Everything Pampa is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Pampa.
Pampa sits high on the plains, a place where you can almost taste the bluestem grass on the wind. It's a town built on the land and what comes out of it – agriculture, of course, and the oil that boomed here in the '20s. But beyond the economics, Pampa’s produced some true originals.
Pampa sits squarely on the High Plains, a sea of bluestem grass rippling under a vast sky. You can see pronghorn grazing out on those prairies, a reminder of what was here long before us. It's a place named after the plains themselves – "pampa" means just that in Quechua. While ranching and farming always had a foothold, it was the black gold that really put Pampa on the map. When they struck oil back in the '20s, things changed practically overnight. People poured in, chasing opportunity, and the town boomed. That oil boom, of course, didn't last forever, but it left its mark. You still see the influence in the architecture and the spirit of the place. Agriculture remains vital, too, and the air is still noticeably thinner up here at 3,200 feet. But if you ask a local why people *stay,* they'll tell you it's something deeper than just jobs or a famous name. It's the wide-open spaces, the Friday night lights shining on those Pampa Harvesters – winners more than a few times – and the feeling of community that you just can't find everywhere else. Plus, even if they won't admit it, half the town is probably secretly rooting for the Cowboys, even way out here.
Pampa sits high on the plains, a little over 3,000 feet above sea level, where the bluestem grass waves in the wind. The name itself, "Pampa," hints at the landscape – it’s a Quechua word meaning "plains." Founded back in 1888, it was a quiet agricultural town for many years. You can still see pronghorn grazing out in the open country, just like they did back then. But everything changed in 1926 when oil was discovered. Suddenly, Pampa was booming. People poured in, and the town transformed almost overnight. That boom left its mark, and so did the Second World War. Not many people know this, but Pampa housed a prisoner of war camp. Imagine that, right here on the Texas plains. Agriculture and petroleum are still the lifeblood of Pampa, even now. And Friday nights are for the Harvesters. Those state football championships are a big deal around here, a real point of pride. Even though it's a good drive, you'll find plenty of Cowboys fans, too. Pampa's a place that's seen a lot, weathered a lot, and it’s still standing strong.
Massive dust storm that rolled across the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma on April 14, 1935, blotting out the sun and depositing more dirt than was excavated to build the Panama Canal.
(Front) Star and Wreath County Named for Texas Confederate 1819-1876 Virginia-born, came to Texas 1838. Aided 1839 removal Texas Shawness. Officer in Milam Guards, Texas Republic. Political, cultural leader in Houston, Republic, State, and Confederacy: he was district attorney, judge, Justice Texas Supreme Court, Legislator in Texas and C.S.A. Delegate to Texas Secession Convention that raised troops to seize U.S. forts, provided for Texas frontier defense, and ratified C.S.A. Constitution. (Back) Gray in 1864 became Treasury Agent for the "amputated" C.S.A. Sector West of the Mississippi River. There, in effect, he was Treasury Secretary for a land in chaos. Smuggled currency was scarce. Often it was hijacked. No western press could be found to print notes. Couriers and Pony Express were Gray's "wireless" to the Confederate capital. Ammunition, arms, medicines, factory goods vital to the war effort had to be imported for Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, as well as for Texas. Blockade-runners exported cotton via Havana to Europe. Cattle and cotton went to market in Mexico, as Gray served the gallant Confederacy. A Memorial to Texans Who Served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963
The four German (Germain[e]) sisters, Indian Captives , were the daughters of John and Lydia (Cox) German, who in the 1850s established a farm near Morganton, Fannin County, Georgia. They were Catherine E. (b. March 21, 1857), Sophia L. (b. August 11, 1862), Julia Arminda (b. March 23, 1867), and Nancy Adelaide (Addie, b. April 26, 1869). During the Civil War German fought for the Confederacy and was taken prisoner. He returned in 1865 to find his farm devastated and decided to make a new life for his family, which grew to seven children. Encouraged by a letter from a friend, the family set out for Colorado on April 10, 1870. Eventually they made it to Howell County, Missouri, where they stayed among relatives for over two years before moving on. In Elgin County, Kansas, German and his eighteen-year-old son, Stephen, plowed fields for pay on the Osage Indian Reservation for ten months before moving on. In August 1874 the family reached Ellis City, where they were advised to take the stage route up the Smoky Hill River to Fort Wallace, since water was more readily available that way. On September 10 the Germans camped on the trail a day's journey from the fort. The next morning as they were breaking camp they were attacked by a war party of Cheyennes led by Chief Medicine Water. John and Lydia German, their son Stephen, and daughters Rebecca Jane and Joanna were killed and scalped. The Indians then took any goods they deemed usable and set the wagon afire. Captured and eventually taken into the Texas Panhandle were Catherine, age seventeen; Sophia, twelve; Julia, seven; and Addie, five. The Germans were victims of the Cheyennes' retaliation for their losses at the second battle of Adobe Walls on