Rancher, Buisnessman and known as the "Father of Amarillo, Texas". He married Ellen M. Wheeler on 20 Feb 1868. Son Elwood was born in 1869 and died December 1890. Henry died at a sanitarium in Michigan while being treated.
The following bio below was contributed by
Kent Pettus - [email protected]:
Amarillo has had two sites. The original town company located on a slope one mile west of where the town now stands. About 1,200 people established themselves there. As is usual in Texas, and some other countries, the first thing the community did when it felt its strength was to vote about $30,000 for a court house. This was expected to anchor the county seat and the town for all time to come. The court house was built, and is a very good one for the money, but a man who owns a pasture of 250,000 acres decided that the town had been put in the wrong place. It was in 'a draw.' The right location was one mile farther east on an eligible elevation of land belonging to the pasture man. To the proposition to move the town said 'no.' The pasture man, however, went ahead and laid out a new site on his lands. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than the court house. Fow a few months there was an interesting game of tug between court house and hotel, one mile apart. According to Texas tradition the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay until the last day of the fifth year. The pasture man was originally from the North, and was determined that Amarillo should be put where it belonged, and he did it. After he had built his big hotel, costing $50,000 --big for this region--he bought the hotel in original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved it over to the new site, located it across a little park, and called it the annex. The pasture man's partner is an Illinois barb-wire millionaire. He came down and looked on. He said he did not know much about town-site wars, but he would back the new location. The pasture man bored wells and built houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Amarillo, bought a store, put it on wheels and hauled it over to new Amarillo. There was no shouting or hurrahing, but month by month the old town melted away and the new town grew. To-day the court house is all that marks the original site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law; if it could be, the father of the new town would have moved it long ago. The county officers walk one mile to the court house and back again every day. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage, houses, trees, lakes, and the shadow of a city; when they get to the court house the vision fades, and there is nothing but bare prairie and the holes where the houses stood."
As quoted by James Cox in "Historical and Biographical Records of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory, Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co. Saint Louis 1895
The following bio below was contributed by
Kent Pettus - [email protected]:
Amarillo has had two sites. The original town company located on a slope one mile west of where the town now stands. About 1,200 people established themselves there. As is usual in Texas, and some other countries, the first thing the community did when it felt its strength was to vote about $30,000 for a court house. This was expected to anchor the county seat and the town for all time to come. The court house was built, and is a very good one for the money, but a man who owns a pasture of 250,000 acres decided that the town had been put in the wrong place. It was in 'a draw.' The right location was one mile farther east on an eligible elevation of land belonging to the pasture man. To the proposition to move the town said 'no.' The pasture man, however, went ahead and laid out a new site on his lands. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than the court house. Fow a few months there was an interesting game of tug between court house and hotel, one mile apart. According to Texas tradition the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay until the last day of the fifth year. The pasture man was originally from the North, and was determined that Amarillo should be put where it belonged, and he did it. After he had built his big hotel, costing $50,000 --big for this region--he bought the hotel in original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved it over to the new site, located it across a little park, and called it the annex. The pasture man's partner is an Illinois barb-wire millionaire. He came down and looked on. He said he did not know much about town-site wars, but he would back the new location. The pasture man bored wells and built houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Amarillo, bought a store, put it on wheels and hauled it over to new Amarillo. There was no shouting or hurrahing, but month by month the old town melted away and the new town grew. To-day the court house is all that marks the original site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law; if it could be, the father of the new town would have moved it long ago. The county officers walk one mile to the court house and back again every day. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage, houses, trees, lakes, and the shadow of a city; when they get to the court house the vision fades, and there is nothing but bare prairie and the holes where the houses stood."
As quoted by James Cox in "Historical and Biographical Records of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory, Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co. Saint Louis 1895
Rancher, Buisnessman and known as the "Father of Amarillo, Texas". He married Ellen M. Wheeler on 20 Feb 1868. Son Elwood was born in 1869 and died December 1890. Henry died at a sanitarium in Michigan while being treated.
The following bio below was contributed by
Kent Pettus - [email protected]:
Amarillo has had two sites. The original town company located on a slope one mile west of where the town now stands. About 1,200 people established themselves there. As is usual in Texas, and some other countries, the first thing the community did when it felt its strength was to vote about $30,000 for a court house. This was expected to anchor the county seat and the town for all time to come. The court house was built, and is a very good one for the money, but a man who owns a pasture of 250,000 acres decided that the town had been put in the wrong place. It was in 'a draw.' The right location was one mile farther east on an eligible elevation of land belonging to the pasture man. To the proposition to move the town said 'no.' The pasture man, however, went ahead and laid out a new site on his lands. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than the court house. Fow a few months there was an interesting game of tug between court house and hotel, one mile apart. According to Texas tradition the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay until the last day of the fifth year. The pasture man was originally from the North, and was determined that Amarillo should be put where it belonged, and he did it. After he had built his big hotel, costing $50,000 --big for this region--he bought the hotel in original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved it over to the new site, located it across a little park, and called it the annex. The pasture man's partner is an Illinois barb-wire millionaire. He came down and looked on. He said he did not know much about town-site wars, but he would back the new location. The pasture man bored wells and built houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Amarillo, bought a store, put it on wheels and hauled it over to new Amarillo. There was no shouting or hurrahing, but month by month the old town melted away and the new town grew. To-day the court house is all that marks the original site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law; if it could be, the father of the new town would have moved it long ago. The county officers walk one mile to the court house and back again every day. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage, houses, trees, lakes, and the shadow of a city; when they get to the court house the vision fades, and there is nothing but bare prairie and the holes where the houses stood."
As quoted by James Cox in "Historical and Biographical Records of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory, Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co. Saint Louis 1895
The following bio below was contributed by
Kent Pettus - [email protected]:
Amarillo has had two sites. The original town company located on a slope one mile west of where the town now stands. About 1,200 people established themselves there. As is usual in Texas, and some other countries, the first thing the community did when it felt its strength was to vote about $30,000 for a court house. This was expected to anchor the county seat and the town for all time to come. The court house was built, and is a very good one for the money, but a man who owns a pasture of 250,000 acres decided that the town had been put in the wrong place. It was in 'a draw.' The right location was one mile farther east on an eligible elevation of land belonging to the pasture man. To the proposition to move the town said 'no.' The pasture man, however, went ahead and laid out a new site on his lands. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than the court house. Fow a few months there was an interesting game of tug between court house and hotel, one mile apart. According to Texas tradition the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay until the last day of the fifth year. The pasture man was originally from the North, and was determined that Amarillo should be put where it belonged, and he did it. After he had built his big hotel, costing $50,000 --big for this region--he bought the hotel in original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved it over to the new site, located it across a little park, and called it the annex. The pasture man's partner is an Illinois barb-wire millionaire. He came down and looked on. He said he did not know much about town-site wars, but he would back the new location. The pasture man bored wells and built houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Amarillo, bought a store, put it on wheels and hauled it over to new Amarillo. There was no shouting or hurrahing, but month by month the old town melted away and the new town grew. To-day the court house is all that marks the original site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law; if it could be, the father of the new town would have moved it long ago. The county officers walk one mile to the court house and back again every day. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage, houses, trees, lakes, and the shadow of a city; when they get to the court house the vision fades, and there is nothing but bare prairie and the holes where the houses stood."
As quoted by James Cox in "Historical and Biographical Records of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory, Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co. Saint Louis 1895
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