Cottle County

Apaches held this country until about 1700, when Comanches (Numunuu) moved in; the Wanderers-Who-Make-Bad-Camps band controlled it until the army drove them out in the 1870s. Its first fifteen years it was grazing land for ranches such as the OX, SMS and Matador; in 1880 the census found only twenty-four people. A killing on the county line in 1889 moved residents to petition for organization so the suspect could be tried at home. Drought tested the first settlers: H. P. Cook recalled that 'it didn't rain enough in 1892, '93, and '94 to wet my shirt.'

What the plaque says

Created in 1876, organized in 1892, in area where the Pease and Little Wichita Rivers break level terrain. Named for George Washington Cottle (1798-1836), an 1832 settler in DeWitt's Colony, who after fighting in 1835 Battle of Gonzales entered the Alamo March 1, 1836, and died there defending Texas. Of the 254 counties, 42 bear Indian, French or Spanish names. 10 honor such colonizers as Stephen F. Austin, "Father of Texas." 12 were named for Washington, Clay and other American patriots. 96 were named for men who fought in the Texas War for Independence (15, including Cottle, dying at the Alamo), signed the Declaration of Independence or served as statesmen in the Republic of Texas. 23 have names of frontiersmen and pioneers. 11 honor American Statesmen who worked for the annexation of Texas; 10 leaders in Texas since statehood, including jurists, ministers, educators, historians, statesman; and 36 men prominent in the Confederacy during the Civil War. 8 have geographical names. 2 were named for battles, 2 for trees, one for a fort. Cottle is noted for fine farms and ranches, with Paducah the principal market and shipping point. (1964)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Matador Wildlife Management Area — 11 mi
  Twenty-eight thousand acres of mesquite, shinnery oak and juniper hills in the Rolling Plains north of Paducah, bought by the state in 1959 for wildlife research and open to permit holders.

More markers nearby

• The Gray and The Blue — steps away
• Chalk — 10 mi
• CV Ranch and Cee Vee Community — 17 mi
• Tee Pee City — 19 mi