June 27. After a scouting party from Fort Wallace came upon the scene of the massacre a few days later, the military campaigns against hostile Indians in the Panhandle were intensified. In the meantime, the German girls were subjected to exposure, malnutrition, and occasional maltreatment as their captors traveled southward. Catherine, in particular, recalled instances of gang rape by young "dog soldiers" and indignities at the hands of Cheyenne women, particularly Medicine Water's obnoxious wife, Mochi (Buffalo Calf Woman). Eventually Julia and Addie were traded to Grey Beard 's band, who for the most part neglected them. Grey Beard steered his following down the east side of the Llano Estacado , while Medicine Water joined with other groups and moved down the west side, probably crossing at several points into eastern New Mexico. By November 1874 Grey Beard had set up camp north of McClellan Creek, about ten miles south of the site of present-day Pampa. On the morning of November 8, Lt. Frank D. Baldwin 's column charged the Indian encampment. So complete was the surprise that the Cheyennes abandoned the village and left most of their property intact. Riding through the deserted camp, William (Billy) Dixon and other army scouts noticed movement in a pile of buffalo hides; they were astonished to find Julia and Addie German, both emaciated and near starvation. Dixon later recalled how hardened scouts and soldiers turned aside to hide their emotions as the little girls sobbed out their story. At the main supply camp on the Washita River Col. Nelson A. Miles placed Julia and Addie in the care of an army surgeon, who took them to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In January Miles and Col. Thomas H. Neill sent out friendly Kiowas as messengers to find the Cheyennes and induce them to surrender. The Kiowas located the camp of Stone Calf on a tributary of the Pecos River near the New Mexico border. When Stone Calf, who was bringing his people back from exile in Mexico, was told that peace was dependent upon the safety of Catherine and Sophia German, he had them moved into a lodge next to his own. They were released in March, after Stone Calf, Grey Beard, Red Moon, and other chiefs brought in their bands to surrender at Brinton Darlington's agency. T
Panhandle field is a giant gas and oil producing area that draws production from several horizons of Pennsylvanian and Permian age granite wash and dolomite, covering 200,000 surface acres in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth counties of the Panhandle . The field was classified as one reservoir by the Railroad Commission of Texas until January 1, 1940, when cumulative production totaled 346.8 million barrels of oil. At that time oil production from the reservoir was separated into fields named Panhandle Carson County, Panhandle Gray County, Panhandle Hutchinson County, and Panhandle Wheeler County. The primary recovery of oil from the reservoir was driven by solution gas and gas-cap expansion and reservoir pressure has been maintained by gas and water injection. Secondary recovery attempts in the oilfield were begun with water flooding in 1946, but results were mixed. The vast gas reservoir, known as Panhandle Hugoton field, flanks the areas of oil production and is centered around the city of Pampa in Gray County. By 1994 the oilfields of the Panhandle district had yielded a cumulative total of nearly 1.42 billion barrels of oil and between 1973 and 1993 dry gas production was 8.1 trillion cubic feet. Oil was first found in the Osborne area of Wheeler County in 1910. Called Panhandle Osborne field, the area gave up nearly 6 million barrels of oil before the Railroad Commission consolidated it with Panhandle Wheeler field on May 1, 1989. However, it was in Potter County, three counties to the west, that exploration resulted in the discovery of the nation's largest natural gas reserve. In 1916 Amarillo Oil Company, a locally funded venture, hired Charles N. Gould to study the Amarillo fold for petroleum exploration. Gould was a University of Oklahoma geology professor who had first mapped the area for a water study beginning in 1904. The area that Gould and his associate, Robert S. Dewey, studied and mapped for Amarillo Oil was located on either side of the Canadian River on two large ranches in northern Potter County, belonging to R. B. Masterson north of the river and to Lee Bivins south of it. When Gould and Dewey completed the study, they mapped a prominent structure that was ten to fifteen miles in diameter and exhibited 400 feet of uplift. Gould and Dewey named the structure John Ray dome for the nearby butte. Amarillo Oil was so impressed with the map and the salient anticline that the company leased 64,000 acres and spudded the No. 1 Masterson on John Ray dome in Masterson's high prairie, 225 miles from known production. The well was completed on December 9, 1918 to a total depth of 2,269 feet where 10 million cubic feet of gas were produced daily. In 1919 three additional wells were completed in the Masterson high prairie, and all four were tested on an open-flow gauge in March 1920, where they yielded 160 million cubic feet of gas a day. When other strong wells were brought in on locations several miles apart in the ever-widening field, it was obvious that the subsurface of the Panhandle held enormous natural gas reserves. Engineers have estimated that those reserves numbered 15 to 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at discovery. This major gas discovery in a then-isolated section of the state captured the interest of major and independent oil companies, although they questioned the economic significance of even a giant field that had no market for production and no transportation system. Oilmen doubted that the reservoir would produce crude, the only form of hydrocarbons they sought. However, explorationists could neither deny nor ignore the possibilities of the discovery and they began leasing large blocks. On May 5, 1921 the Gulf Production Company No. 2 S. B. Burnett in Carson County reached a total depth of 3,052 feet and gave up 190 barrels of oil a day. The well was shut in after pumping 1,000 barrels of oil because there was no way to store it or move it to refiner
