Haskell County, Texas

Haskell County, in the Rolling Plains region of northwest Texas, is bordered on the north by Knox County, on the west by Stonewall County, on the south by Jones and Shackelford counties, and on the east by Throckmorton County. The center of the county is about fifty miles north of Abilene.

Cities, Towns & Communities

Haskell (Willow Pond Springs) – county seat | Jud | O’Brien | Paint Creek | Rochester | Rule | Sagerton | Stamford (mostly in Jones County) | Weinert

History

In 1858 the Texas legislature formed Haskell County from lands formerly assigned to Milam and Fannin counties. Because of Indian hostility in the area, however, the county remained unsettled for nearly two decades. During this period several Indian fights took place in the county, including an engagement at Double Mountain on April 3, 1867, and Capt. Adna R. Chaffee’s fight on South Point (California) Creek near the Jones county line in March 1868. By 1876 the Indian menace had subsided, and the county was reestablished. J. Wright Mooar and other hunters operating out of Fort Griffin slaughtered the buffalo herds that roamed through the area; mustangs that frequented the springs in the county were rounded up in annual drives. Ranchers began moving into the area in 1877, when George T. Reynolds and John A. Matthews established their ranch headquarters on California Creek. In 1879 Thomas F. Tucker, remembering the description of the area written by his brother Dick, settled near the Matthews ranchhouse and began his own cattle operation. Sometime later W. R. Standifer, a former buffalo hunter, brought a flock of sheep to Willow Pond, or Rice Springs, near the center of the county. The 1880 census found forty-eight people living in the county; the agricultural census reported two ranches in the county that year.

County Histories

Haskell: Haskell County and Its Pioneers, 1975, by Rex A. Felker

Haskell County History, 1965, by Robert E. Sherrill

Location

Haskell, TX 33° 9′ 27.3708″ N, 99° 44′ 1.3236″ W

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