Great Western Trail

The ranch that came to dominate the county was the SMS. Swante M. Swenson acquired land here in 1854, and his sons E. P. and S. A. Swenson began fencing and running cattle on it in the early 1880s. By 1902, when Frank S. Hastings became manager, its 'breed-well, feed-well' practice was paying off: the Swensons ran 25,000 cattle on 350,000 acres, and Hastings began sending range-bred calves to Corn Belt feedlots to finish. He managed the ranch until his death in 1922. The SMS weathered the Depression without borrowing for feed.

What the plaque says

Between 1874 and 1886, millions of cattle were driven up the Great Western Trail from South Texas to the midwestern U.S., where they were sent east to market by train. The Great Western surpassed the Chisholm Trail in both length and volume. The trail passed through Throckmorton County and had a major impact on its development. Many area ranches built herds from "drags" of the Western Trail; drovers sold or gave these cattle to ranchers because they were too weak or young to make the entire trek. Cattle ranching would become the major economic base in the county. Modern U.S. Highway 183 follows the exact route of the trail from Throckmorton to Seymour. (2009)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Griffin State Historic Site — 20 mi
  The ruins of an 1867 cavalry post on a plateau above the Clear Fork of the Brazos, judged unfit for habitation and used nine more years, now home to the official state longhorn herd.
• Fort Belknap — 27 mi
  The 1851 northern anchor of the first Texas frontier forts, on the Brazos below Newcastle, a Butterfield stop and the post beside the Brazos Reservation until its people were driven out in 1859.

More markers nearby

• Throckmorton County — 1.8 mi
• Camp Cooper, C.S.A. — 2.7 mi
• Bush Knob Massacre — 8.7 mi
• Round Timber Community — 16 mi