In 1888 a telegraph station on the Southern Kansas Railroad developed here, and was named Glasgow. Renamed Sutton a year later, a post office was established in 1892 and the town was named Pampa by George Tyng (d. 1906), manager of the White Deer Land Company. Surveyor A. H. Doucette (1884-1964) laid out the town in 1902. The first school opened in 1903 and the first church was organized in 1906. J. N. Duncan (1858-1941) became Pampa's first mayor in 1912. Following a 1920s oil boom, the county seat was moved here from Lefors in 1928.
Montague Kingsmill Brown, cattleman, entrepreneur, and civic leader in Pampa, was born on May 22, 1878, near London, England. His father was a broker with the London Stock Exchange and, as Brown later quipped, "went broker, by Jove!" After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Brown worked in a lumber company and bank, starting at two dollars a week. When the Boer War broke out in 1899 he enlisted in the British army and saw action in South Africa, where he worked his way up from trooper to regimental sergeant major. After the war he considered returning to Africa to make his fortune. However, in 1902 Brown's uncle Andrew Kingsmill, manager of Lord Rosebery's London bank, was sent by his employer to investigate the property of the White Deer Lands ( see FRANCKLYN LAND AND CATTLE COMPANY ) in the Panhandle of Texas. On returning to England, Kingsmill persuaded his nephew to go to Texas and work for the syndicate. Accordingly, Brown arrived on April 27, 1903, at the boxcar depot and the two or three stores that composed the new rail town of Pampa. He entered the employ of the White Deer Lands, then managed by George Tyng . When Timothy Dwight Hobart succeeded Tyng as manager in 1903, Brown ably assisted him in promoting and surveying the lands being sold to small ranchers and farmers. In all, Brown helped dispose of some 600,000 acres. Over the years he successfully branched out into cattle raising, railroads, and later into oil. Impressed with the Panhandle environment, he obtained his naturalization papers in 1914 and in 1922 married Josye Barnes, a native of Oklahoma. After Hobart resigned as manager of the White Deer Lands in 1924, Brown and C. V. P. Buckler were appointed comanagers of the properties. Brown retired from that position in 1935 but continued to build up his fortune through investments in various businesses. In 1957, when the White Deer Corporation was liquidated, Brown bought the remaining properties with a $70,000 bid. As a civic leader he devoted his efforts to promoting Pampa as a townsite. He played the drums in Alex Schneider's band, since that was "the only instrument he could play and talk at the same time." He preached the town's first funeral rites, using his Anglican prayer book, and was mayor of Pampa when the town became the Gray county seat in 1928. Brown also served on the school board for sixteen years, was president of the Rotary Club, helped organize the country club, and was a senior warden of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. In addition, he was a director of Pampa's First National Bank and Southwestern Investment Company and was president of the Security Federal Savings and Loan Association. Brown was a Scottish Rite Mason, generously supported both the Boy and Girl Scouts, and also chaired the Gray County selective service board for six years. Along with C. P. Buckler and Walter Purviance, he was appointed a trustee for the Lovett Estate. In 1952 Brown served as program chairman for the county's fiftieth anniversary celebration. In addition, he was a vice president of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society and with Buckler was instrumental in donating the White Deer Land Company records to the Panhandle-Plains Museum in Canyon. Among his many honors, Brown was named man of the year by the Pampa Chamber of Commerce in 1958 and adult leader of the year by the city's Key Club in 1963. In January 1964 he was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Incarnate Word College in San Antonio. He sponsored the M. K. Brown Range Life series of historical books, published by the University of Texas Press . Brown was robust and was said to have "a ready laugh and a story to tell." He contributed much of his fortune to Pampa's businesses and cultural advancements and helped send many young people through college. On September 10, 1964, he died from injuries received in a car collision in Pampa. Portions of his huge bequest were used to construct the M. K. Brown Memorial Civic Auditorium and to renovat
A 75-foot water tower tilted on purpose so motorists think it's about to topple — a 1980s stunt that lured Route 66 drivers into Ralph Britten's truck stop.…
A 142-foot-long carbon-steel fence forged in 1992 by welder Rusty Neef spells out the opening notes of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land and the notes are…
51 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
Massive dust storm that rolled across the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma on April 14, 1935, blotting out the sun and depositing more dirt than was excavated to build the Panama Canal.
