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Irion County History
Irion County is on U.S. Highway 67 and State Highway
163 in southwest central Texas, bounded on the west by Reagan County,
on the south by Crockett and Schleicher counties, and on the north and
east by Tom Green County. It was named for Robert Anderson Irion.qv
The center of the county is at 31°18' north latitude and 100°35'
west longitude, forty miles southwest of San Angelo. The county
embraces 1,051 square miles of rolling prairie, grass, mesquite, and,
in some sections, exposed rock. Elevations range from 2,100 to 2,600
feet above sea level. The county is drained by the Middle Concho River
and its tributaries; springs in the Edwards Plateauqv
limestone feed Dove and Spring creeks. Soils vary from sandy to clay
to gravel. The average annual rainfall is 21.33 inches. Irion County
has an average minimum temperature of 32° F in January and an average
maximum of 96° in July. The growing season lasts 232 days. About 90
percent of the county's $7 million annual agricultural income is
derived from cattle, sheep, and Angora goats; other agricultural
products include pecans, sorghums, small grains, and cotton. Oil and
gas production provides most of the county's income. In 1982 crude
production was 3,425,871 barrels, worth $102,760,444.
The Tonkawa Indians once occupied the area of Irion County. Spanish
explorers Hernán Martín and Diego del Castilloqqv
traversed it in 1650; Juan Domínguez de Mendoza and Nicolás Lópezqqv
followed in 1684 and reported on local Indians. In 1761 Felipe Rábago
y Teránqv passed through the area,
probably following Mendoza's path. From 1858 to 1861 coaches of the
San Antonio-San Diego Mail and the Butterfield Overland Mailqqv
crossed the region. On January 8, 1865, the battle of Dove Creekqv
was fought at the junction of Spring and Dove creeks between 1,400
Kickapoo Indians and 370 state border guards under Capt. Henry Fossett.
The Kickapoos were eastern Indians who had been uprooted by the
American government and removed to reservations in Indian Territory;
they were attempting to move to Mexico when intercepted by Fossett's
troops. Thirty-six whites were killed and sixty wounded in the battle;
Indian casualties totaled eleven dead and thirtyone wounded. The
area had been part of the Fisher-Miller Land Grantqv
of 1843, but no settlements were established in what is now Irion
County until the late 1870s, after the Indian threat had been
eliminated. In 1874 the area became part of Tom Green County, which
was formed that year from 12,500 square miles taken from Bexar County.
G. W. Wood, Richard F. Tankersley, Bruce McCain, and others
established cattle ranches in the area.
Cattle and sheep thrived on the well-watered range. John Arden
brought the first flock of sheep from California in 1876, and in 1880
the 7D Ranch was established by Billy Childress with longhorn cattleqv
from Atascosa County. Beginning in the 1880s a few pioneer farmers
built small irrigationqv systems,
and several ranchmen planted hay and grain. Underground water
resources were tapped with windmill-driven pumps; the first cotton
crop was planted in 1886 by W. H. White. In 1889 the Texas legislature
formed Irion County from Tom Green County, and that same year the
county was organized with Sherwood county seat. By 1890, 118 farms and
ranches, encompassing 193,000 acres, had been established in the
county. Though fourteen of these were larger than 1,000 acres, many
were relatively small holdings; the average size was 1,627 acres.
Nevertheless, ranchingqv dominated
the local economy; almost 64,000 cattle and over 42,000 sheep were
reported in the county that year, when only 218 acres was planted in
corn (the county's most important crop) and fourteen in cotton. The
United States census counted 870 residents that year. By 1900 the
number of farms and ranches declined to fifty-two, and the population
dropped to 848.
Though ranching continued to dominate the local economy well into
the twentieth century, crop farming became more important after a
number of homesteaders settled on state lands between 1901 and 1904.
