Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company: An Inventory of Its Records, 1837-1983 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Contents

Restrictions

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Additional Sources

Description of Series

Correspondence

Financial Material

Kilgore and Kilgore

Personal Papers

Legal Documents

Literary Production

Live Stock Records

Maps and Charts

Printed Material

Scrapbook Material

Financial Material

Legal Material

Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company:

An Inventory of Its Records, 1837-1983 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library


Descriptive Summary
	Creator	Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company
	Title:	Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company Records,
	Dates:	1837-1983 and undated
	Abstract:	The records pertain to the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company, which was incorporated in 1883 and headquartered near Guthrie, Texas.
	Collection #	S 803.1
	Quantity:	27 boxes and 9 ledgers (30.0 linear feet)
	Language	English.
	Repository:	Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

Biographical Sketch

Organized in 1881 by D.B. Gardner and Eugene F. Williams, it was incorporated in 1883 as the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company. The ranch is headquartered near Guthrie, Texas, and also operated divisions near Laramie, Wyoming, and Eskridge, Kansas.

The ranch used a three-pronged symbol that looked like a pitchfork. The succession of general managers for the ranch was as follows: D. B. Gardner served from 1883 until his death in 1928; from 1928-1930, A. Lambert managed the ranch; Virgil V. Parr ran the ranch from 1930-1940; Rudolph Swenson served a short term from 1940-1942; and the well-known D. Burns was ranch manager for the Pitchfork Ranch from 1942-1965. Burns received a lifetime award in 1960 from the Texas Hereford Association

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Scope and Contents

The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, financial material, maps and charts, diaries, scrapbook material, printed material, news releases, speeches, minutes and agenda, literary production, news clippings, and photographs. A portion of the collection (1,170 leaves) is available on microfilm. Also included are Virgil V. Parr's papers concerning his tenure on the Wichita School Board from 1931-1933.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open for research

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Index Terms
	The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally developed.
	Subjects (Persons)
		Burns, D. (Douglas R.), 1895-1977
		Burns family
		Humphreys, Jim
	Subjects (Organizations)
		Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company
	Places
		6666 Ranch (Tex.)
		Eskridge (Kan.)
		Guthrie (Tex.)--History
		J.A. Ranch (Tex.)
		Laramie (Wyo.)
		Pitchfork Ranch (Tex.)
		Pitchfork Ranch (Tex.)--Social life and customs
		Saint Louis (Mo.)
		SMS Ranch (Tex.)
		Spur Ranch (Tex.)
		XIT Ranch (Tex.)
	Subjects
		Animals--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Cattle--Marking--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Cattle--Texas
		Cattle--Texas, West
		Cattle--Breeding
		Cattle--Breeding--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch.
		Cattle--Feeding and feeds--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Cattle trade
		Cattle trade--Texas
		Cowboys--Texas, West
		Cutting horses
		Horse trading
		Horses
		Horses--Breeding
		Horses--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Livestock--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Ranch life--Texas--Pitchfork Ranch
		Ranch managers--Texas--History
		Ranches--Kansas
		Ranches--Texas
		Ranches--Wyoming
		Ranching--Texas, West

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Related Material


	For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, see the following collections:
		R.J. and Rita Bell and Belinda Sursa oral history interview [sound recording], 1970s Douglas R. Burns oral history interview [sound recording], 1969-1970 D. (Douglas R.) Burns Papers, 1850-1980 D. (Douglas R.)Burns Papers, 1940-1976 Mrs. Walter Chalk oral history interview [sound recording], 1969 >Gardner, Dan, Papers, 1897 Virgil V. Parr Papers, 1921-1935 Elmer Petty oral history interview [sound recording], 1981 Belinda Sursa and Dave Kinney oral history interview [sound recording], 1970

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company Records, 1837-1983 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

