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We learned a lot about some amazing people and places in these books about Perryton, Booker, Farnsworth, Huntoon and Waka.

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First published in 1980, this classic description of the cowboy life by master storyteller John Erickson is now back in print. His observations about the Crown Ranch in particular, and the cowboy lifestyle in general, are filled with humor as well as pathos. Erickson describes the ranch, individual cowboys, roundups, wild cattle, and horses. "I met him in August 1971, when my wife, Kris, and I visited the Lawrence Ellzey family at their ranch on Wolf Creek southeast of Perryton, Texas. . . . Read more Look inside

Here under one cover are the collected writings of John R. Erickson about characters who have entered his life on the High Plains country of the Texas Panhandle. Erickson writes with authority about ranching and cowboying in the modern era, always with an eye for the humor of everyday incidents. Some of his friends are widely known, such as artist Ace Reid and noted fiddle player Frankie McWhorter. Others are cowboys who work the big ranches between the Canadian and Beaver Rivers. They share the stage with some of Erickson's four-legged friends: the Phantom Cow, Texie, the Incredible Burping Dog, an Arabian horse called Dandy, Callie the cat, and Eddy the raccoon . . . Read more Look inside

by John R Erickson

John Richard Erickson is an American cowboy and author, best known for his Hank the Cowdog series of children's novels. Born in Midland, Texas, he was reared in Perryton in the northern Texas Panhandle. This collection is arranged by Place; From Buffalo to Cattle; The Cowboy; Cowboy Tools; Ranch and Rodeo; Animals; and This and That. Many of the pieces are anecdotal, based on Erickson’s experiences and observations on ranches. Others required some research and are more historical . . . Read more Look inside

"Three other boys rented rooms from him: one from Meridian, Mississippi; one from Magnolia, Arkansas; and one from Perryton, Texas. They was all working and going to Cullen High part time at night. The boy from Perryton was as sorry as they come, and the damndest ladies man you ever saw. Somehow or other it always seems it's the sorriest men that are the Casanovas. There wasn't nothing handsome 'bout . . . Read more Look inside

The isolated Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle stretched before John Erickson and Bill Ellzey as they began a journey through time and what the locals call “the valley.” They went on horseback, as they might have traveled it a century before. "Dobbin the mule was one of the imponderables of the trip. Bill Herndon, a rancher on Wolf Creek south of Perryton, had graciously offered us the use of Dobbin, and though we had worked with him to some extent before the trip began, we had an uncomfortable felling about him. Neither Bill Ellzey nor I had any previous experience with mules and we didn't exactly . . ." Read more Look inside

Jimbo Brewer says,' he kept the "wolf away from the door by catching wild cattle and breaking horses.  As a teenager he worked on the VS Ranch Ranch owned by his grandfather on Kiowa Creek in Ochiltree County Texas ... He's done a lot more cowboying than writing, butt has had his work published in Cowboy Magazine, various newspapers, and shared as short radio commentaries called "Ramblins" ... Read more

The American cowboy is a mythical character who refuses to die,” says author John R. Erickson. On the one hand he is a common man: a laborer, a hired hand who works for wages. Yet in his lonely struggle against nature and animal cunning, he becomes larger than life. Who is this cowboy? Where did he come from and where is he today? " Showcases Ochiltree County cowboys Johnny Scribner, Dale Githens, Lawrence Ellzey, Dale Ellzey, Tom Ellzey, the LZ Ranch and Rooster Morris, Perryton . . ." Read more Look inside

 From her first journal entry in 1888 to her last in 1925, Nellie M. Perry provided a unique glimpse into life on the Texas frontier. Miss Nellie, as she was known, first visited her brother, George Morgan Perry, in the Panhandle in 1888 and eventually came to live in Ochiltree County in 1916. During those years and afterward, she kept journals of her life in the Panhandle. During that time she also wrote stories and essays about the people and things she encountered in that . . . Read more

It was not the first ranch in West Texas, but after its formation in the eighteen-eighties it became the largest single operation in the cow country of the Old West and covered more than three million acres, all fenced. "Henry, Clay, Doc, and Dick ranged a fertile scope of country where near ten years later Old Ochiltree was to boom to life with expansive ideas and soaring real estate. To the south of the Canadian in eastern Panhandle, Nick T. Eaton. . . " Read more Look inside

by John R Ericson

Burrowing deep into his West Texas roots, Erickson discovered people of substance and strong character, made that way in part by the challenges they faced in a harsh environment. He has created a fascinating blend of family and regional history. Erickson’s family interacts with significant historical figures, such as Cynthia Ann Parker, and includes members of the Estacado Quaker colony. There is the story of Martha Sherman, who died at the hands of the Comanche, and the tale of the notorious outlaw Tom Ross. . . . Read more Look inside