Pampa sits high on the plains, a place where you can almost taste the bluestem grass on the wind. It's a town built on the land and what comes out of it – agriculture, of course, and the oil that boomed here in the…
(Front) Star and Wreath County Named for Texas Confederate 1819-1876 Virginia-born, came to Texas 1838. Aided 1839 removal Texas Shawness. Officer in Milam Guards, Texas Republic. Political, cultural leader in Houston,…
In 1888 a telegraph station on the Southern Kansas Railroad developed here, and was named Glasgow. Renamed Sutton a year later, a post office was established in 1892 and the town was named Pampa by George Tyng (d.…
You're driving through Pampa, and right here is the City Hall, a grand old building that tells a story of Texas prosperity. It was built on the back of the great Texas Panhandle Oil Boom in the late 1920s and early…
You're driving through Pampa, and to your right stands the Gray County Courthouse. It's a beautiful example of Beaux Arts architecture, a style you'd expect for a grand public building. But this courthouse has a bit of…
You're driving through Pampa, and to your right, you're passing the Combs-Worley Building. Erected in 1931, this structure was designed by Amarillo architects W. R. Kaufman & Son and housed the offices for the…
You're driving past Pampa, and today we're celebrating a half-century milestone. Look out for the marker commemorating Gray County's 50th-anniversary. From 1902 to 1952, this area saw fifty years of progress, all thanks…
Pampa High School in the Texas Panhandle is where Zach Thomas was a two-way, all-state fullback and middle linebacker. He starred at Texas Tech, then — despite being only a fifth-round pick — became a seven-time Pro…
The four German (Germain[e]) sisters, Indian Captives , were the daughters of John and Lydia (Cox) German, who in the 1850s established a farm near Morganton, Fannin County, Georgia. They were Catherine E. (b. March 21,…
Panhandle field is a giant gas and oil producing area that draws production from several horizons of Pennsylvanian and Permian age granite wash and dolomite, covering 200,000 surface acres in Hartley, Potter, Moore,…
Montague Kingsmill Brown, cattleman, entrepreneur, and civic leader in Pampa, was born on May 22, 1878, near London, England. His father was a broker with the London Stock Exchange and, as Brown later quipped, "went…
You're driving through what was once a massive cattle empire. Back in 1881, the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company, a British syndicate, bought over 631,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle and Greer County. Their manager,…
You're driving through Gray County, a place that transformed from quiet ranchland to an oil boomtown almost overnight. For decades, this was cattle country, dominated by huge ranches like the Diamond F. But in 1926,…
You're driving through Gray County, not far from Pampa, where during World War II, the skies were filled with training aircraft. This was the Pampa Army Air Field, known as the 'Eagles' Nest of the High Plains.'…
You're driving through Pampa, a town born from a railway station and a bit of wanderlust. Back in 1887, this spot was just land owned by a cattle company. But when the Southern Kansas Railway needed a stop, it became…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, maybe near Pampa, and you're listening to the sounds of history. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1887</say-as>, Alexander Schneider, a Swiss immigrant…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a region George Tyng helped shape. Born in Massachusetts, Tyng had already lived a life of business in Cuba, South America, and California before heading to Arizona. He served…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a vast landscape Timothy Dwight Hobart helped shape. In 1886, he took charge of a million acres of open range for a land company. From his headquarters in Mobeetie, he…
You're driving through Pampa, Texas, a place that was once home to a unique radio star known as "Stuttering Sam." Born Cecil Hunter, he developed an amazing talent for imitating farm animals as a kid. After some early…
You're driving through what is now Gray County, Texas, a place that became home to Henry Bell Lovett, a man who lived a true Texas life. He started out on the frontier, hunting buffalo in the 1870s, then cutting wood…
A 142-foot-long carbon-steel fence forged in 1992 by welder Rusty Neef spells out the opening notes of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land and the notes are…
You're driving past Fairview Cemetery, established back in 1904. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2004.