Acquisition

Gifts, 1969-1977

Processed by

Abel Ramirez, 2000

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Additional Sources



		Murrah, David J. "The Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company: the First Century. "Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1983.
		Burns, Mamie Sypert. "This I Can Leave You: A Woman's Day on the Pitchfork Ranch. "College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1986.
		Cox, James. "Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry. "2 vols., St. Louis: Woodward and Tiernan Printing, 1894, 1895.
		Elliott, Margaret A. History of D. B. Gardner's Pitchfork."Panhandle-Plains Historical Review, "vol. 18, 1945.
		Hendrix, John M. The Forks."The Cattleman, "March 1939.
		The Handbook of Texas has published a more in-depth online biography of the Pitchfork Ranch at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/search.html

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Collection Inventory



Correspondence
box	folder
1	1		General, 1877-1900
	2		General, 1901-1939
	3		General, 1916-1917
	4		General, 1918
	5		General, January-June 1919
	6		General, July-December 1919
	7		General, 1920
	8		General, 1921
	9		General, January-July 1922
	10		General, August-December 1922
box	folder
2	1		General, January-June 1923
	2		General, July-December 1923
	3		General, January-May 1924
	4		General, June-December 1924
	5		General, 1925
	6		General, January-June 1926
	7		General, July-December 1926
	8		General, January-June 1927
	9		General, July-December 1927
	10		General, 1928-1929
	11		General, 1930
	12		General, 1931
	13		General, 1932-1936
	14		General, 1937-1938
box	folder
3	1		General, January-April 1940
	2		General, May-September 1940
	3		General, October-December 1940
	4		General, January-March 1941
	5		General, April-June 1941
	6		General, July-September 1941
	7		General, October-December 1941
	8		General, undated
	9		General, 1942
box	folder
4	1		General, 1924-1946
	2		General, 1946-1948
	3		General, 1949-1950
	4		General, 1950-1951
box	folder
5	1		General, 1951
	2		General, 1952
	3		General, 1952-1953
	4		General, 1953-1954
box	folder
6	1		General, 1954-1955
	2		General, 1955-1956
	3		General, 1956-1957
	4		General, 1957-1958
box	folder
7	1		General, 1958-1959
	2		General, 1959-1960
	3		General, 1963-1967 and undated
	4		General, 1967-1968
box	folder
8	1		General, 1960-1961
	2		General, 1962
	3		General, 1962
	4		General, 1964-1965
box	folder
9	1		General, 1961
			Specific
box	folder
9	2			Accounting Department (Ranch), 1929-1931
	3			Acreage Allowances, 1957-1962
	4			Ad Layouts, undated
	5			Agriculture Conservation Program, 1945-1958
	6			Animal Health Records, 1946-1965 and undated
	7			Associations, 1945-1965 and undated
	8			Associations, 1945-1965 and undated
	9			Bookkeeping Department, St. Louis, 1942-1952
box	folder
10	1			Bookkeeping Department, St. Louis, 1953-1957
	2			Bookkeeping Department, St. Louis, 1958-1960
	3			Bookkeeping Department, St. Louis, 1961-1962
	4			Bookkeeping Department, St. Louis, 1962-1964
box	folder
11	1			Braceros Program, 1958-1962 and undated
	2			Breeding Records, 1963
	3			D. Burns, 1947
	4			D. Burns, 1942-1943
	5			D. Burns, 1944
box	folder
12	1			D. Burns, 1944-1947
	2			D. Burns, 1948-1965 and undated
	3			D. Burns, 1942-1949
	4			D. Burns, 1962-1968
	5			Cattle Shipping Records, 1953
	6			Cattle Sales, 1934
	7			Cattle Tallies and Counts, 1930
	8			Claims, 1930-1933
	9			Crop Dusting Records, 1950
	10			Daily Cattle Killing Records, 1955-1961
	11			Employer's Reports of Injury, 1940-1942
	12			Eradication of Predatory Animals and Obnoxious Weeds, 1920-1936
	13			Farm Machinery, 1933
	14			Farm Operation, 1931
	15			Freight Rates, 1930-1931
	16			Gasoline Memoranda, 1937-1939
	17			Highway #24, 1933
	18			Land Improvement, 1937
	19			Land Sales Farms, 1923-1938
	20			Leases, 1931
	21			Legal Affairs (W. D. Wilson), 1930-1931
	22			Livestock, undated
	23			Lumber and Construction, 1938
	24			Meat Curing, 1930
	25			Miscellaneous, 1883-1962
	26			Officers, 1935-1936
	27			Publications, 1930-1931
	28			Publicity, 1931
	29			Ranches, etc. for sale, 1930
	30			Registered Herd, 1931-1932
	31			St. Louis Union Trust Company, 1954-1976 and undated
	32			Sales, 1930-1931
	33			Shipping, 1931
	34			Texas Cattle Raisers Association, 1930-1931
	35			Texas Experiment Station, 1930
box	folder
13	1			E. F. Williams, Sr., 1942-1944
	2			E. F. Williams, Sr., 1944-1947
	3			E. F. Williams, Sr., 1948-1953
	4			E. F. Williams, Sr., 1953-1954 and undated
	5			E. F. Sr., E. F. Jr., and Gates Williams, 1954-1957
box	folder
14	1			E. F. Sr., E. F. Jr., and Gates Williams, 1957-1960 and undated
	2			Williams, Eugene F. Jr., and Jim Humphrey, 1965-1976 and undated
	3			Williams, Eugene F. Jr., and Jim Humphrey, 1964-1973 and undated
	4			Williams, Gates, 1942
	5			Williams, Eugene, Jr., 1953-1965
	6			Williams, Gates, 1942-1951
	7			Williams, Gates, 1951-1954 and undated

