Bits of History - Dumas Museum & Art Center
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Archived: 2026-04-23 17:11
Bits of History - Dumas Museum & Art Center
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Bits of History
is a treasured collection of stories written by long-time employee and devoted museum supporter Glynda Pflug, whose passion for preserving our heritage continues to inspire us even after her passing. Drawing on her extensive research, Glynda explored a wide range of local subjects and shared her findings through articles published in the local newspaper. Her work lives on in three compiled book volumes available in our gift shop. The full collection is also accessible on our website, ensuring her dedication to telling our community’s story remains available to all.
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1920's Blue House
Many years of experience by a master carpenter helped create a replica of an early 1920's family home, a major display in Window on the Plains. We call it "the blue house" because it has a blue roof and the trim is painted blue.
Aquatic Weed Cutter
The museum has an artifact that not may museums have -- an aquatic weed cutter. The cutter was a donation from Rex and Susan McCloy of Blue Ranch.
Beller Organ
One of the many unusual items at Window on the Plains is a beautiful ornate organ which was donated by a family from Dalhart. The organ was the man's grandmother's when she was a child. The organ is part of the entertainment display in our Family Life Room.
Camp Meetings
In the early 1900's, camp meetings were held by traveling preachers. Sometimes they were held under a grove of trees, sometimes just in the open, and occasionally, they would be in a large tent, if the preacher had one. An exhibit at Window on the Plains is a display of a camp meeting.
Charlie the Buffalo
In days past, buffalo roamed this area by the thousands. Today, Window on the Plains Museum has its own buffalo who stands as a sentinel watching a plains area that has no resemblance of the past.
Demon Barber Shop
How did the Demon Barber Shop get its name? Probably everyone knows the story, but some newspaper clippings brought to the museum recently told the history of the name.
First Firetruck
Two firetrucks are along the walking trail at Window on the Plains Museum, one is the original truck purchased by the city in 1929 and was used by the fire department until 1962.
Flagpole
A flagpole flying a Texas flag has been erected near the playground at Window on the Plains Museum. It is not just an ordinary flagpole, but one that carries a history unique to Moore County and possible the entire country. It was made by Prisoners of War from World War II.
Game Consoles
Video games have gone from small hand-held games to big gaming systems on big screen televisions.
General Store
The first mercantile store was opened in Moore County in 1892. Other similar stores have served Moore County and made their mark on our history.
Lincoln-Style Walnut Bed
Exhibited in the Family Life Room at Window on the Plains Museum, this bed was gifted by Ken and Diane Schmidtman.
Maximilian
In one of the showcases at Window on the Plains Museum, a special little creature, a horny toad, horned lizard or
Phrynosoma Corutum
, sits on a pile of rocks just waiting to attract the attention of visitors. Many visitors pass the showcase not even seeing him, thinking it is a showcase filled with rocks.
Museum Milestone
A milestone was reached for Window on the Plains on March 26, 2020, the twentieth anniversary of a groundbreaking held to start a building that would be the new home for the museum.
Ranch Kitchen
The ranch house features a beautiful Majestic wood-burning range -- "top of the line" for the early 1910's.
Ranch Office
The Sneed Ranch was one of the largest ranches in the 1900's. Several items from that ranch were donated to the museum by Elizabeth Sneed Robinette Pool and are on display in the ranch house office.
Simms Cut Glass Collection
A collection of beautiful cut glass, a gift from Mary Wiseman Simms, sparkles in a showcase at Window on the Plains Museum.
Stagecoach
A stagecoach that traveled the west delivering passengers and mail has now made its home at Window on the Plains Museum. The stagecoach was placed at the museum by Bryan Garner of Amarillo. The stagecoach was found in Kansas City after a six-weeks search about ten years ago. It is estimated to be about 150 years old.
Tack Rooms
One corner of the Family Life Center at Window on the Plains has a display of tack and branding irons that were used in early Moore County. Walls of the area are made from barn wood from the W. J. Morton farm, east of Dumas.
Telephones
A lot of "firsts" happened in the telephone industry. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the first telephone, although six other inventors were working on inventions at the same time.
Windmills
Windmills are disappearing across the Panhandle and with it the history that changed a dry land to one that could be used for ranching and agriculture. Wind turbines and solar energy have replaced the picturesque windmills that dotted the Panhandle.
American Zinc
The American Zinc file in the archives room at the museum tells the story of the hot, hard jobs done by workers at the plant. When the plant opened in 1936, it was one of the smallest horizontal retort zinc smelters in the country. It grew to become one of the largest zinc plants in the country.
American Zinc: The End of an Industry
All that remains from a once large industry in Moore County are two 70' smoke stacks, one small smoke stack, an empty office building and a large metal building that is in the process of being torn down. The industry provided employment for over 380 men, who supported 1800 family members.
The Art Center
The walls of The Art Center were covered during the summer of 2022 with the story of how the art association began. The story of the dedication of the founders of the organization is told in items from the organization's scrapbooks. The gallery exhibit includes art work by the group of founders. Items from the association's permanent collection is displayed in the classroom.
Bakeries
Bakery items are popular items on any dinner table -- whether it is cookies, cakes, pies, bread or doughnuts. One of the early bakeries in Dumas was opened by brothers who had been running a successful bakery business in Amarillo.
Bowling
For decades, the lanes at Oak Lanes Bowling were always filled with avid bowlers in league competition and with those bowling just for fun.
Broxson's
"Seeing a need and finding a solution for that need" might have been the philosophy for the life of Lewis Albert Broxson.
Cactus Ordnance Plant
In April 1941, Moore County received a telegram from Congressman Eugene Worley reporting a contract with Chemical Construction Company of New York to build, equip, and staff a manufacturing plant in Moore County. Information was kept secretive and details were few, since it was a wartime project.
Camp Housing
As early as the 1930s and 1940s housing was built next to industries and provided homes for employees. These houses were called "camps". Having homes close to where they worked was a convenience for workers and employers alike.
CIG
John Wesley Longstreth came to the Texas Panhandle from Pennsylvania in 1928 to supervise the construction of the Canadian River Gas Company Pumping Plant, 19 miles south of Dumas.
City Gas Well
Discovery of gas for the city of Dumas led to a town celebration including a barbeque, rodeo, dance, and a baseball game.
Cotton
When cotton came to Moore County, there was some doubt that it would be a profitable crop. When the first crop has harvested, truckers were loaded with 100 bales and paraded through downtown Amarillo. The parade was followed by a big banquet.
Cox's Jewelry
J. Bob and Edna came to Dumas in July of 1948, after completing a watchmaker's school in Pennsylvania. The couple purchase the old Dumas Tire Shop at 612 S. Dumas Ave and opened a jewelry store, Cox's Jewelry.
Dore Garage & the Hupmobile
Charles Dore advertised that his "shop was equipped to handle all classes of repair work and carried a complete stock of car accessories, oils, greases, and casings." He also sold tires and ran the Hupmobile Service Station.
Earning Trading Stamps
Grocery shopping in the 1950's and 1960's meant heading to the store on Wednesdays, grocery list in hand, to do the weekly shopping and earn double trading stamps on purchases! Trading stamps were given every day, but Wednesdays meant DOUBLE stamps.
EO & W Railroad
In 1908, a 20-year old farmer from the Panhandle realized the need for better transportation to sell farm products and to secure supplies. He was Lynch Dodson who lived on a farm 12 miles west of Ochiltree. Dodson envisioned a railroad that connected Ochiltree to the Fort Worth and Denver railroad in Dalhart.
Exell Helium Plant
A reminder of an important chapter in Moore County history can be seen west of Masterson. A single water tower and a few scattered buildings remain where Exell Helium Plant manufactured helium during the 1940's to 1998.
First Registered Pharmacist
A little building on the corner of Sixth and Bliss held Morris Prescription Shop for many years. The business was run by C. R. Morris and his wife, Mary.
Foreman Service Station
Foreman came to Dumas in July of 1928 and according to the story, was "just off the farm and at loose ends." He shortly got into the service station business at Dumas Ave. and Sixth, first as an employee and then as the owner.
Gas Well Fire
In the archives at Window on the Plains is a story written by Mil Burnett Boyd about a gas well fire she witnessed. Mil had been gone a trip and she and a friend, Mag Burnett, were eating lunch and catching up on what had happened while Mil was out of town. Mil asked Mag about "a glow on the east horizon she had seen while driving into Dumas the night before."
Killgore Memorial Library
When the new courthouse was opened August of 1931, no arrangements had been made for a county library. Noel McDade became county judge in 1934 and designated a small room in the courthouse as a library. Some shelves were installed in the "bareboned" little room and some basic equipment, but few books were added.
