Oldham County

Oldham County, Texas

Oldham County, Texas

The Oldham County Courthouse is located in Vega, Texas the county seat. Photograph by Aualliso.
Oldham County, Texas

Oldham County, Texas

Map of Oldham County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Oldham County is in the northwestern corner of the Panhandle, bordered on the west by New Mexico, on the north by Hartley County, on the east by Potter County, and on the south by Deaf Smith County. The county's geographic center lies at 35°25' north latitude and 102°35' west longitude; Vega, the seat of government, is thirty miles west of Amarillo. The area was named for Williamson Simpson Oldham, pioneer Texas lawyer and Confederate senator. Oldham County comprises 1,485 square miles of relatively level grassland, broken by the Canadian River and its numerous intermittent tributaries; elevations range from 3,200 to 4,200 feet above sea level. The fine sandy loam and caliche soils in the area support a variety of native grasses as well as mesquite, sage, and shin oaks. Larger trees such as elm, hackberry, cottonwood, and oak grow in the river bottoms in some places. The soils are not generally conducive to farming, so the economy of the county is principally based on ranching. The area receives an average of 19.54 inches of rain per year. Temperatures range from an average minimum temperature of 22° F in January to an average maximum of 92° F in July; the annual growing season lasts 186 days.

Oldham County's history has revolved around the Canadian River, which runs in an east–west direction across the northern part of the county. Archeological investigations, beginning with the 1932 excavations of Saddleback Mesa, have unearthed evidence of the Panhandle Pueblo culture. Petroglyphs and other artifacts attest to the presence of other pre-Columbian peoples. Plains Apaches, followed by the warlike Comanches and Kiowas, found refuge in the breaks of the Canadian. Various Spanish entradas utilized the river as they traveled eastward from New Mexico. Probably both the expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1541–44) and the Oñate expedition of 1601 crossed the area. It is fairly certain that Pedro Vial passed through in 1786 and 1788. The Facundo Melgares party came through the county as it searched for Zebulon M. Pike in 1806. Likewise, the ciboleros and Comancheros from northern New Mexico all used the Canadian as a major trade route; indeed, the Atascosa Springs area was a frequent trading ground for Comancheros and their Indian customers. Stephen H. Long, Josiah Gregg, James W. Abert, Randolph B. Marcy, and W. W. Whipple led their pathfinding expeditions along the Canadian valley through the area during the early nineteenth century. Buffalo hunters established temporary camps in the area in the 1870s, and they were soon joined by ranchers and pastores. In 1876 the Texas legislature established Oldham County from the huge original Bexar County, and the county was organized in 1880, with Tascosa as the county seat. Caleb B. (Cape) Willingham became the first sheriff, C. B. Vivian was elected county clerk, and William S. Mabry was made county surveyor. Sixteen unorganized Panhandle counties were attached to Oldham County for administrative purposes. A population of 287 in 1880 made the county the second most populous of the Panhandle area; only Wheeler County, on the east side of the Panhandle, had more residents. The ranching industry of Oldham County began very soon after the Red River War of 1874–75 forced the Comanches and other Plains nomads onto reservations in Indian Territory. Soon after the Indian removal, Casimiro Romero and his fellow pastores from New Mexico established sheep ranches, dotted with stone and adobe plazas, throughout the area, along the Canadian River and its tributaries. As a result Mexican-American settlers outnumbered Anglo-Americans for some time. The situation began to change in 1877, when George W. Littlefield started his LIT Ranch just east of Tascosa. Between 1879 and 1881 W. M. D. Lee and his partners bought out many of the pastores and established the LE and LS ranches, supplanting the sheep with cattle. In 1882 the Capitol Syndicate marked off a large amount of Oldham County lands for use in its famous XIT Ranch. Only the southeastern part of the county fell outside the XIT after that time. Following a certain amount of property exchanging and dislocation within the local ranching industry, other ranches (the LX and the , Frying Pan for instance) occupied Oldham County acreage.

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Donald R. Abbe, John Leffler | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Oldham County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

3140 ft – 4360 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 1,500.5 mi²
  • Total Area: 1,501.4 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 20.7°F
July mean maximum: 92.3°F

Rainfall, 2019

19.2 inches

Population Count, 2019

2,112

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

844

Unemployment, 2019

3.4%

Property Values, 2019

$1,072,512,783 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$49,120 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$57,459,461 USD

Wages, 2019

$12,113,232 USD

Oldham County

Highlighted:
  • Oldham County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 150 (2021) Yes
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