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Financial Material
box	folder
15	1		Braceros Program, 1958-1962 and undated
	2		Cattle Records: Inventories, 1964-1970
	3		Cattle Records: Inventories and Sales, 1881-1931
	4		Cattle Records: Statements of Sale, 1963-1975
	5		Expense Accounts, 1952-1962
	6		Expense Accounts, 1962-1965
	7		Expense Accounts, 1941-1951
	8		Expenditures, 1929-1965 and undated
	9		Expenditures, 1963-1973
	10		Expenses and Depreciation Schedule, 1960-1964
	11		Employee Data, 1959
	12		Expenditures, 1915-1919
	13		Expenditures, 1920-1929
	14		Expenditures, 1930-1931
	15		Expenditures, 1932
box	folder
16	1		Expenditures, 1933
	2		Expenditures, 1934
	3		Expenditures, 1935
	4		Expenditures, 1938
	5		Expenditures, 1950-1956
	6		Expenditures, 1960-1969
	7		Expenditures, 1970-1979
	8		Expenditures - Account list, Freight Bills, Statements, 1909-1942 and undated
	9		Expense Account of Virgil V. Parr, 1930-1931
	10		Feed Records, 1956
	11		Feedlot Records, 1969-1973
	12		Flag Ranch Conditions, 1975
	13		Flag Ranch and Pitchfork Ranch Employees, 1965-1982 and undated
	14		Freight Bills, 1944-1958
	15		General, 1946-1963 and undated
	16		General, 1963-1969 and undated
	17		Hog Records/Sales, 1963-1972
	18		Income Statements, 1962-1972
	19		Insurance, 1960-1963
	20		Insurance, 1944-1964 and undated
	21		Insurance: Injury Reports, 1945-1954 and undated
	22		Insurance: Premiums, 1944-1956
box	folder
17	1		Insurance: General American Life, 1960-1964
	2		Inventories: Hog Records, 1963-1972
	3		Land Appraisal, 1965
	4		Late Tax Renditions and Assessments, 1939
	5		Miscellaneous items, 1884
	6		Miscellaneous Tax Renditions and Assessments, 1929-1932
	7		Mississippi Valley Trust, Treasury Certificate and Miscellaneous, 1918-1926 and undated
	8		Payroll Notes, undated
	9		Payrolls, 1939-1957
	10		Payrolls, 1958-1965
box	folder
18	1		Payrolls: Indian Payrolls and Expenses, 1954-1957
	2		Payrolls: Indian Payrolls and Expenses, 1957-1959
	3		Payrolls: Indian Payrolls and Expenses, 1959-1962
	4		Payrolls: Mexican, 1958-1959
box	folder
19	1		Payrolls: Mexican, 1960-1961
	2		Petty Cash, 1933
	3		Petty Cash Distribution, 1942-1944
	4		Purchases, Orders, and Receipts, 1964-1976
	5		Receipt Note, 1898-1901
	6		Records of Sales, 1939-1954
	7		Sales and Expenditures, 1932-1937
	8		Sales, 1939-1944
	9		Sales, 1945-1949
	10		Sales, 1950-1953
box	folder
20	1		Sales, 1954-1956
	2		Sales, 1957-1959
	3		Stockholders, Attempted Purchase, 1983
	4		Stockholders Meetings, 1969-1980
	5		Statements of Sales, 1940-1959 and undated
	6		Tax Notices, 1946 and undated
	7		Uniform Straight Bill of Lading, 1942-1962 and undated
	8		Daybook, 1903-1910
	9		Daybook, 1910-1916
	10		Land Deeds Record Book, 1899
	11		Robert M. Ellison Estate Records, 1905-1907
box	folder
21	1		General Ledgers, 1910-1929
	2		General Ledgers, 1924-1927
	3		General Ledgers, 1928
	4		General Ledgers, 1929-1930