Memorial Hospital
The need for hospital care was realized early in Moore County, but the first hospital was not built until 1933 and then by a doctor.
Post Office
Louis Dumas worked to establish post offices in Moore County in 1891.
Railroad
The coming of the railroad brought changes to Moore County and changed it from a small cattle town to a thriving industrial and agricultural center.
Rita Blanca
Rural Texas Panhandle observed a milestone in 2021. Seventy-five years ago, rural electrification began in the Panhandle. Getting electricity to the rural areas of the Panhandle was not an easy task, but two men from Moore County were part of the group that made it possible.
Shamrock Oil and Gas
John J. Sheerin becamed intrigued with the quest. He moved to Vernon and, with two partners, drilled eighty well, coming up with 77 producers. His quest for oil eventually took him to the Panhandle and he developed fields in Gray County and in the Borger area.
Shamrock Oil and Gas Explosion
No history of Moore County would be complete without the story of the July 29, 1956, Shamrock Oil and Gas Company explosion, 12 miles northeast of Dumas.
Townsite Company
Louis Dumas came to Moore County from Grayson County with the idea of establishing a town. A January 1891 edition of the Tascosa Pioneer reported that Louis Dumas had been in the Rivers (now Channing) area looking for a place to start a town.
Ansley Family
Benjamin Thomas Ansley moved from the Hill Country to Moore County because he "liked the land and he liked the men who were settling it." He and his brothers and sisters established businesses in Moore County -- a mercantile store, a freighting company, and a small bank.
Anderson Blacksmith
Anderson Blacksmith shop was owned by an immigrant from Norway, A. L. Anderson. He came to America at age 16 and moved to Moore County in 1902. The blacksmith shop was an integral part of early Moore County history.
Bennett Family
Little stories can tell a lot about history. In the book,
The Windswept Land
, a couple of events in the W. F. Bennett family tell about life that was much different than it is today. The stories were told by two of the Bennett children, Verna Bennett Swaggert and Charlie Bennett.
Bill Sheehan
Bill Sheehan came to Dumas in 1965 to open a law practice and by the time he left thirty years later, he had improved the lives of many Moore County children.
Bob Powell
It took a lot of vision for a young man of 20 to leave his family, travel over 300 miles to come to Moore County in 1900. Bob Powell was such a man. He came to this wide-open county and stayed to help shape Moore County.
Bob Sims
Unusual sounds came from the courthouse when R. E. "Bob" Sims was Justice of the Peace and had his office there.
Bose Family
The love of the land was evident in the Howard and Wendell Bose family. It started back in Germany with their grandmother, Anna Marie, who moved to Russia from Germany to find land. Her search for land and a home eventually led her son, the Bose Brothers, to the Middlewell Community in Moore County.
Boss Crump
R. L. Crump earned the name "Boss" by leading a cattle drive to Moore County. He stayed, worked as a cowboy, a freighter and rancher, leaving his mark on the growing county.
Brown Family
One of the buildings downtown has a name on the top -- "J. T. Brown" named after the man who came to Moore County with his family in 1901.
Charley Jones
Charley Rager Jones was living in Greer County, Oklahoma and ranching on a quarter section of land when he met Florence Jessie Burrow. She was living with the Bob Payne family and Charley was helping with threshing on the Payne farm.
Charlie Jameson
The museum has tried to preserve the history of area windmills. One, an Aeromotor, has become the symbol of the museum and stands on the southside of our building. The windmill was a gift of the Charlie Jameson family and was erected by Dumas Water Well Service in 2002 when the museum moved to its new location.
Daugherty Family
Window on the Plains Museum has special connections with a couple of the early Moore County families -- the W. W. Daugherty and A. B. Burnett families. The museum was built on land that was part of the A. B. Burnett ranch and the museum building was made possible, in part, by a bequest from Jessie Glynn Daugherty Burnett.
Ezelle Fox
An immigrant train brought Ezelle Fox and his family to Moore County when he was only six weeks old. He remained to make Moore County his home for 77 years and became a "walking history" of the county.
Finous Collings
A traveling grocery salesman chose Moore County to be his home and took his life savings and bought one-half of a grocery store in Dumas, and another in Sunray "because he liked the people."
Foster Watkins
The story of one of the Demon football legends began in a dugout in Memphis, Texas, in 1916. Foster J. Watkins was 18 months old when his parents died, leaving Foster and 9 brothers and sisters as orphans,
Fowlston
While driving on Christmas Eve in 1924, J. W. Fowlston saw an deserted oil derrick outlined by a full moon and decided to use that vision of a derrick as his cattle brand. He owned no cattle at the time, but had plans to make his vision a reality.
Fred Makeig
Fred Sherwood Makeig boarded an immigrant train in McClennan County in 1904 and came to Moore County to work a farm. He left behind his wife, Ella, and young daughter, Gladys. They followed two weeks later, arriving by train in Channing, then came in a hack to Dumas.
Frenchy McCormick
A couple of names from the late 1880's stand out in the history of the area -- Old Tascosa and Frenchy McCormick.
Fuqua Younger
Seeing a mountain lion in Moore County is not a common sight, but a story in a 1984 Moore County News-Press tells about one that was on the Fuqua Younger farm west of Dumas.
George Brown
W. H. and Cornelia Ann Brown came to Moore County in 1890 and homesteaded four sections of land northwest of Four Way.
Gladys Carroll
A Dumas artist who came to Moore County as an infant, left a legacy for Moore County that tells stories about an earlier time in history.
Grace Cullender
Emigrant trains were an important part of settling the Panhandle. One family who came to the Panhandle in 1904 on one of these trains was Albert Burr Cullender, his wife, Grace A. Shaw Cullender, and two small children. The family made their home in Hartley and nine more children were born to the couple. The youngest daughter was name Grace after her mother.
Guy and Lucille Reed
Guy and Lucille Reed were part of a partnership with Dr. W. A. Brown which produced three products that were developed by the doctor. The products were Burn-Eze, Chest-Eze, and Bingo.
Harold Dean Morton
In 2020, Window on the Plains Museum and Moore County lost an "old-timer" and an important part of the museum. His 86-year old brain was still sharp and could relate stories of the past with great accuracy.
Henry DeLamar
For many years, a gateway east of town had the name "DeLamar" at the top. When the gate was originally built is unknown but it marked the farm home of the Henry DeLamars, first of Henry Arthur and Ethelyn DeLamar, then Henry Arthur and Patricia DeLamar.
Hickman Coffee Group
Hickman scrapbook tells a story of a local coffee group that met every morning at ten o'clock and solved all the problems of the day -- from politics to weather to fishing to "who knows what".
Howard Qualls
The exhibit of Dumas High School memorabilia at Window on the Plains is centered around photographs of graduating seniors. The photographs start with the class of 1929. One of the photographers was Howard Qualls who moved here in 1956 to open a business.
James Pistole
In 1990, an 80 year-old man from Richmond and his three daughters came to Dumas to see the grave of an infant son, James A. Pistole, who died in 1931.
Jesse Cooper
A young man from Hall County, Texas moved to Moore County in September of 1937 and began leaving his mark on agriculture and business endeavors. Jesse Cooper was from Estelline, born April 4, 1913. He married Winona Whiteside on June 9, 1935.
Jesse Edward Wells
Jesse Edward "Ed" Wells was born December 16, 1884. His father died when he was four. His mother died two years later. He was shuttled among relatives, but finally came to live with an uncle and aunt, Dorie and Carrie McElroy in Vernon, Texas.
John Cook
A handwritten note on the side of a document led to find "the rest of the story". The story tells of John Cook, probably the first white man to come to Moore County.
Josie Feltz
Young Josie was twelve years old and the youngest girl of ten children. She started attending school in the Middlewell School with Mr. Makeig as her teacher. About twenty students were in the school.
Judge Woodson Coffee Jr.
History and particularly, family history, was important to Woodson Coffee Jr. He spent much of his life preserving history and researching to find facts about his family.
Julius Weidling
The first president of the Dumas Lions Club came to Moore County because he became dissatisfied with the confines of city life in Topeka, KS. He came to Moore County in 1912 and purchased 1600 acres seven miles south of Dumas to build a high-grade cattle ranch and farm.
Lois Sims
Lois Sims was a familiar face at First State Bank for 29 years. Her son, Leland, was part of the infamous death march from Marvelles Field to San Fernando on Luzon.
Louis & Florence Dumas
Louis Dumas and his dream of founding a new town are well known in our town that was named after him. Little has been written about his wife, Florence, or of his life before coming to Moore County.
Louis Dumas
Louis Dumas had a vision of starting a town on the wide-open plains of the Panhandle. At age 34, he and the others in the Townsite Company did just that in 1891.