A Journey to the Rural Heart of America's Conservative Revolution

... into a camera shop in Perryton, Texas. The spare, neat-as-a-pin town is the hub of Ochiltree County, a gorgeous expanse of scrub and hills, with thick stands of cottonwood trees and willows tucked down into the winding arroyos.  By some measures this is the most Republican place . . . Read more Look inside

John Wesley Hardin is the most famous gunfighter of the American Wild West. The subject of conversations from the Mexican border to the rowdy saloons of Kansas, he was the greatest celebrity of the age. He wrote an autobiography, but he only told what he wanted known, and few have researched beyond that. Today, Hardin is an enigma. Part of the mystery is his disastrous relationship with Helen Beulah Mrose, yet she has not been researched at all. Until now. Helen Beulah's story is the final piece of the vast jigsaw of Hardin's life and legend. Author Dennis McCown has delved into the mystery of Helen Beulah . . . Read more Look inside

The Adventures and Misadventures of Ace the Pilot chronicles the deeds done right and deeds done wrong that the featured pilots lived through with sheer luck and by the grace of God. "He had made his obligatory appearance and was headed for his truck when the chief pilot stuck his head out the door and told him there had been an accident in Helena, Montana, and he and another pilot would need to go to Perryton, Texas" . . . Read more Look inside

"Two more Mennonite colonies developed in the upper Panhandle in the 1940s. In 1943 a group established the Perryton Mennonite Church, and still another group settled the Bethel Mennonite Church at Waka, southwest of Perryton . . ." Read more Look inside . . . for more like this please see Texas Church History

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Annie Proulx's That Old Ace in the Hole is told through the eyes of Bob Dollar, a young Denver man trying to make good in a bad world.  "He drove north to Perryton near the Oklahoma border, decorated with blowing food wrappers and old election signs. The traffic lights swung in the wind. Every vehicle was a pickup, his the only sedan, and heads turned to stare at his Colorado plates as he drove along the main street" . . . Read more look inside

There were spectacular highs―Rookie of the Year, All Star, World Series . . . And devastating lows―the end of his playing days, a tragic accident in his second year as manager, a heartbreaker in the World Series, being fired from the job he loved . . . Mike Hargrove truly spent a lifetime in baseball. From the sandlots of tiny Perryton, Texas, to the biggest stage, Game 7 of the World Series, he played, coached, managed . . . lived the game for four decades . . . Read more

The ninety-four towns (including Ochiltree) described in this book range from American Indian sites abandoned prior to the arrival of Europeans to towns abandoned within the past decade. Baker’s own recent photographs of the towns are complemented by historic photographs of more prosperous times. Many of these locations have never before appeared in any ghost town guide . . . Read more Look inside

Debbie Clendenen was born in Murray, Kentucky and raised as a PK (Preacher's Kid) all her life. It was a natural transition to become the wife of a preacher when she married Rick Clendenen in 1975. Their ministry together took them to many places, including pastoring for four years in Perryton, Texas . . . Read more Look inside

A city dweller’s vacant lot . . . A rancher's back forty . . . A hiker's favorite park . . . When the places that we love are threatened, we can be stirred to action. In Texas, people of all stripes and backgrounds have fought hard to safeguard the places they hold dear. "JeAnne Gramstorff is a farmer and banker in the north Panhandle town of Farnsworth, Texas, who has helped organize and operate the non-profit group" . . . Read more Look inside

"This couple was divorced 11 - 30 - 1979 , SC , just before their child , Priscilla Marie , was born . Her father has never seen Priscilla , who will probably be adopted by her mother ' s second husband , Tony Spencer . They live in Waka, Texas " . . . Learn more

Whether you no longer have your own copy, doing genealogical research, or want to surprise someone with a unique gift, the memories in these yearbooks are sure to make someone smile! . . . Browse Perryton Texas Yearbooks

Taming the Land presents postcards from twenty-four counties in the booming Texas Panhandle. The stories the cards tell—in the images captured and the messages carried—add an exceptional dimension to our understanding of life in rural Texas a century ago. Read more Look inside

The early years of Ochiltree County a county located in the far northern Panhandle, bordered on the north by Oklahoma, on the east by Lipscomb County, on the south by Roberts County, and on the west by Hansford County. The county is in the heart of the High Plains . . . Read more

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories (Facebook)

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County

Ochiltree County Unclaimed Estates

These Deceased Residents of Ochiltree County left a total $109,937 in Unclaimed Money for their heirs. Know the Heirs? Please
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