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September 12, 2010
WOLF CREEK HERITAGE MUSEUM NOTES by Virginia Scott MUSEUM HAPPENINGS Another busy week and weekend. We were busy in the week getting ready for the garage sale and weekend activities. The garage sale was a moderate success. We made a little money and had less stuff when we closed than when we started. At least the weather was nice for Saturday and there was people out. We hope it was a successful weekend for everyone. We enjoyed it. On Sunday we has the Price reunion at the museum for lunch. This is Martha Smith's family from Pampa area. She and her two sisters with their families had a delightful lunch and enjoyed the museum. This was our second reunion and we love to host families and other activities at the museum. We thank Martha and Vester for thinking of us for their luncheon. It was fun. This week was another busy one. On Tuesday and Wednesday the museum was closed due to our work sessions on the book at the school. I will report more next week on what we accomplished. On Saturday will be Rene Heil and James Coverdale from 4 pm to 7 pm. James will speak at 5pm on the Billy Dixon long shot. Please plan to join us. HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS Visiting with Vester Smith this past weekend and the report that descendents of the Doyle family will be in Lipscomb County this weekend, Made me curious about the Box T origins. According to the book written on the Box T by John Francis Doyle and John Barton Doyle, The Box T was, first, a cattle brand. Then the Box T was a range - a vast expanse of land in Lipscomb & Hemphill counties of Texas and The Cherokee Outlet and perhaps, The Cheyenne- Arapaho Reservation in what is now Ellis county, OK. Last but not least, the Box T was a cattle ranch, north of Higgins, owned by the Doyle's from, at least, the mid- 1890's until the late 1990s. This range was owned by the state of Texas and the Cherokee Nation and was leased initially by J M Day,followed by the Dominion Cattle company, the partnership of Ives & Doyle and finally, the Doyle Family. Patrick Doyle purchased several sections of school land in Lipscomb County between 1895 and 1897. Section 612 became the ranch headquarters. This section was purchased by contract for $1.95 per acre to be paid over a 40 year period. It was later forfeited and repurchased at lower interest. It was paid for and patented in 1934. This transaction made Patrick Doyle the first recorded individual owner of that land. Family. Last but not least, the Box T was a cattle ranch, north of Higgins, owned by the Doyle's from, at least, the mid- 1890's until the late 1990s. The Dominion Cattle Company appears to have been a business arrangement funded by Canadian capital in the early 1880's and a member of the Cherokee Strip Live Stock association. The Association was organized by a group of cattlemen during the years 1880-1883; its purpose was to obtain from the Cherokee Tribe a lease for exclusive grazing rights in the 6,000,000+ acres of the Cherokee Outlet. The Dominion Cattle Company encompassed an area that included the present towns of Shattuck, Fargo, Gage, and perhaps, Arnett in Ellis County,OK and Hemphill and Lipscomb County in Texas. From his obituary we learned the following: Patrick Doyle was born in Montreal, Canada about 1857. He married Harriet McCarthy of Prescott, A.T. in 1891, seven years after he had come to the United States and established himself in the cattle business in the Panhandle of Texas. The firm of Ives & Doyle, of which he was a member, prospered in Texas and their Box T cattle were among the best known on the range in the Panhandle. In 1894 Mr. Doyle became a member of Tower-Doyle Live Stock Commission Company. Patrick Doyle was one of our pioneer cattlemen and we are please that his descendents will be visiting this week and that the Smith family keeps a part of Box T alive today. |
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