Louis Trumble
Louis Philip Trumble, first county judge in Moore County, was born in Quebec, Canada on December 8, 1861.
Marshall Cator
Marshall Cator and his love for cattle led him to create a cattle empire in the Texas Panhandle. Even when his hearing and eyesight were falling, he still helped with cattle round-ups and branding.
Mary Eleanor Mowery
Immigrants trains brought many families to Moore County in the early 1900's. Mary Eleanor Parks was a young 16-year old when she came with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Parks, in December of 1904.
Messengers
Helen Danner came to Moore County in 1909 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Danner. The family bought a wood-frame house one mile east of Middlewell.
Mil Boyd
When young Mildred Irene (Mil) Burnett arrived in Dumas with her family, her first thoughts were, "On a late spring day in 1918 as my family and I approached the city of Dumas all I could see was a courthouse, windmill and water tower silhouetted against the rainy sky. It looked as it was situated on the open prairie. I wasn't far wrong! The houses were few and far between. I wasn't sure then that I wanted to live in Dumas."
Mills Family
J. C. "Jim" Mills came to Texas from Tennessee at age 14. His first job was working on the railroad in Fort Worth.
Morton Family
W. J. Morton Jr. tells the story of the Morton family in a book he wrote in 1966 called
Snowstorms, Dust Storms, and Horses' Tails.
Noel McDade
Noel McDade came to Moore County as a young man in 1906 and tackled many tasks to make this a better place to live. He operated a store and a bank, worked to incorporate the city, served as county judge, worked to stop soil erosion, lobbied Washington to stop bank foreclosures on land during the dust bowl, helped bring the railroad to Moore County -- just to name a few.
Old Sam
Sam Russell was well known by most people in Dumas beginning in the 1940's until his death in 1972.
Portman Family
Jeremiah and Elizabeth Portman came to Moore County in 1891 to operate a hotel and find a dead cowboy.
Ralph Bynum
In 2007, Ralph Bynum, Board of the Directors Vice President, stopped by my desk and announced, "We need to have a fundraiser. Let's have a tractor show."
As casual as the announcement was made, Ralph immediately began planning. He posted a yearly calendar on the wall of the office and began filling the dates with the necessary steps to make the fundraiser successful. I was still trying to absorb the idea and the first Museum Day was already underway!
Record Family
Charles H. Record and Polly Bruner were married October 12, 1876, in Illinois. Polly's father had given legal permission for her to marry at age 14. They came to Texas in 1879. Charles was working on building the railroad from Wichita Falls to Amarillo.
Salon Bull
Salon Bull came to Texas with his emigrant family in 1853. Bull came to Moore County and filed on some land on the South Palo Duro Creek in eastern Moore County in 1892. He became known for raising horses.
Sneed
Joseph Tyre Sneed, Jr. grew up in Georgetown in Williamson County. His father had built up a substantial ranching operation based in the county and young Joe had developed a keen interest in the cattle business.
Sophie Thigpen
Sophie Thigpen had lived in Dumas about eight years when she saw the opportunity to enter politics and became the first woman to be elected to a public office in Moore County.
Tom Ferguson
A 1947 Hudson has a new home at Window on the Plains Museum -- a gift of Tom Ferguson of Dumas. A sense of pride lights up Ferguson's face when he talks about that 1947 Hudson that at one time was owned by his grandfather.
Chester Logue
Chester Logue was one of about 20 cowboys working cattle on a round-up on the Beauchamp Ranch in 1927. The cowboys started discussing who would run for sheriff in the upcoming election. They decided Chester Logue was the best choice. "It seemed preposterous at the time, but everyone I talked to about it thought I'd make a good sheriff," Logue said in a 1975 newspaper interview.
First Sheriff
The first sheriff of Moore County, W. H. Lewis, had the gun that shot Billy the Kid. Lewis tells the story, "Jim East was part of the Garrett posse who shot the Kid. It was before my time but I heard enough about the killing. The Kid's girl was supposed to have betrayed him. Garrett got in the house when the Kid was asleep and shot him as he lay in bed." East gave the gun to Lewis following one of the elections.
Sheriff Fuqua Younger
The Youngers moved from Moore County, then returned in 1917, stayed only a couple of years, then moved to Canyon. According to
Windswept Land
, Fuqua remained in Dumas and was part of "tales of those days in the 1920's that are as clear and funny as they happened yesterday."
Sheriffs' Tales
Short stories found in 1997 newspaper tell tales of Moore County Sheriffs.
Caraway Murder
The first murder in Moore County was in 1902 and was solved with the help of a dog.
Controversy in County Commission
The archives at Window on the Plains Museum contains an article from the June 8, 1972 Moore County News-Press concerning some "Official Arguments that Sometimes Got Warm."
Dellinger Shoot-Out
The Texas Panhandle had its own Dellinger shoot-out in 1930. The famous, John Dillinger of Chicago was not involved, but Lon Dellinger who was charged with kidnapping and jail break in Dallam County.
Leverton Murder
Dispute over use of a cabin and cattle lead to John Leverton being shot 13 times and a Texas Ranger being brought to trial.
Night Watchman
"Would-Be Robber Kidnap Night Watchman" were headlines in the local newspaper in 1931. Robbers tried to rob the bank, not once, but twice!
Armistice Day
World War I officially ceased with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919 in the Palace of Versailles in France. Fighting had ceased seven months earlier when an armistice between the Allied Nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh month or November 11, 1918 and was regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars".
Blanton
A young Confederate soldier from Tennessee tells his story of fighting in the Civil War and being taken prisoner. When released from prison, he began the walk back to Tennessee form Illinois.
Confederate Soldiers
Texas was considered a Confederate State during the Civil War, but not many soldiers were actually from Texas. After the war, many returned to their homes in the south to find there was not much left. They chose to start a new life away from the war torn South. At least three graves in the Dumas Cemetery are for soldiers that fought for the Confederacy -- Dr. Samuel W. Anthony, William J. McAdams, and Joseph Layette McDade.
Jeeter Bug and Harter
Crew of the Jeeter Bug stationed in Guam during World War II had an emergency landing in the middle of Iwo Jima. They had to find a way to repair their plant and return to Guam. It took 87 hours and became one of the longest lasting missions of WWII.
Military Academy
Three young men from Moore County attended Amarillo Military Academy in 1913.
1930's Dust Storms Remembered
In an interview in 1972, Mrs. Clyde Messenger of Middlewell recalled a Sunday afternoon in the mid 1930's.
1935 Dust Storms
A story in Window on the Plains archives was written by Delbert Lewis about the 1935 Dust Storm. He remembers the storms from a child's view point, but written after he was older. He titled it "1935 Dust Storms".
1950s County Fire
A fast-moving fire that started on the Coon Ranch south of Dumas in 1950 went in record books as one of the most-crippling disasters suffered by Panhandle ranchers and farmers.
4-H Programs
When J. B. Waide Jr. came to Moore County in 1937 as county agent, he found a county that had very limited assistance for any kind of agriculture programs, including 4-H programs.
A Child's Grave
The Panhandle area of Texas in the late 1870's was mostly populated with cattle grazed by some big ranches on land leased from the State of Texas. The land today is marked by trails worn in the land and by graves marked where people passed or lived.
Abert
James W. Abert and a party of 33 explorers crossed Moore County in 1845 to survey Texas as part of the United States annexation of the state. They were part of the third expedition of John Charles Fremont whose assignment was to explore from Fort Bent along the Canadian River through Kiowa and Commanche territory.
Antique Bottles
The county courthouse was constructed in the early 1930's and the top floor was built to house the jail as well as an apartment for the county sheriff. In 1979, county commissioners realized the need for a larger facility for the jail and offices. During excavation, treasures started appearing in the piles of dirt. At least the items were were treasures to collectors of old bottles.
Belle Plain
The oil and gas boom in the 1920's prompted the rise of numerous towns. One of those towns was Borger and a little town on the eastern edge of Moore County - Belle Plain. A scattering of foundations where businesses and houses stood is all that is left of the little town.
Betty Crocker Cookbooks
The museum has received a collection of items that includes many kitchen items. One of the items is a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook.
Blizzards
One of the worst Panhandle blizzards came in February of 1948.
Brands in Ranching
One of the unique displays at the museum features two large boards with local brands burned on them. The boards were branded in 1976 when Moore County Historical Museum started.
Burma Shave
One of the "little" treasures at Window on the Plains is a part of the Barber Shop display. donated to the museum by Jackie Funk and Mike Funk. It's a little yellow book called
The Verse By the Side of the Road
written by the grandson of the man who started making Burma Shave.