By 1910 there were ninety-four farms and ranches in the county, and
the population had increased to 1,283. Further immigration into the
area was encouraged when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway
slowly extended its tracks through the county between 1907 and 1911.
Thanks in part to the new railroad connection, the county continued to
grow between 1910 and the late 1920s. The number of farms and ranches
increased to 136 by 1920 and 160 by 1930. By the latter year crop
farming had expanded to 5,000 acres, 1,975 planted in cotton; sorghum
was the most important other crop. Meanwhile, ranching remained at the
center of the local economy. More than 33,000 cattle, more than 3,700
mohair goats, and almost 203,000 sheep were counted in Irion County in
1930. As the county's agricultural economy developed, its population
also grew. The census bureau counted 1,610 county residents in 1920
and 2,049 in 1930. The arrival of the railroad also shaped the
political geography of the area. Sherwood, the county seat, began to
decline when it was bypassed by the railroad, while Mertzon-which was
on the line-grew and began to challenge Sherwood for the role of
county seat. In a 1927 election held to determine which town should be
county seat, voters chose Mertzon over Sherwood by 286 to 231.
Sherwood retained its status, however, because a twothirds plurality
was required for a change. After another election in 1936 Mertzon was
chosen county seat by a vote of 453 to 222.
The Great Depressionqv years
featured dry ranges, dust storms, short crops, low markets, and
unemployment. Federal programs for the purchase of cattle and sheep
helped, as did other relief projects, including a Red Cross sewing and
knitting venture. By 1937 conditions looked brighter, as wool and meat
prices rose and the Work Projects Administrationqv
provided partial funding for a new courthouse. Nevertheless, the
number of farms in the county declined to 149 by 1940. By that year
the population had also dropped slightly, to 1,963.
Though the economy largely recovered during World War II,qv
the mechanization of agriculture and the trend towards fewer, larger
farms contributed to the depopulation of the county. Between 1940 and
the 1970s the number of residents in Irion County declined-to 1,590 by
1950, 1,183 by 1960, and 1,070 by 1970. Partly because of intensified
oil production, however, the population rose to 1,386 by 1980; in 1990
it was 1,629.
Oil was discovered in Irion County in 1928, but substantial
production did not begin until the late 1950s. It was 20,500 barrels
in 1948, 192,000 barrels in 1956, and 819,000 barrels in 1965. By 1974
production had increased to 1,822,000 barrels, and by 1978, to
2,855,000. By January 1, 1991, 67,683,641 barrels had been produced in
the county since 1928.
In national politics the voters of Irion County supported
Democratic presidential candidates in almost every election from 1892
to 1964; during that period the Republicans won the county only in
1928, when a majority of local voters supported Herbert Hoover, and in
1956, when the county went for Dwight D. Eisenhower.qv
In presidential elections from 1968 to 1992, however, county voters
consistently supported Republican candidates, though the elections
were often close.
Irion County has not had any substantial urban growth and remains a
land of ranches and farms. About 1 percent of the county's farmland is
devoted to crops. Extensive irrigation from the rivers still sustains
hay and grain feed crops for local livestock and sales. Irion County
has no manufacturing, little tourism, and only a modest agricultural
income; the county is one of the most lightly populated areas in the
state. Mertzon (1990 population, 778) is the county seat and farm
center. Other communities are Barnhart and Sherwood. Outlaw Tom
Ketchum (see KETCHUM BOYS) once maintained a hideout in the
county, at the mountain now named for him. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Leta Crawford, A History of Irion County, Texas (Waco: Texian,
1966). Irion County Historical Society, A History of Irion County,
Texas (San Angelo: Anchor, 1978). William R. Hunt and John
Leffler
Information
obtained from the Handbook of Texas
History
of Robert Anderson Irion
History
of Sherwood, Texas
History
of Noelke, Texas
History of
Hughes, Texas
History
of Barnhart, Texas
History
of Mertzon, Texas
History
of Arden, Texas
History
of Camp Charlotte
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