You're driving through Gray County, formed way back in 1876 from parts of Young and Bexar Territories. It's named for Peter W. Gray, a significant figure who served in the first Texas Legislature and the Confederate…
You're driving through the old Wayside community area, settled back in 1876. The community really came together around its little red schoolhouse, built in 1914. It wasn't just for classes; it hosted elections and…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, near Pampa. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1852</say-as>, Captain Randolph Marcy and a young George B. McClellan led an expedition right through here. Their…
In June 1841, President Mirabeau Lamar of the Republic of Texas launched one of the most disastrous military expeditions in North American history. He sent 321 soldiers and merchants northwest across the Panhandle to…
You're driving through Lefors, and just ahead is a spot that's been a vital oasis for centuries. These historic Big Springs were a crucial watering hole for Native Americans and later, for U.S. military expeditions. In…
You're driving through Lefors, a town that owes its existence to ranching and a bit of Panhandle grit. It all started back in 1882 when Travis Leach built the first homestead here, a log cabin that doubled as a…
You're driving through Lefors, a town that owes its start to a Swiss immigrant named Henry Thut. He arrived in the Texas Panhandle in 1884, working for the Diamond F Ranch. Thut built the first permanent home right here…
You're driving past the site of the Pampa Army Air Force Base, a vital training ground during World War II. Back in the early 1940s, Pampa's mayor and Chamber of Commerce convinced the Army this flat terrain was perfect…
You're driving through Skellytown, a place born from oil! Back in 1926, the Skelly Oil Company found rich fields here. Rancher Henry Schafer platted this townsite, naming it after the company's founder. Initially, it…
You're driving through what was once the Texas Panhandle, a land of harsh beauty and even harsher conflict. Right here, back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1874</say-as>, a U.S. Army officer named Frank D.…
You're driving through Gray County, not far from Pampa, near where a pivotal moment in Texas frontier history unfolded. On November 8, 1874, right near this spot, Lt. Francis Baldwin and his cavalry attacked Chief Grey…
You're driving through what's left of Back, Texas, a community that started life as Pumpkin Ridge. In 1899, it got a post office and was called Northfork. But things really changed in 1904 when John David Back arrived…
You're driving through Gray County, and right here is the site of Kings Mill. This community owes its existence to British investors and a London banker named Andrew Kingsmill. When a British land company failed in the…
You're driving through the heart of the Panhandle, where one of the last great cattle drives set out. Look around – this was the N Bar N Headquarters, the staging ground for a massive undertaking in 1892. Imagine it:…
You're driving past the site of the old Jackson General Store in White Deer. This building wasn't always here; it was moved to this location in 1908 when the townsite itself was established. For years, it was more than…
You're driving through White Deer, Texas, and you're passing the site of a remarkable journey. In 1854, a hundred Polish families – that’s 800 people – crammed onto one small sailing ship for a nine-week voyage across…
You're driving through White Deer, a town named for a creek that legend says was once a feeding ground for a white deer. This area wasn't just about legend, though. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…
You're driving through White Deer, and right here is the site of a hotel that started life as a sales pitch. Back in the early 1900s, the White Deer Land Company was trying to sell off land, so they built this place…
You're driving through White Deer, and this historic Baptist church has seen it all. Organized in 1912, the congregation met in borrowed spaces before building their own sanctuary in 1921. They even paid off their debt…
You're driving past the site of the White Deer United Methodist Church, the oldest continuously active congregation in town. It began in 1911 with seven charter members and shared space with other denominations until…
You're driving through White Deer, and right here stood the very first church building in town. Dedicated on July 4th, 1909, this little church was a true community effort, funded by gifts from pioneer members' home…
You're driving past the site of White Deer's very first church building. Dedicated on July 4th, 1909, this structure was a true community effort. Pioneer members' home churches and even donations from other…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a land once defined by vast cattle ranches. Right here, in what is now Carson County, stood the N Bar N Ranch. Established in 1886 by brothers William and Frederick…
You're driving through White Deer, Texas, a town born from cattle and a curious sight. Back in 1882, the vast ranchlands here were claimed by the British-owned Francklyn Land and Cattle Company. The railroad arrived in…
You're driving past White Deer Cemetery, a place with roots stretching back over a century. The story goes that an informal burial ground might have started as early as 1905 with an unnamed railroad worker killed in an…
The Red River War of 1874 was the campaign that ended the Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne presence on the Southern Plains. It was not one battle but a relentless series of engagements across the Texas Panhandle, designed…
Miami sits high up here in the Panhandle, almost 3,000 feet above sea level. You can see forever from some spots. It's quiet now, mostly ranching and farming, but back in '87 when the Fort Worth and Denver came through,…