Cattle Drives
After the Civil War, there was a big demand for beef and a market developed on the eastern coast for beef and beef-related products like leather and rawhide for drive belts in factories and leather for clothing.
Charles Lindbergh
A 1933 Panhandle dust storm causes Charles Lindbergh to land his plane south of Dumas. He and his wife spent the night near the plane on the Coon Ranch and continued their journey the following morning.
Clark Trip
A little newsletter called
Knight Letter
was found in the museum's archive files. The article was written by Frank Clark of Ada, Oklahoma and gives a detail account of a trip overland through Southwestern Kansas, Southeastern Colorado, Northeastern New Mexico, and the Panhandle of Texas.
Coon Lake
The lake was operated by a corporation of fifty local citizens for fishing and recreation.
Coronado Homes
The year 1941 brought many changes to Moore County. The American Zinc Smelter was expanding and the Cactus Ordnance Plant was under construction. With the changes, housing for workers and their families became a problem.
Crawford Ranch
Travelers between Dumas and Amarillo have watched the picturesque scene at the Crawford Ranch, 20 miles south of Dumas, continually change as the house and corrals crumbled and finally fell.
County Named After Navy Commodore
Why is Moore County named after a man who was born in Virginia, joined the U.S. Navy, became commander of the First Texas Navy, was eventually brought to trial for court martial and was called "an outlaw and pirate" by Sam Houston?
Ding Dong Daddy
Songwriter Phil Baxter visited Dumas in the 1920's and wrote a song about Dumas -- I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas. It became a popular song across the country and the theme song of our local radio station.
Doctors
Early days doctors in Moore County built the bases for our good health care. The first doctor came in 1885, followed in 1908 by Dr. Samuel Anthony. Others have followed and left their mark on Dumas and Moore County.
Dogie Days
Old Timer's Celebration in the 1900's led to the modern day Dogie Days. A barbecue has always been an important part of the celebrations.
Drift Fence
The fence did what it was supposed to, but was the reason come cattlemen went bankrupt.
Dumas Youth Wrestling
An exhibit was featured at Window on the Plains Museum in 2019 and recognized the Dumas Youth Wrestling Club, and its founder, Dean Collins.
Everyday Chores
The number of chores necessary to keep a family going seemed never ending in the early days of Moore County. W. J. Morton remembered all the chores in a story in
Windswept Land
.
First All-Women Jury
Until 1954, women in Moore County were not called for jury duty but in other parts of the United States and territories, women were allowed to serve much earlier.
First Automobile Registered
As Moore County was being settled in the early 1900's, transportation was by wagon, buggy, horse or mule. Some families began looking at a modern form of transportation -- an automobile.
First Census
The first census of the Texas Panhandle was taken in 1880, four years after the Indians were defeated and confined on reservations. No inhabitants were reported in Moore County. The 1890 census reported 1611 persons living in the 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle, 1188 males and 423 females. Most of the census is lost, only some end figures survived, which lists 15 persons in Moore County.
First Moore County Wedding
Moore County had very few residents in the late 1800's and very few weddings. The county had been organized for two years before the first wedding. The county had fewer than 100 people and young people of marriage-able were few.
First Newspaper
Newspapers have been a part of Moore County since the late 1800's. According to the Library of Congress, the first newspaper was the Dumas Weekly Headlight which started in 1897.
First School
As people came to Moore County in the late 1890's and early 1900's, school became an important part of the county development.
First Telephone Exchange
The Hartley-Dumas Telephone Company provided phone service to Dumas, Hartley and Sunray in 1928 when R. L. and Maud Spencer came from Oklahoma to purchase the business. The exchange had only 41 telephones, most of those in Hartley.
Greeting Cards
Sending greeting cards dates back to the ancient Chinese and to the Egyptians who use papyrus to send messages. Cards appeared in the United States in the 1940's.
Highway Markers
Moore County is filled with history any direction you go and that history is marked with historical markers along the roads. The markers tell of the cattle trails, explorers who crossed the county, industries, geological findings, and other facts of history.
History from the Courthouse Basement
When Rhonnie Campbell took office as Moore County Clerk in January of 1971, she and deputy clerk, Katie Vitz, found early-day court records stored in the courthouse basement.
House in Middlewell
The files in the archives room are filled with stories, some familiar, some untold. One file had a story of a house that now is 116 years old. The house was built by Jimmy Lee in the Middlewell Community.
Language of a Cowboy
In January 1976, George Turner, a staff writer for the Amarillo Globe-News, published an article, "Cowboys of the Panhandle Used Colorful Language." The article begins with a description of the grasslands of the High Plains, the gigantic bison herds, the Indians and sheep herders.
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor tells in Rev. I. E. Walker's words the story of coming to Moore County, of attending school at the Palo Duro school, of working as a ranch hand and as serving as pastor of the church here.
Lions Club
List of past presidents, sweethearts, and old-timers.
Meteorites
Space rocks or meteorites have been found in several places in Moore County. Some have been large and others small.
Miniature Horses
In the late 1980's, Dumas had an attraction just south of town that had cars and even buses stopping to watch.
Moore County 1931
In the midst of The Great Depression, an article in The Moore County News highlighted the news of the past year. The article was dated January 1, 1932, and was headlined
Goodbye 1931; You Weren't so Bad To Dumas & Moore Co.
Moore County Fair
W. J. Morton and Charles Sheldon founded the Moore County Fair in 1953 to give citizens a place to exhibit agriculture, culinary, fine arts, and livestock.
Naming the Counties
Each county in the Texas Panhandle were named after someone in the county or someone who was important to the history of Texas.
Old Henry the Mule
One of the mules on the farm was Old Henry. Henry was not an ordinary mule, but was one with a distinct personality.
Parking Meters
Parking meters along the business streets of most towns were a common sight for many years. Today, they are things of the past.
Phone Book Collection
The archives rooms at Window on the Plains Museum has a collection of telephone books dating back to 1936. A few years are missing, but the missing ones are sometimes filled when a private collection is brought to us.
Sandy the Golden Palomino
The legend of Sandy the Palomino horse is well known -- especially to students who attended school at Sunset school.
Semi Pro Baseball
Moon Shot is a word that fits only in baseball. One Dumas resident is more familiar with the word than most. He was part of the original "Moon Shot".
Tascosa-Dodge City Trail
One Moore County family had close connection to the Tascosa-Dodge City Trail of the 1870's. It crossed through the Panhandle and across their land, 12 miles east of Dumas. The land belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Willis, grandparents of Mrs. Martha Crabb, Delbert H. Lewis and Mary Griffin.
Timeline
Moore County history is told in a timeline beginning in the late 1800's. The first 75 years are outlined in this story.
Tonics
It's always interesting what we find in our archives! When researching the Daughtery and Burnett family a few weeks ago, we found a copy of a story in the Buffalo County Republican in Wisconsin. The story is dated June 11. 1895. The story was a testimony by G. Jacob Sexauer who had taken Gloria Tonic and was so excited about his recovery that he wanted to share his good news.
Tornadoes
As the weather changes from winter's cold and snow, residents of the Texas Panhandle realize that it can sometimes bring storms, filled with blowing winds and hail. The rolling storm clouds can also turn in tornadoes. Nine tornadoes have been recorded in Moore County, the earliest on August 19, 1964.
Weather
Everyone is talking about the weather! Not enough rain, temperatures too hot or too cold. It's a good topic.
Borger Boom Town
The oil boom of the late 1920's brought problems to neighboring Borger and to Moore County. Roughnecks coming to Borger to work in the oil fields brought with them gambling houses and lawlessness.
Cactus Village
"Forty years ago (
now eighty years ago
) what is now the City of Cactus was a chunk of dryland pasture at the extreme north edge of Moore County with an unbroken skyline all the 14 miles south to Dumas."
Channing
Neighboring county, Hartley, has a history somewhat different than Moore County. It is built around the railroad and two of the towns that grew because of the railroad. The county was named for two brothers, Oliver C. and Rufus K. Hartley. The county began organizing in 1891 when W. D. Twichell laid out the Channing townsite.
Channing Methodist Church
Neighboring Hartley County was one of the earliest settled counties in the Panhandle and home of the first Methodist church north of the Canadian River.
Masterson
The road between Amarillo and Dumas goes through mostly ranchland, but passes through what remains of a town that has had two names.
