storms and drought. In 1887, a bison hunter

"C. C. Slaughter" moved herds from South Texas into the canyons below the southern escarpment near present-day Lamesa . . ." Read more Look inside

Tracing the struggles of incipient criminal justice in the Southwest through an engaging progression of outlaws and lawmen, plus a host of colorful frontier trial lawyers and judges, Neal reveals how law and society matured together.

After arresting Milt Good, T&SCRA inspectors Allison and Roberson appeared before grand juries in four West Texas counties (Dawson, Hockley, Lynn, and Terry) and obtained indictments against Good and his cowboys for stealing those 516 head of cattle. . . .Read more Look inside

The panhandle plains were Texas's last frontier, barren lands populated by hostile Comanche and outlaws attempting to outrun civilization. It was Texas Ranger and frontier scout Jim Jackson who first saw potential in the region. They were the point riders who took the challenge of opening Kent, Garza, Crosby, Lynn, Borden, Dawson, Mitchell, Fisher, Scurry, Stonewall, and Nolan Counties to permanent settlement . . . Read more

FOREWORD
For many years M. C. Lindsey collected material for a history of Dawson County wishing to leave a history of the community he loved, that he helped to organize and develop. He passed away before the fulfillment of his dream and I have undertaken to complete his unfinished task. -Mrs. M. C. Lindsey
. . . Read more

Folklorist Jim Harris discovered through writing his own column that newspaper readers were hungry for articles about their past, but they did not want dry historical facts. They wanted lively and personal stories about such topics as the Native Americans who once roamed the plains, settlers who came from the east, the formation of early twentieth-century communities, abandoned school houses, ghost towns, old-fashioned ranch dances, or life in the oil camps. Includes articles about folklore in  Floydada, Levelland, Seminole and Lamesa . . . Read more Look inside

The Johnson-Sims Feud: Romeo and Juliet, West Texas Style

In the early 1900s, two families in Scurry and Kent counties in West Texas united in a marriage of fourteen-year-old Gladys Johnson to twenty-one-year-old Ed Sims. But Gladys was headstrong and willful, and Ed drank too much, and both sought affection outside their marriage. A nasty divorce ensued, and Gladys moved with her girls to her father’s luxurious ranch house, where she soon fell in love with famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer ... "Judge Beall ruled that, in the interests of impartiality, a change of venue was necessary. Gladys would be tried at Lamesa, seat of Dawson County to the west, while Sidney would stand trial at Baird in Callahan County, twenty miles east of Abilene.  . . . Read more Look Inside

This major work on Texas politics explores the complicated relations between the politically disorganized Texas blue-collar class and the "rich and the fabulously rich," whose interests have been protected by "brilliant practitioners of horse trading, guile, the jovial but serious threat, the offer that can't be refused."

"In 1908, the year in which Joshua Hicks's Farmer's Journal declared for socialism, V. O. Key, Jr., was born in Austin, Texas. V. O. Key, Sr., subsequently moved his family to the West Texas town of Lamesa, where he practiced law and farmed . . . Read more Look inside

Texas is as well known for its diversity of landscape and culture as it is for its enormity. But West Texas, despite being popularized in film and song, has largely been ignored by historians as a distinct and cultural geographic space. "The year 1971 also saw A Way of Knowing, a novel by Nolan Porterfield, who grew up in Draw, near Lamesa, and is best" . . . Read more Look inside

by Nolan Porterfield

Set in West Texas after World War II, A Way of Knowing is a drama of the conflict between ignorance and enlightenment, a masterful rendering of a time and place . . . Read more Look inside

"Because of difficulties in casting an authentic-sounding West Texas barkeep, Hank Williams Director Peter Frisch ... While there he made a fortuitous connection with another West Texan, Dr. Keith Kennedy” of Lamesa, then Chairman of the Memphis State Drama Department" . . . Read more Look inside

by Welch Historical Society Welch, Texas

From the foreword by Harley Stone

"Dear Reader: As you proceed through the pages of this history, you will be reading the experiences of the early homesteaders as they settled the vast areas of the plains of Texas."

History of Dawson County, Texas from Indian beginnings to 1980

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County

These Deceased Residents of Dawson County left a total $62,477 in Unclaimed Money for their heirs. Please share this with your family and friends from Lamesa, Ackerly and Welch Texas to let them know how to claim their inheritance from the Texas Comptroller's Office . . .  See the list

Dawson County Treasures