Young County, TX

Young County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 17,943. Its county seat is Graham^[1]. The county is named for William Cocke Young, an early Texas settler and soldier.^[2]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 931 square miles (2,411 km²), of which, 922 square miles (2,389 km²) of it is land and 9 square miles (22 km²) of it (0.91%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 380
• State Highway 16
• State Highway 67
• State Highway 71
• State Highway 114

Adjacent counties

• Archer County (north)
• Jack County (east)
• Palo Pinto County (southeast)
• Stephens County (south)
• Throckmorton County (west)

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 17,943 people, 7,167 households, and 5,081 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 8,504 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.98% White, 1.21% Black or African American, 0.64% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 5.28% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. 10.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,167 households out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.00% were married couples living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.10% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 24.70% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 19.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 91.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,499, and the median income for a family was $36,698. Males had a median income of $30,257 versus $19,441 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,710. About 12.00% of families and 15.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.00% of those under age 18 and 12.90% of those age 65 or over.

History

Native Americans

The Brazos Indian Reservation, founded by General Randolph B. Marcy in 1854, provided a safety area from warring Comanche for Delaware, Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, and Caddo. Within the reservation, each tribe had its own village and cultivated agricultural crops. Government-contracted beeves were delivered each week. Citizens were unable to distinguish between reservation and non-reservation tribes, blaming Comanche and Kiowa depredations on the reservation Indians. A newspaper in Jacksboro, Texas titled The White Man advocated removal of all tribes from north Texas.^{[4] [5]}

During December 1858, Choctaw Tom, at times an interpreter to Sam Houston, and a group of reservation Indians received permission for an off-the-reservation hunt. On December 27, Captain Peter Garland and a vigilante group charged Choctaw Tom’s camp, indiscriminately murdering and injuring women and children along with the men. .^[6] Governor Hardin Richard Runnels^[7] ordered John Henry Brown^[8] to the area with 100 troops. An examining trial was conducted about the Choctaw Tom raid, but no indictments resulted. May of 1859, John Baylor^[9] and a number of whites confronted United States troops at the reservation, demanding the surrender of certain tribal individuals. The military balked, and Baylor retreated, but in so doing killed an Indian woman and an old man. Baylor’s group was later attacked by Indians off the reservation, where the military had no authority to intervene.

In May of 1871, Kiowa medicine man Satank (Sitting Bear),^[10] and Kiowa chiefs Satanta (White Bear),^[11] Addo-etta (Big Tree)^[12] and Maman-ti (Skywalker)^[13] led a force of over 100 Kiowa, Comanche, Kiowa-Apaches, Arapaho, and Cheyenne warriors from the Oklahoma Fort Sill Reservation into Texas. On May 18, the Indians attacked a wagon train belonging to Henry Warren, killing all but the five who escaped. Commanding General of the United States Army William Tecumseh Sherman, personally arrested Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree at Fort Sill and had them tried in civil court in Jacksboro. Satank was killed in an attempted escape, and others were found guilty and sentenced to hang. Their sentences were commuted by Governor Edmund J. Davis at the request of a group of Quakers, and they were later paroled. The incident^[14] was a key element that led to the Red River War.

Explorers and settlers

Spanish explorer Diego Ortiz Parrilla^[15]the county en route to the Taovaya Indian Village on Red River. Pedro Vial came through the region in 1789 while charting the Sante Fe Trail.

The county was included in the 1841 Republic of Texas empresario Peters Colony land grant.^[16] The Young County portion of the grant remained unsettled until the 1850s.

In 1851 Bvt. Brig. Gen. William G. Belknap founded the United States Army Fort Belknap.^[17] The fort was surrendered to the Confederacy in 1861, and reoccupied by federal troops in 1867. John Peveler and Will Peveler^[18] establish a ranch two miles below Fort Belknap, becoming the first settlers.