Window on the Plains Museum
1820 S. Dumas Ave.
Dumas, TX 79029
(806) 935-3113
The Art Center
1810 S. Dumas Ave.
Dumas, TX 79029
(806) 935-5312
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Dumas Museum & Art Center
Home
Window on the Plains Museum
Membership Information
Museum Day
Bits of History
The Art Center
Membership Information
Upcoming Exhibits
Upcoming Workshops
Bits of History
Bits of History
is a treasured collection of stories written by long-time employee and devoted museum supporter Glynda Pflug, whose passion for preserving our heritage continues to inspire us even after her passing. Drawing on her extensive research, Glynda explored a wide range of local subjects and shared her findings through articles published in the local newspaper. Her work lives on in three compiled book volumes available in our gift shop. The full collection is also accessible on our website, ensuring her dedication to telling our community’s story remains available to all.
Exhibits
Business & Industries
People & Families
Law Enforcement
Crimes
Military
Miscellaneous History
Neighboring Towns
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1920's Blue House
Many years of experience by a master carpenter helped create a replica of an early 1920's family home, a major display in Window on the Plains. We call it "the blue house" because it has a blue roof and the trim is painted blue.
Aquatic Weed Cutter
The museum has an artifact that not may museums have -- an aquatic weed cutter. The cutter was a donation from Rex and Susan McCloy of Blue Ranch.
Beller Organ
One of the many unusual items at Window on the Plains is a beautiful ornate organ which was donated by a family from Dalhart. The organ was the man's grandmother's when she was a child. The organ is part of the entertainment display in our Family Life Room.
Camp Meetings
In the early 1900's, camp meetings were held by traveling preachers. Sometimes they were held under a grove of trees, sometimes just in the open, and occasionally, they would be in a large tent, if the preacher had one. An exhibit at Window on the Plains is a display of a camp meeting.
Charlie the Buffalo
In days past, buffalo roamed this area by the thousands. Today, Window on the Plains Museum has its own buffalo who stands as a sentinel watching a plains area that has no resemblance of the past.
Demon Barber Shop
How did the Demon Barber Shop get its name? Probably everyone knows the story, but some newspaper clippings brought to the museum recently told the history of the name.
First Firetruck
Two firetrucks are along the walking trail at Window on the Plains Museum, one is the original truck purchased by the city in 1929 and was used by the fire department until 1962.
Flagpole
A flagpole flying a Texas flag has been erected near the playground at Window on the Plains Museum. It is not just an ordinary flagpole, but one that carries a history unique to Moore County and possible the entire country. It was made by Prisoners of War from World War II.
Game Consoles
Video games have gone from small hand-held games to big gaming systems on big screen televisions.
General Store
The first mercantile store was opened in Moore County in 1892. Other similar stores have served Moore County and made their mark on our history.
Lincoln-Style Walnut Bed
Exhibited in the Family Life Room at Window on the Plains Museum, this bed was gifted by Ken and Diane Schmidtman.
Maximilian
In one of the showcases at Window on the Plains Museum, a special little creature, a horny toad, horned lizard or
Phrynosoma Corutum
, sits on a pile of rocks just waiting to attract the attention of visitors. Many visitors pass the showcase not even seeing him, thinking it is a showcase filled with rocks.
Museum Milestone
A milestone was reached for Window on the Plains on March 26, 2020, the twentieth anniversary of a groundbreaking held to start a building that would be the new home for the museum.
Ranch Kitchen
The ranch house features a beautiful Majestic wood-burning range -- "top of the line" for the early 1910's.
Ranch Office
The Sneed Ranch was one of the largest ranches in the 1900's. Several items from that ranch were donated to the museum by Elizabeth Sneed Robinette Pool and are on display in the ranch house office.
Simms Cut Glass Collection
A collection of beautiful cut glass, a gift from Mary Wiseman Simms, sparkles in a showcase at Window on the Plains Museum.
Stagecoach
A stagecoach that traveled the west delivering passengers and mail has now made its home at Window on the Plains Museum. The stagecoach was placed at the museum by Bryan Garner of Amarillo. The stagecoach was found in Kansas City after a six-weeks search about ten years ago. It is estimated to be about 150 years old.
Tack Rooms
One corner of the Family Life Center at Window on the Plains has a display of tack and branding irons that were used in early Moore County. Walls of the area are made from barn wood from the W. J. Morton farm, east of Dumas.
Telephones
A lot of "firsts" happened in the telephone industry. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the first telephone, although six other inventors were working on inventions at the same time.
Windmills
Windmills are disappearing across the Panhandle and with it the history that changed a dry land to one that could be used for ranching and agriculture. Wind turbines and solar energy have replaced the picturesque windmills that dotted the Panhandle.
American Zinc
The American Zinc file in the archives room at the museum tells the story of the hot, hard jobs done by workers at the plant. When the plant opened in 1936, it was one of the smallest horizontal retort zinc smelters in the country. It grew to become one of the largest zinc plants in the country.
American Zinc: The End of an Industry
All that remains from a once large industry in Moore County are two 70' smoke stacks, one small smoke stack, an empty office building and a large metal building that is in the process of being torn down. The industry provided employment for over 380 men, who supported 1800 family members.
The Art Center
The walls of The Art Center were covered during the summer of 2022 with the story of how the art association began. The story of the dedication of the founders of the organization is told in items from the organization's scrapbooks. The gallery exhibit includes art work by the group of founders. Items from the association's permanent collection is displayed in the classroom.
Bakeries
Bakery items are popular items on any dinner table -- whether it is cookies, cakes, pies, bread or doughnuts. One of the early bakeries in Dumas was opened by brothers who had been running a successful bakery business in Amarillo.
Bowling
For decades, the lanes at Oak Lanes Bowling were always filled with avid bowlers in league competition and with those bowling just for fun.
Broxson's
"Seeing a need and finding a solution for that need" might have been the philosophy for the life of Lewis Albert Broxson.
Cactus Ordnance Plant
In April 1941, Moore County received a telegram from Congressman Eugene Worley reporting a contract with Chemical Construction Company of New York to build, equip, and staff a manufacturing plant in Moore County. Information was kept secretive and details were few, since it was a wartime project.
Camp Housing
As early as the 1930s and 1940s housing was built next to industries and provided homes for employees. These houses were called "camps". Having homes close to where they worked was a convenience for workers and employers alike.
CIG
John Wesley Longstreth came to the Texas Panhandle from Pennsylvania in 1928 to supervise the construction of the Canadian River Gas Company Pumping Plant, 19 miles south of Dumas.
City Gas Well
Discovery of gas for the city of Dumas led to a town celebration including a barbeque, rodeo, dance, and a baseball game.
Cotton
When cotton came to Moore County, there was some doubt that it would be a profitable crop. When the first crop has harvested, truckers were loaded with 100 bales and paraded through downtown Amarillo. The parade was followed by a big banquet.
Cox's Jewelry
J. Bob and Edna came to Dumas in July of 1948, after completing a watchmaker's school in Pennsylvania. The couple purchase the old Dumas Tire Shop at 612 S. Dumas Ave and opened a jewelry store, Cox's Jewelry.
Dore Garage & the Hupmobile
Charles Dore advertised that his "shop was equipped to handle all classes of repair work and carried a complete stock of car accessories, oils, greases, and casings." He also sold tires and ran the Hupmobile Service Station.
Earning Trading Stamps
Grocery shopping in the 1950's and 1960's meant heading to the store on Wednesdays, grocery list in hand, to do the weekly shopping and earn double trading stamps on purchases! Trading stamps were given every day, but Wednesdays meant DOUBLE stamps.
EO & W Railroad
In 1908, a 20-year old farmer from the Panhandle realized the need for better transportation to sell farm products and to secure supplies. He was Lynch Dodson who lived on a farm 12 miles west of Ochiltree. Dodson envisioned a railroad that connected Ochiltree to the Fort Worth and Denver railroad in Dalhart.
Exell Helium Plant
A reminder of an important chapter in Moore County history can be seen west of Masterson. A single water tower and a few scattered buildings remain where Exell Helium Plant manufactured helium during the 1940's to 1998.
First Registered Pharmacist
A little building on the corner of Sixth and Bliss held Morris Prescription Shop for many years. The business was run by C. R. Morris and his wife, Mary.
Foreman Service Station
Foreman came to Dumas in July of 1928 and according to the story, was "just off the farm and at loose ends." He shortly got into the service station business at Dumas Ave. and Sixth, first as an employee and then as the owner.
Gas Well Fire
In the archives at Window on the Plains is a story written by Mil Burnett Boyd about a gas well fire she witnessed. Mil had been gone a trip and she and a friend, Mag Burnett, were eating lunch and catching up on what had happened while Mil was out of town. Mil asked Mag about "a glow on the east horizon she had seen while driving into Dumas the night before."
Killgore Memorial Library
When the new courthouse was opened August of 1931, no arrangements had been made for a county library. Noel McDade became county judge in 1934 and designated a small room in the courthouse as a library. Some shelves were installed in the "bareboned" little room and some basic equipment, but few books were added.