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Flag Ranch
box	folder
22	1		Correspondence, 1952-1959
	2		Correspondence, 1960-1964 and undated
	3		Specific, 1965-1976 and undated
	4		Correspondence on Financial Matters, 1952-1964 and undated
	5		Legal Material, 1964 and undated
	6		General: Floor Plans, 1931-1938 and undated
	7		General: Grain Inspection Certification, 1956
	8		General: Inventories, 1947-1961

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Kilgore and Kilgore
box	folder
22	9		Correspondence, 1947-1959 and undated
box	folder
23	1		Correspondence, 1947-1959 and undated
			General
box	folder
23	2			Lespendeza Acreage, 1945
	3			List, 1953-1954 and undated
	4			Plato, 1976 and undated
	5			Stock Shows, Conventions, and Seminars, 1946-1962 and undated
	6			Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, 1947-1959
	7			Unemployment Claims, 1946-1958
	8			United States Department of Agriculture, 1944-1956

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Personal Papers
box	folder
23	9		Chalk, Walker A., Correspondence, 1918-1927
	10		Gardner, Daniel B., 1917-1920
	11		Gardner, Daniel B., 1921-1923
	12		Gardner, Daniel B.: Correspondence, 1924-1927 and undated
	13		Gardner, Daniel B.: Financial Material, 1915-1926
	14		Unidentified Correspondence, 1917-1927

