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Irion County (H-11) is on U.S. Highway 67 and State
Highway 163 in southwest central Texas, bounded on the
west by Reagan County, on the south by Crockett and
Schleicher counties, and on the north and east by Tom
Green County. It was named for Robert Anderson Irion.
The county is drained by the Middle Concho River and its
tributaries; springs in the Edwards Plateau limestone
feed Dove and Spring creeks. Soils vary from sandy to
clay to gravel. The average annual rainfall is 21.33
inches.
The Tonkawa Indians once occupied the area of Irion
County. Spanish explorers Hernán Martín and Diego del
Castilloq traversed it in 1650; Juan Domínguez de
Mendoza and Nicolás Lópezq followed in 1684 and reported
on local Indians. On January 8, 1865, the battle of Dove
Creek was fought at the junction of Spring Creek and
Dove Creek between 1,400 Kickapoo Indians and 370 state
border guards under
Capt. Henry Fossett. The Kickapoos were eastern Indians
who had been uprooted by the American government and
removed to reservations in Indian Territory; they were
attempting to move to Mexico when intercepted by
Fossett's troops.
Kickapoo Indian Women
drawnfrom
http://www.texasindians.com/kickapoo.htm |
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Cattle and sheep thrived on the well-watered range. John
Arden brought the first flock of sheep from California
in 1876, and in 1880 the 7D Ranch was established by
Billy Childress with longhorn cattle from Atascosa
County. Beginning in the 1880s a few pioneer farmers
built small irrigation systems, and several ranchmen
planted hay and grain. Underground water resources were
tapped with windmill-driven pumps; the first cotton crop
was planted in 1886 by W. H. White. In 1889 the Texas
legislature formed Irion County from Tom Green County,
and that same year the county was organized with
Sherwood county seat.
The
Great Depression years featured dry ranges, dust storms,
short crops, low markets, and unemployment. Federal
programs for the purchase of cattle and sheep helped, as
did other relief projects, including a Red Cross sewing
and knitting venture.
Oil was discovered in Irion County in 1928, but
substantial production did not begin until the late
1950s. Other communities are Barnhart and Sherwood.
Outlaw Tom Ketchum (see KETCHUM BOYS) once
maintained a hideout in the county, at the mountain now
named for him.
Drawn from Leta Crawford's
History of Irion County |