Memorial Hospital
The need for hospital care was realized early in Moore County, but the first hospital was not built until 1933 and then by a doctor.
Post Office
Louis Dumas worked to establish post offices in Moore County in 1891.
Railroad
The coming of the railroad brought changes to Moore County and changed it from a small cattle town to a thriving industrial and agricultural center.
Rita Blanca
Rural Texas Panhandle observed a milestone in 2021. Seventy-five years ago, rural electrification began in the Panhandle. Getting electricity to the rural areas of the Panhandle was not an easy task, but two men from Moore County were part of the group that made it possible.
Shamrock Oil and Gas
John J. Sheerin becamed intrigued with the quest. He moved to Vernon and, with two partners, drilled eighty well, coming up with 77 producers. His quest for oil eventually took him to the Panhandle and he developed fields in Gray County and in the Borger area.
Shamrock Oil and Gas Explosion
No history of Moore County would be complete without the story of the July 29, 1956, Shamrock Oil and Gas Company explosion, 12 miles northeast of Dumas.
Townsite Company
Louis Dumas came to Moore County from Grayson County with the idea of establishing a town. A January 1891 edition of the Tascosa Pioneer reported that Louis Dumas had been in the Rivers (now Channing) area looking for a place to start a town.
Ansley Family
Benjamin Thomas Ansley moved from the Hill Country to Moore County because he "liked the land and he liked the men who were settling it." He and his brothers and sisters established businesses in Moore County -- a mercantile store, a freighting company, and a small bank.
Anderson Blacksmith
Anderson Blacksmith shop was owned by an immigrant from Norway, A. L. Anderson. He came to America at age 16 and moved to Moore County in 1902. The blacksmith shop was an integral part of early Moore County history.
Bennett Family
Little stories can tell a lot about history. In the book,
The Windswept Land
, a couple of events in the W. F. Bennett family tell about life that was much different than it is today. The stories were told by two of the Bennett children, Verna Bennett Swaggert and Charlie Bennett.
Bill Sheehan
Bill Sheehan came to Dumas in 1965 to open a law practice and by the time he left thirty years later, he had improved the lives of many Moore County children.
Bob Powell
It took a lot of vision for a young man of 20 to leave his family, travel over 300 miles to come to Moore County in 1900. Bob Powell was such a man. He came to this wide-open county and stayed to help shape Moore County.
Bob Sims
Unusual sounds came from the courthouse when R. E. "Bob" Sims was Justice of the Peace and had his office there.
Bose Family
The love of the land was evident in the Howard and Wendell Bose family. It started back in Germany with their grandmother, Anna Marie, who moved to Russia from Germany to find land. Her search for land and a home eventually led her son, the Bose Brothers, to the Middlewell Community in Moore County.
Boss Crump
R. L. Crump earned the name "Boss" by leading a cattle drive to Moore County. He stayed, worked as a cowboy, a freighter and rancher, leaving his mark on the growing county.
Brown Family
One of the buildings downtown has a name on the top -- "J. T. Brown" named after the man who came to Moore County with his family in 1901.
Charley Jones
Charley Rager Jones was living in Greer County, Oklahoma and ranching on a quarter section of land when he met Florence Jessie Burrow. She was living with the Bob Payne family and Charley was helping with threshing on the Payne farm.
Charlie Jameson
The museum has tried to preserve the history of area windmills. One, an Aeromotor, has become the symbol of the museum and stands on the southside of our building. The windmill was a gift of the Charlie Jameson family and was erected by Dumas Water Well Service in 2002 when the museum moved to its new location.
Daugherty Family
Window on the Plains Museum has special connections with a couple of the early Moore County families -- the W. W. Daugherty and A. B. Burnett families. The museum was built on land that was part of the A. B. Burnett ranch and the museum building was made possible, in part, by a bequest from Jessie Glynn Daugherty Burnett.
Ezelle Fox
An immigrant train brought Ezelle Fox and his family to Moore County when he was only six weeks old. He remained to make Moore County his home for 77 years and became a "walking history" of the county.
Finous Collings
A traveling grocery salesman chose Moore County to be his home and took his life savings and bought one-half of a grocery store in Dumas, and another in Sunray "because he liked the people."
Foster Watkins
The story of one of the Demon football legends began in a dugout in Memphis, Texas, in 1916. Foster J. Watkins was 18 months old when his parents died, leaving Foster and 9 brothers and sisters as orphans,
Fowlston
While driving on Christmas Eve in 1924, J. W. Fowlston saw an deserted oil derrick outlined by a full moon and decided to use that vision of a derrick as his cattle brand. He owned no cattle at the time, but had plans to make his vision a reality.
Fred Makeig
Fred Sherwood Makeig boarded an immigrant train in McClennan County in 1904 and came to Moore County to work a farm. He left behind his wife, Ella, and young daughter, Gladys. They followed two weeks later, arriving by train in Channing, then came in a hack to Dumas.
Frenchy McCormick
A couple of names from the late 1880's stand out in the history of the area -- Old Tascosa and Frenchy McCormick.
Fuqua Younger
Seeing a mountain lion in Moore County is not a common sight, but a story in a 1984 Moore County News-Press tells about one that was on the Fuqua Younger farm west of Dumas.
George Brown
W. H. and Cornelia Ann Brown came to Moore County in 1890 and homesteaded four sections of land northwest of Four Way.
Gladys Carroll
A Dumas artist who came to Moore County as an infant, left a legacy for Moore County that tells stories about an earlier time in history.
Grace Cullender
Emigrant trains were an important part of settling the Panhandle. One family who came to the Panhandle in 1904 on one of these trains was Albert Burr Cullender, his wife, Grace A. Shaw Cullender, and two small children. The family made their home in Hartley and nine more children were born to the couple. The youngest daughter was name Grace after her mother.
Guy and Lucille Reed
Guy and Lucille Reed were part of a partnership with Dr. W. A. Brown which produced three products that were developed by the doctor. The products were Burn-Eze, Chest-Eze, and Bingo.
Harold Dean Morton
In 2020, Window on the Plains Museum and Moore County lost an "old-timer" and an important part of the museum. His 86-year old brain was still sharp and could relate stories of the past with great accuracy.
Henry DeLamar
For many years, a gateway east of town had the name "DeLamar" at the top. When the gate was originally built is unknown but it marked the farm home of the Henry DeLamars, first of Henry Arthur and Ethelyn DeLamar, then Henry Arthur and Patricia DeLamar.
Hickman Coffee Group
Hickman scrapbook tells a story of a local coffee group that met every morning at ten o'clock and solved all the problems of the day -- from politics to weather to fishing to "who knows what".
Howard Qualls
The exhibit of Dumas High School memorabilia at Window on the Plains is centered around photographs of graduating seniors. The photographs start with the class of 1929. One of the photographers was Howard Qualls who moved here in 1956 to open a business.
James Pistole
In 1990, an 80 year-old man from Richmond and his three daughters came to Dumas to see the grave of an infant son, James A. Pistole, who died in 1931.
Jesse Cooper
A young man from Hall County, Texas moved to Moore County in September of 1937 and began leaving his mark on agriculture and business endeavors. Jesse Cooper was from Estelline, born April 4, 1913. He married Winona Whiteside on June 9, 1935.
Jesse Edward Wells
Jesse Edward "Ed" Wells was born December 16, 1884. His father died when he was four. His mother died two years later. He was shuttled among relatives, but finally came to live with an uncle and aunt, Dorie and Carrie McElroy in Vernon, Texas.
John Cook
A handwritten note on the side of a document led to find "the rest of the story". The story tells of John Cook, probably the first white man to come to Moore County.
Josie Feltz
Young Josie was twelve years old and the youngest girl of ten children. She started attending school in the Middlewell School with Mr. Makeig as her teacher. About twenty students were in the school.
Judge Woodson Coffee Jr.
History and particularly, family history, was important to Woodson Coffee Jr. He spent much of his life preserving history and researching to find facts about his family.
Julius Weidling
The first president of the Dumas Lions Club came to Moore County because he became dissatisfied with the confines of city life in Topeka, KS. He came to Moore County in 1912 and purchased 1600 acres seven miles south of Dumas to build a high-grade cattle ranch and farm.
Lois Sims
Lois Sims was a familiar face at First State Bank for 29 years. Her son, Leland, was part of the infamous death march from Marvelles Field to San Fernando on Luzon.
Louis & Florence Dumas
Louis Dumas and his dream of founding a new town are well known in our town that was named after him. Little has been written about his wife, Florence, or of his life before coming to Moore County.
