![]() ![]() It is not strange that the brand became so well known, for cattle with XIT burned on them covered a ranch 575 miles around a ranch which had as its northwest corner the northwest corner of the Stale, and extended south 185 miles to a point in Hockley County the east line of the ranch was 175 miles long, and the north line 80 miles long. The ranch, like hundreds of others, was commonly known by the name of the brand it used it was said that the brand, XIT stood for Ten (Counties) in Texas. It was chartered in England, however, because the Farwelis of Chicago, who owned it, went to England and there obtained the loan which enabled them to finish the capitol building and to develop the vast territory which composed their holdings in the Panhandle. Many people have been under the impression that the Capitol Syndicate was an English concern, but it was not. 3,000,000 acres of which the State of Texas traded for its huge granite capitol building, and 500,000 acres which the capitol Syndicate purchased. This was the XIT Ranch, composed of a vast body of land. While the old order was passing there existed in the Panhandle of Texas, one of the largest ranches in the world one whose organization was to exert an immense influence upon the development of Northwest Texas. Texas fever, increasing number of nesters along the trails, barbed wire fences, and the expansion of railroads had brought to an end one of the most picturesque periods of history of the old Southwest, and were ushering in a period of development which will not reach its full height for many years to come. The last heads of cattle were sold in 1912, and the ranch was no more.THE EARLY and middle nineties saw the last of the great trail herds of Texas following the long road to northern pastures and northern markets. They were also trying to deal with rustlers and wolves preying on their cattle, and it was just too much land to handle. This was due in part to the massive size of the ranch, and the fact that the cattle market crashed shortly after it opened. Unfortunately for the ranch, it did not last long. The Ranch featured 325 windmills, 100 dams for water regulation, and at one point, they had more than 150,000 head of cattle. Whichever version might be true, both are certainly interesting. Using XIT as the brand was difficult for rustlers to reproduce, so that is quite likely the reason it is called the XIT Ranch. As with many ranches of the day, they needed to have a brand made to help reduce the problems with cattle rustling. However, there is another legend as to how they came up with the name for the ranch. There is a myth that the name XIT actually stood for Ten in Texas, as it was covered parts of the ten aforementioned counties. XIT, which started its operations as a ranch in 1885, was so large that it stretched across many counties including Baily, Castro, Cochran, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Hartley, Hockley, Lamb, Oldham, and Parmer. It incorporated 1,500 miles of fencing around the perimeter of the massive ranch. During the 1880s, it was the largest ranch in the world, which also happened to be entirely fenced. ![]() XIT Ranch has a colorful and interesting history. ![]()
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