TXGenWeb Project
High Plains of Texas Links
Two major regions occupy the western and northwestern section of Texas; the High Plains and the Basin and Range Regions. These regions are bordered by Mexico, the three regions of Central Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Click here to view map.
. . . The High Plains sometimes were also known by the Spanish words Llano Estacado ('la-no ehs-tah-'kah-do -- STAKED PLAINS).
According to a local legend, early Texas travelers who feared getting lost in this very flat country pounded stakes into the ground at periodic intervals. They could look back on these stakes and retrace their route. The stakes' help prevented them from getting lost. Most historians doubt this is really true. ( I don't know which historians the authors are speaking about, but, the stakes marked the trail for other travelers who followed behind; all trail blazers or scouts marked a trail in some matter. emc) Compliment of Adrian N. Anderson, Ralph A. Wooster, Jeanie R. Standley and David G. Armstrong; "Texas and Texans"; ch. 5, The High Plains Region and the Basin and Range Region; pg. 71., publishers: Glencoe Publishing Company, a division of Macmillan, Inc. Mission Hills, California and Dallas, Tx. ; 1987
This includes such places as Odessa, Midland, Lubbock and Amarillo and the counties above and in between.
On the southwestern edge you will find the Pecos river crossing known as "Pope" by early travelers
and cattle drovers as well as the bufflo hunters, on the northern edge you will find the Oklahoma panhandle.
LINKS:
The
Panhandle - Plains Museum Reseach Center ,
the largest history museum in Texas.
The Museum is located just 15 minutes south of Amarillo on I-27, on the campus, of West Texas
A&M. All the XIT Ranch papers may be found here as well as Charlas Goodnight's and other pioneers who settle this
area including "Billy the Kid" and "Hank" Smith, who first settled at old town of Griffin and Fort Griffin, moving on
west to claim land he inherited on foreclosure of a "bad debt" becoming opne of the first pernment settlers
of the "Llano Estacado"..
The Southwest Collection, a historical research center and archive at Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
Anglo-American Beginnings; the history of Anglo settlement in West TX.
Search the Texas Confederate Pensions Index
Gene Stark's GENDEX, an index of surname databases.
The Eugene C. Barker
Texas History Collections, and the George W. Littlefield
Southern History Collections in the
Center For American History,
at the University of Texas (Austin). Be sure and look at the page listing all of the Center's collections.
The Archives and Genealogy collections at the Texas State Library in Austin. The Archives houses all of Texas' historic documents, records, and artifacts. The Genealogy collection has an extensive collection of material in print (state collections, family histories) and microform (including the complete 1790 - 1910 United States census, the 1920 Texas census, county tax rolls, CSA, and Texas Ranger muster rolls).
The Texas General Land Office
Lone Star Junction: An on-line almanac of Texas
The American Memory Project Home Page. A priceless collection of still and full-motion images, sounds, documents, manuscripts, etc. from our past, including the Life Histories Manscripts, from the Folklore Project, part of the WPA Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1940. You may also search only the Texas Life Histories.
Index to the Republic of Texas Muster Rolls
The Documenting the American South collection at UNC Chapel Hill.
The horse is an integral part of the history of Texas, especially to the ranching industry. Selective
breeding of the pedigreed stock brought in by settlers from the east, and perhaps a bit of
Mustang
blood, brought about the tremendously versatile American Quarter horse.
The Cowboy
The Quarter Horse
On-line exhibits at the International Museum of the Horse:\
Read more about Steel Dust, one of the legendary foundation sires of the Quarter Horse breed.
Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) Library Home Page
The Ranching Heritage Center at The Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum the official repository of Texas Ranger memorabilia lacated in Waco, Tx.
Texas History and Social Studies from the Armadillo WWW server at Rice University, Houston, Tx.
The Texas Historical Commission, responsible for preservation of Texas' architectural and cultural heritage.
Regional newspapers: the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
The American West, a presentation of its history and development.
The
Bureau of Vital Statistics,
at the Texas Dept. of Health