Louis Dumas
Louis Dumas had a vision of starting a town on the wide-open plains of the Panhandle. At age 34, he and the others in the Townsite Company did just that in 1891.
Louis Trumble
Louis Philip Trumble, first county judge in Moore County, was born in Quebec, Canada on December 8, 1861.
Marshall Cator
Marshall Cator and his love for cattle led him to create a cattle empire in the Texas Panhandle. Even when his hearing and eyesight were falling, he still helped with cattle round-ups and branding.
Mary Eleanor Mowery
Immigrants trains brought many families to Moore County in the early 1900's. Mary Eleanor Parks was a young 16-year old when she came with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Parks, in December of 1904.
Messengers
Helen Danner came to Moore County in 1909 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Danner. The family bought a wood-frame house one mile east of Middlewell.
Mil Boyd
When young Mildred Irene (Mil) Burnett arrived in Dumas with her family, her first thoughts were, "On a late spring day in 1918 as my family and I approached the city of Dumas all I could see was a courthouse, windmill and water tower silhouetted against the rainy sky. It looked as it was situated on the open prairie. I wasn't far wrong! The houses were few and far between. I wasn't sure then that I wanted to live in Dumas."
Mills Family
J. C. "Jim" Mills came to Texas from Tennessee at age 14. His first job was working on the railroad in Fort Worth.
Morton Family
W. J. Morton Jr. tells the story of the Morton family in a book he wrote in 1966 called
Snowstorms, Dust Storms, and Horses' Tails.
Noel McDade
Noel McDade came to Moore County as a young man in 1906 and tackled many tasks to make this a better place to live. He operated a store and a bank, worked to incorporate the city, served as county judge, worked to stop soil erosion, lobbied Washington to stop bank foreclosures on land during the dust bowl, helped bring the railroad to Moore County -- just to name a few.
Old Sam
Sam Russell was well known by most people in Dumas beginning in the 1940's until his death in 1972.
Portman Family
Jeremiah and Elizabeth Portman came to Moore County in 1891 to operate a hotel and find a dead cowboy.
Ralph Bynum
In 2007, Ralph Bynum, Board of the Directors Vice President, stopped by my desk and announced, "We need to have a fundraiser. Let's have a tractor show."
As casual as the announcement was made, Ralph immediately began planning. He posted a yearly calendar on the wall of the office and began filling the dates with the necessary steps to make the fundraiser successful. I was still trying to absorb the idea and the first Museum Day was already underway!
Record Family
Charles H. Record and Polly Bruner were married October 12, 1876, in Illinois. Polly's father had given legal permission for her to marry at age 14. They came to Texas in 1879. Charles was working on building the railroad from Wichita Falls to Amarillo.
Salon Bull
Salon Bull came to Texas with his emigrant family in 1853. Bull came to Moore County and filed on some land on the South Palo Duro Creek in eastern Moore County in 1892. He became known for raising horses.
Sneed
Joseph Tyre Sneed, Jr. grew up in Georgetown in Williamson County. His father had built up a substantial ranching operation based in the county and young Joe had developed a keen interest in the cattle business.
Sophie Thigpen
Sophie Thigpen had lived in Dumas about eight years when she saw the opportunity to enter politics and became the first woman to be elected to a public office in Moore County.
Tom Ferguson
A 1947 Hudson has a new home at Window on the Plains Museum -- a gift of Tom Ferguson of Dumas. A sense of pride lights up Ferguson's face when he talks about that 1947 Hudson that at one time was owned by his grandfather.
Chester Logue
Chester Logue was one of about 20 cowboys working cattle on a round-up on the Beauchamp Ranch in 1927. The cowboys started discussing who would run for sheriff in the upcoming election. They decided Chester Logue was the best choice. "It seemed preposterous at the time, but everyone I talked to about it thought I'd make a good sheriff," Logue said in a 1975 newspaper interview.
First Sheriff
The first sheriff of Moore County, W. H. Lewis, had the gun that shot Billy the Kid. Lewis tells the story, "Jim East was part of the Garrett posse who shot the Kid. It was before my time but I heard enough about the killing. The Kid's girl was supposed to have betrayed him. Garrett got in the house when the Kid was asleep and shot him as he lay in bed." East gave the gun to Lewis following one of the elections.
Sheriff Fuqua Younger
The Youngers moved from Moore County, then returned in 1917, stayed only a couple of years, then moved to Canyon. According to
Windswept Land
, Fuqua remained in Dumas and was part of "tales of those days in the 1920's that are as clear and funny as they happened yesterday."
Sheriffs' Tales
Short stories found in 1997 newspaper tell tales of Moore County Sheriffs.
Caraway Murder
The first murder in Moore County was in 1902 and was solved with the help of a dog.
Controversy in County Commission
The archives at Window on the Plains Museum contains an article from the June 8, 1972 Moore County News-Press concerning some "Official Arguments that Sometimes Got Warm."
Dellinger Shoot-Out
The Texas Panhandle had its own Dellinger shoot-out in 1930. The famous, John Dillinger of Chicago was not involved, but Lon Dellinger who was charged with kidnapping and jail break in Dallam County.
Leverton Murder
Dispute over use of a cabin and cattle lead to John Leverton being shot 13 times and a Texas Ranger being brought to trial.
Night Watchman
"Would-Be Robber Kidnap Night Watchman" were headlines in the local newspaper in 1931. Robbers tried to rob the bank, not once, but twice!
Armistice Day
World War I officially ceased with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919 in the Palace of Versailles in France. Fighting had ceased seven months earlier when an armistice between the Allied Nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh month or November 11, 1918 and was regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars".
Blanton
A young Confederate soldier from Tennessee tells his story of fighting in the Civil War and being taken prisoner. When released from prison, he began the walk back to Tennessee form Illinois.
Confederate Soldiers
Texas was considered a Confederate State during the Civil War, but not many soldiers were actually from Texas. After the war, many returned to their homes in the south to find there was not much left. They chose to start a new life away from the war torn South. At least three graves in the Dumas Cemetery are for soldiers that fought for the Confederacy -- Dr. Samuel W. Anthony, William J. McAdams, and Joseph Layette McDade.
Jeeter Bug and Harter
Crew of the Jeeter Bug stationed in Guam during World War II had an emergency landing in the middle of Iwo Jima. They had to find a way to repair their plant and return to Guam. It took 87 hours and became one of the longest lasting missions of WWII.
Military Academy
Three young men from Moore County attended Amarillo Military Academy in 1913.
1930's Dust Storms Remembered
In an interview in 1972, Mrs. Clyde Messenger of Middlewell recalled a Sunday afternoon in the mid 1930's.
1935 Dust Storms
A story in Window on the Plains archives was written by Delbert Lewis about the 1935 Dust Storm. He remembers the storms from a child's view point, but written after he was older. He titled it "1935 Dust Storms".
1950s County Fire
A fast-moving fire that started on the Coon Ranch south of Dumas in 1950 went in record books as one of the most-crippling disasters suffered by Panhandle ranchers and farmers.
4-H Programs
When J. B. Waide Jr. came to Moore County in 1937 as county agent, he found a county that had very limited assistance for any kind of agriculture programs, including 4-H programs.
A Child's Grave
The Panhandle area of Texas in the late 1870's was mostly populated with cattle grazed by some big ranches on land leased from the State of Texas. The land today is marked by trails worn in the land and by graves marked where people passed or lived.
Abert
James W. Abert and a party of 33 explorers crossed Moore County in 1845 to survey Texas as part of the United States annexation of the state. They were part of the third expedition of John Charles Fremont whose assignment was to explore from Fort Bent along the Canadian River through Kiowa and Commanche territory.
Antique Bottles
The county courthouse was constructed in the early 1930's and the top floor was built to house the jail as well as an apartment for the county sheriff. In 1979, county commissioners realized the need for a larger facility for the jail and offices. During excavation, treasures started appearing in the piles of dirt. At least the items were were treasures to collectors of old bottles.
Belle Plain
The oil and gas boom in the 1920's prompted the rise of numerous towns. One of those towns was Borger and a little town on the eastern edge of Moore County - Belle Plain. A scattering of foundations where businesses and houses stood is all that is left of the little town.
Betty Crocker Cookbooks
The museum has received a collection of items that includes many kitchen items. One of the items is a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook.
Blizzards
One of the worst Panhandle blizzards came in February of 1948.
Brands in Ranching
One of the unique displays at the museum features two large boards with local brands burned on them. The boards were branded in 1976 when Moore County Historical Museum started.
Burma Shave
One of the "little" treasures at Window on the Plains is a part of the Barber Shop display. donated to the museum by Jackie Funk and Mike Funk. It's a little yellow book called
The Verse By the Side of the Road
written by the grandson of the man who started making Burma Shave.