County established

Young County was established by the Texas Legislature in 1856 from Bosque and Fannin counties and organized later that same year. Belknap became the county seat. Many of the citizens abandoned the area during the American Civil War due to Indian depredations. In 1865 the county's government was dissolved, and the county records were transferred to Jacksboro. The county was reorganized in 1874, and the county records were brought back from Jacksboro. This time the new town of Graham, platted in 1873, was chosen as the county seat.

Gustavus and Edwin Graham began the town of Graham^[19] circa 1871, and opened the saltworks in 1872. An 1876 area rancher meeting in Graham, regarding cattle rustling, became the beginnings of what is now known as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In 1891 a group of investors formed the Graham Mining Company in hopes of mining gold, silver, and coal in the area.

Between 1874 and 1910, railroad lines contributed to the county economy and facilitated transportation, including the Texas and Pacific Railway,^[20] the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway,^[21] the Wichita Falls and Southern,^[22] and the Gulf, Texas and Western Railroad.

Federal programs came to the assistance of farmers and ranchers during the Great Depression. The Work Projects Administration restored old Fort Belknap in 1936. In the 1930s, Young County also joined sixty-five other counties to form the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District. ^[23] Oil exploration and production opened the 20th Century. and saw Lindy Lou No. 1 well come in. Actual production of petroleum began in 1920, boom towns sprang up around the county. By 1990 - 3,431,000 barrels had been produced.

Localities

Cities

• Graham
• Newcastle
• Olney

Other places

• Loving
• Fort Belknap
• South Bend
• Markley
• Eliasville

References

1. ^ . National Association of Counties. . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ "Young, William Cocke". The Handbook of Texas Online. The Texas State Historical Association.
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
4. ^ Crouch, Carrie J: Brazos Indian Reservation from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
5. ^ Minor, David: White Man from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
6. ^ "Choctaw Tom". Fort Tours. http://www.forttours.com/pages/choctawtom.asp. Retrieved 05 May 2010.
7. ^ "Texas Governor Harden Richard Runnels". State of Texas. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/40009/tsl-40009.html. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Library and Archives Commission
8. ^ Baker, Erma: John Henry Brown from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
9. ^ Thompson, Jerry: John Robert Baylor from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
10. ^ Hosmer, Brian C: Satank from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
11. ^ Hosmer, Brian C: Satanta from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
12. ^ Hosmer, Brian C: Addo-etta Big Tree from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
13. ^ Anderson, H. Allen: Maman-ti from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
14. ^ Hamilton, Allen Lee: Warren Wagon Train Raid from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
15. ^ Weddle, Robert S: Ortiz Parrilla, Diego, Red River Campaign from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
16. ^ "Young County Timeline". Peters Colony Historical Society of Dallas County, Texas. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txpchsdc/history/peters_colony.htm. Retrieved 05 May 2010.
17. ^ Neighbours, Kenneth F: Fort Belknap from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
18. ^ "Young County Timeline". Young County TxGenWeb. http://txgenweb6.org/txyoung/history/timeline.html. Retrieved 05 May 2010.
19. ^ "Graham, Texas". Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC.. http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/Graham-Texas.htm. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC.
20. ^ "Texas and Pacific Railway". Texas and Pacific Railway. http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas and Pacific Railway
21. ^ "CPI, Pac Railroad". American Rails. http://www.american-rails.com/chicago-rock-island-and-pacific.html. Retrieved 05 May 2010. American Rails
22. ^ Anderson, H Allen: Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.
23. ^ Leffler, John: Young County from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 05 May 2010. Texas State Historical Association.

External links

• Young County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Young County Historical Timeline. For additional history see:
  • "Peters Colony". The Handbook of Texas Online. The Texas State Historical Association.
  • "Brazos Indian Reservation". The Handbook of Texas Online. The Texas State Historical Association.
• at National Association of Counties
• Markley, Texas

Coordinates: 33°11′N 98°42′W / 33.18°N 98.70°W

Categories: Texas counties | Young County, Texas