S BAR T RANCH. The S Bar T Ranch, located on Mammoth Creek in north central Lipscomb County, had a relatively brief existence. Its significance lies in the fact that it was a by-product of the Oklahoma land runs. On April 22, 1889, settlers throughout the West, particularly those in Kansas and along the Texas border, took advantage of the formal opening of the Indian Territory. As the "boomers" moved out of Lipscomb County, ranchers reasserted their control. One partnership that availed itself of land left vacant by departing nesters was that of Porter and North of Denver, Colorado, who used the S Bar T brand. For fifteen years this firm leased choice grassland along Mammoth Creek and its tributaries to fatten cattle shipped into the county from other places. When ready, the cattle were driven to Higgins, shipped to northern markets, and replaced by more cattle-a method similar to that used by modern feedlots. Hiram Black and Henry Hazelwood managed the S Bar T range and employed T. H. Black as a wrangler. By 1904 the range was being resettled with immigrant land-seekers. The S Bar T ceased to run cattle, and George McClure ended its operation. The headquarters became the nucleus of the Peugh Ranch in 1907-08 and later was purchased by William A. Wilson, who also bought five sections of land adjoining it. Wilson ran the ranch until 1928, when his daughter and son-in-law, John A. Gex, assumed its management.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A History of Lipscomb County, Texas, 1876-1976 (Lipscomb, Texas: Lipscomb County Historical Survey Committee, 1976). Pauline D. and R. L. Robertson, Cowman's Country: Fifty Frontier Ranches in the Texas Panhandle, 1876-1887 (Amarillo: Paramount, 1981).