Cattle Drives
After the Civil War, there was a big demand for beef and a market developed on the eastern coast for beef and beef-related products like leather and rawhide for drive belts in factories and leather for clothing.
Charles Lindbergh
A 1933 Panhandle dust storm causes Charles Lindbergh to land his plane south of Dumas. He and his wife spent the night near the plane on the Coon Ranch and continued their journey the following morning.
Clark Trip
A little newsletter called
Knight Letter
was found in the museum's archive files. The article was written by Frank Clark of Ada, Oklahoma and gives a detail account of a trip overland through Southwestern Kansas, Southeastern Colorado, Northeastern New Mexico, and the Panhandle of Texas.
Coon Lake
The lake was operated by a corporation of fifty local citizens for fishing and recreation.
Coronado Homes
The year 1941 brought many changes to Moore County. The American Zinc Smelter was expanding and the Cactus Ordnance Plant was under construction. With the changes, housing for workers and their families became a problem.
Crawford Ranch
Travelers between Dumas and Amarillo have watched the picturesque scene at the Crawford Ranch, 20 miles south of Dumas, continually change as the house and corrals crumbled and finally fell.
County Named After Navy Commodore
Why is Moore County named after a man who was born in Virginia, joined the U.S. Navy, became commander of the First Texas Navy, was eventually brought to trial for court martial and was called "an outlaw and pirate" by Sam Houston?
Ding Dong Daddy
Songwriter Phil Baxter visited Dumas in the 1920's and wrote a song about Dumas -- I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas. It became a popular song across the country and the theme song of our local radio station.
Doctors
Early days doctors in Moore County built the bases for our good health care. The first doctor came in 1885, followed in 1908 by Dr. Samuel Anthony. Others have followed and left their mark on Dumas and Moore County.
Dogie Days
Old Timer's Celebration in the 1900's led to the modern day Dogie Days. A barbecue has always been an important part of the celebrations.
Drift Fence
The fence did what it was supposed to, but was the reason come cattlemen went bankrupt.
Dumas Youth Wrestling
An exhibit was featured at Window on the Plains Museum in 2019 and recognized the Dumas Youth Wrestling Club, and its founder, Dean Collins.
Everyday Chores
The number of chores necessary to keep a family going seemed never ending in the early days of Moore County. W. J. Morton remembered all the chores in a story in
Windswept Land
.
First All-Women Jury
Until 1954, women in Moore County were not called for jury duty but in other parts of the United States and territories, women were allowed to serve much earlier.
First Automobile Registered
As Moore County was being settled in the early 1900's, transportation was by wagon, buggy, horse or mule. Some families began looking at a modern form of transportation -- an automobile.
First Census
The first census of the Texas Panhandle was taken in 1880, four years after the Indians were defeated and confined on reservations. No inhabitants were reported in Moore County. The 1890 census reported 1611 persons living in the 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle, 1188 males and 423 females. Most of the census is lost, only some end figures survived, which lists 15 persons in Moore County.
First Moore County Wedding
Moore County had very few residents in the late 1800's and very few weddings. The county had been organized for two years before the first wedding. The county had fewer than 100 people and young people of marriage-able were few.
First Newspaper
Newspapers have been a part of Moore County since the late 1800's. According to the Library of Congress, the first newspaper was the Dumas Weekly Headlight which started in 1897.
First School
As people came to Moore County in the late 1890's and early 1900's, school became an important part of the county development.
First Telephone Exchange
The Hartley-Dumas Telephone Company provided phone service to Dumas, Hartley and Sunray in 1928 when R. L. and Maud Spencer came from Oklahoma to purchase the business. The exchange had only 41 telephones, most of those in Hartley.
Greeting Cards
Sending greeting cards dates back to the ancient Chinese and to the Egyptians who use papyrus to send messages. Cards appeared in the United States in the 1940's.
Highway Markers
Moore County is filled with history any direction you go and that history is marked with historical markers along the roads. The markers tell of the cattle trails, explorers who crossed the county, industries, geological findings, and other facts of history.
History from the Courthouse Basement
When Rhonnie Campbell took office as Moore County Clerk in January of 1971, she and deputy clerk, Katie Vitz, found early-day court records stored in the courthouse basement.
House in Middlewell
The files in the archives room are filled with stories, some familiar, some untold. One file had a story of a house that now is 116 years old. The house was built by Jimmy Lee in the Middlewell Community.
Language of a Cowboy
In January 1976, George Turner, a staff writer for the Amarillo Globe-News, published an article, "Cowboys of the Panhandle Used Colorful Language." The article begins with a description of the grasslands of the High Plains, the gigantic bison herds, the Indians and sheep herders.
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor tells in Rev. I. E. Walker's words the story of coming to Moore County, of attending school at the Palo Duro school, of working as a ranch hand and as serving as pastor of the church here.
Lions Club
List of past presidents, sweethearts, and old-timers.
Meteorites
Space rocks or meteorites have been found in several places in Moore County. Some have been large and others small.
Miniature Horses
In the late 1980's, Dumas had an attraction just south of town that had cars and even buses stopping to watch.
Moore County 1931
In the midst of The Great Depression, an article in The Moore County News highlighted the news of the past year. The article was dated January 1, 1932, and was headlined
Goodbye 1931; You Weren't so Bad To Dumas & Moore Co.
Moore County Fair
W. J. Morton and Charles Sheldon founded the Moore County Fair in 1953 to give citizens a place to exhibit agriculture, culinary, fine arts, and livestock.
Naming the Counties
Each county in the Texas Panhandle were named after someone in the county or someone who was important to the history of Texas.
Old Henry the Mule
One of the mules on the farm was Old Henry. Henry was not an ordinary mule, but was one with a distinct personality.
Parking Meters
Parking meters along the business streets of most towns were a common sight for many years. Today, they are things of the past.
Phone Book Collection
The archives rooms at Window on the Plains Museum has a collection of telephone books dating back to 1936. A few years are missing, but the missing ones are sometimes filled when a private collection is brought to us.
Sandy the Golden Palomino
The legend of Sandy the Palomino horse is well known -- especially to students who attended school at Sunset school.
Semi Pro Baseball
Moon Shot is a word that fits only in baseball. One Dumas resident is more familiar with the word than most. He was part of the original "Moon Shot".
Tascosa-Dodge City Trail
One Moore County family had close connection to the Tascosa-Dodge City Trail of the 1870's. It crossed through the Panhandle and across their land, 12 miles east of Dumas. The land belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Willis, grandparents of Mrs. Martha Crabb, Delbert H. Lewis and Mary Griffin.
Timeline
Moore County history is told in a timeline beginning in the late 1800's. The first 75 years are outlined in this story.
Tonics
It's always interesting what we find in our archives! When researching the Daughtery and Burnett family a few weeks ago, we found a copy of a story in the Buffalo County Republican in Wisconsin. The story is dated June 11. 1895. The story was a testimony by G. Jacob Sexauer who had taken Gloria Tonic and was so excited about his recovery that he wanted to share his good news.
Tornadoes
As the weather changes from winter's cold and snow, residents of the Texas Panhandle realize that it can sometimes bring storms, filled with blowing winds and hail. The rolling storm clouds can also turn in tornadoes. Nine tornadoes have been recorded in Moore County, the earliest on August 19, 1964.
Weather
Everyone is talking about the weather! Not enough rain, temperatures too hot or too cold. It's a good topic.
Borger Boom Town
The oil boom of the late 1920's brought problems to neighboring Borger and to Moore County. Roughnecks coming to Borger to work in the oil fields brought with them gambling houses and lawlessness.
Cactus Village
"Forty years ago (
now eighty years ago
) what is now the City of Cactus was a chunk of dryland pasture at the extreme north edge of Moore County with an unbroken skyline all the 14 miles south to Dumas."
Channing
Neighboring county, Hartley, has a history somewhat different than Moore County. It is built around the railroad and two of the towns that grew because of the railroad. The county was named for two brothers, Oliver C. and Rufus K. Hartley. The county began organizing in 1891 when W. D. Twichell laid out the Channing townsite.
Channing Methodist Church
Neighboring Hartley County was one of the earliest settled counties in the Panhandle and home of the first Methodist church north of the Canadian River.
Masterson
The road between Amarillo and Dumas goes through mostly ranchland, but passes through what remains of a town that has had two names.
Window on the Plains Museum
1820 S. Dumas Ave.
Dumas, TX 79029
(806) 935-3113
The Art Center
1810 S. Dumas Ave.
Dumas, TX 79029
(806) 935-5312
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