J. Ealy Moore (1866-1937) was born in Bedford County, Tennessee, on April 21, 1866. In 1874, Moore’s family moved to Burnet County, Texas, and began raising cattle on a small scale. The XIT Ranch hired Moore in 1887 to work in its Yellow House Division. He worked as a cowboy for a year and half, before attending Centenary College in Lampasas, 1889-1891. In 1892, Moore again went to work for the XIT Ranch, this time in its Oho Bravo division near the New Mexico border. From 1892 until 1894, he worked as a trail boss, driving cattle to XIT’s Montana finishing range. After his last Montana cattle drive in 1894, he became the manager of XIT’s Rita Blanca division.
Moore remained in the cattle business with XIT until 1902 when he was elected judge of Hartley County. Following his two terms as judge, he served as Dallam county treasurer for three years. From 1910 to 1930, he operated an insurance business in Dalhart, Texas. Moore died in Amarillo in October 1937.
Source:
The J. Ealy Moore Diary, 1892, contains an account of Moore’s 1892 cattle drive from the Texas Panhandle to Montana. The diary, April 20 - July 29, 1892, contains brief notes of the miles they traveled each day and where they made camp at night. Furthermore, the diary includes lists of expenses incurred and supplies purchased during the trip. Additionally, before Moore donated the diary to the university he wrote a short autobiography in the diary, relating his experiences as a cowboy in the Panhandle during the 1880s and 1890s. The diary also contains a photograph pasted in the back cover, depicting Moore in his real estate and insurance office at Dalhart, Texas, in 1912.
The collection is open for research.
J. Ealy Moore Diary, 1892, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.