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Legal Documents
			Warranty Deeds
box	folder
23	15			King County, Texas, 1837-1883
	16			King County, Texas, 1884-1886
	17			King County, Texas, 1887-1894
	18			King County, Texas, 1897-1902
	19			King County, Texas, 1903-1931
	20			Dickens County, Texas, 1847-1887
box	folder
24	1			Dickens County, Texas, 1884-1893
	2			Dickens County, Texas, 1894-1900
	3			Dickens County, Texas, 1901-1902
	4			Dickens County, Texas, 1903-1905
	5			Dickens County, Texas, 1910-1937
			Patents
box	folder
24	6			King County, Texas, January-March 1876
	7			King County, Texas, 1875-1883
	8			King County, Texas, 1876
	9			King County, Texas, 1878-1892
	10			King County, Texas, 1902-1931
	11			Dickens County, Texas, 1876-1877
	12			Dickens County, Texas, 1877-1878
	13			Dickens County, Texas, 1880-1883
	14			Dickens County, Texas, 1883
	15			Dickens County, Texas, 1892-1925
			Abstracts
box	folder
24	16			King County, Texas, 1895-1922
	17			King County, Texas, 1924
	18			King County, Texas, 1927
	19			King County, Texas, 1927
box	folder
25	1			King County, Texas, 1928
	2			King County, Texas, 1929
	3			King County, Texas, 1929-1931
	4			Dickens County, Texas, 1898-1910
	5			Dickens County, Texas, 1924-1927
	6			Dickens County, Texas, 1927
	7			Dickens County, Texas, 1928-1929
			Tax Receipts
box	folder
25	8			Dickens County, Texas, 1883-1893
	9			Dickens County, Texas, 1895-1907
	10			King County, Texas, 1877-1890
	11			King County, Texas, 1891-1924
	12		Quit Claims: Dickens County, Texas, 1883-1897
	13		Quit Claims: King County, Texas, 1886-1918
	14		Leases: Dickens County, Texas, 1888-1902
	15		Releases: Dickens County, Texas, 1901-1902
	16		Releases: King County, Texas, 1891-1934
	17		Field Notes: Dickens County, Texas, 1914-1934
	18		Field Notes: King County, Texas, undated
	19		Affidavits and Statements, 1875-1903
	20		Affidavits and Statements, 1905-1931
	21		Certificates of Registration, 1945-1953
box	folder
26	1		Braceros Program, 1958-1962 and undated
	2		Contracts, 1940-1964
	3		Deed Envelopes and Notes, 1880-1914 and undated
	4		General, 1945-1952
			Law Suits
box	folder
26	5			General, 1892-1929
	6			J. A. Keith v. Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company, 1901-1905
	7			J. A. Keith v. Pitchfork Land and Cattle Compant, 1909-1916
	8			J. A. Keith v. Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company, 1917
	9			Aerial Sprayers, Inc., et. al., v. Raymond Ring et. al., undated
	10			Dickens School Case, 1933-1936
	11			Pitchfork Land and Cattle Co. et. al. v. Raymond King et. al., 1959-1962
	12			O. P. Leonard, Trustee, et. al. v. G. R. Abbot et. al., 1962
	13		Lazarus Deed to Pitchfork Ranch, 1884
	14		Lease Contracts, 1967-1969
	15		Letter of Patents, 1940
	16		Miscellaneous Legal, 1857-1880
	17		Miscellaneous Legal, 1881-1918
	18		Parents Agreements, 1941-1943
	19		Releases, 1940-1945

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Committees

box

folder

26

20

List, 1966-1968

21

Reports, undated

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Literary Production
box	folder
26	22		Miscellaneous Articles, undated
	23		Ranch Diary, 1957-1964
	24		Ranch Diaries (2 items), 1953-1957

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Live Stock Records
box	folder
26	25		Feed and Cattle Notes, 1946-1963 and undated
	26		Horse Records, 1938-1939
	27		Inventories, 1964-1971
	28		List of Stockholders, 1965
	29		Miscellaneous, 1950-1959
	30		Ultrasonic Measurement, 1966 and undated

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Maps and Charts

box

folder

26

31

Lands of the Pitchfork Ranch, undated

32

Lands of the Pitchfork Ranch, undated

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Memoranda
box	folder
26	33		Flag Ranch Conditions, 1965-1976
box	folder
27	1		Minute and Agendas, 1966-1968
	2		News Clipping, 1966-1974
	3		News Releases, 1967 and undated
	4		Printed Material, undated
	5		Speeches, 1966-1967
	6		Aerial Sprayers, Court Appeal Case, undated

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Printed Material
box	folder
27	7		Commercial Publications, 1942-1960
	8		Leaflets, Miscellaneous, 1946-1963
	9		Livestock and Agriculture, 1909-1939
	10		Pitchfork Ranch Article, 1939
	11		SMS Ranch Newsclipping, 1968

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Scrapbook Material
box	folder
27	12		Letterheads, undated
	13		Miscellaneous, 1946-1963 and undated
	14		Photographs,unidentified, undated

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Financial Material

box

ledger

27

Ledger 1

General Ledger, 1913-1923

ledger

Ledger 2

Day Book, 1916-1927

ledger

Ledger 3

Day Book, 1921-1923

ledger

Ledger 4

Day Book, 1924-1928

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Legal Material

ledger

Ledger 5

Transcribed Deeds, King County, Texas, 1887-1901

ledger

Ledger 6

Transcribed Deeds, King County, Texas, 1877-1886

ledger

Ledger 7

Transcribed Deeds, King County, Texas, 1881-1913

ledger

Ledger 8

Transcribed Deeds, King County, Texas, 1896-1908

ledger

Ledger 9

Transcribed Deeds of Trust, King County, Texas, 1887-1914

ledger

Ledger 10

General Index to Transcribed Deeds, 1877-1914

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