J.O. Bass Blacksmith Shop

When Bass moved his shop here, Tulia was prospering as a stop for freight wagons bound for the railheads at Colorado City and Amarillo. Telephone lines had reached Amarillo by 1901, and the Tulia National Bank, later the First National Bank of Tulia, was chartered in 1902. A brick schoolhouse followed in 1907, and in 1909 the county built a three-story domed brick courthouse, the same year the city incorporated with W. G. Conner as mayor. Tulia counted 1,216 residents in 1910, and the next year voters approved bonds for waterworks and a light plant.

What the plaque says

J.O. Bass Blacksmith Shop By the end of the Red River War in 1875, settlers began to move to this area. Stretching across five counties, the J.A. Ranch employed ranch hands and cowboys to care for over 100,000 cattle. The life of a rancher depended on tools of the trade. The need for blacksmiths to make horseshoes, spurs and branding irons was great when supplies were difficult to acquire. James Oscar Bass was born on March 19, 1879, in Atlanta, Georgia, as one of seven children. In 1890, his family moved to Young County, Texas, and then to the Panhandle a year later. Unable to transport their wagon over Caprock Canyon, the family settled in what became Quitaque. In 1897, at eighteen years old, J.O. Bass opened a blacksmith shop in Quitaque where he made spurs for local cowboys and ranchers. Lazy F and Matador ranch hands prided themselves in owning a pair of Bass spurs for their durability, a valuable asset. Orders for Bass spurs and bridles extended to other states, including Montana and Nevada, and to the Texas Rangers and Western movie star Tom Mix. Bass moved his shop to Tulia in 1902 for a more centralized and populated location. The town of Tulia incorporated in 1909 with J.O. Bass as one of the first city commissioners, along with other early Tulia pioneers. In 1914, J.O. Bass won the Metallurgy Award at the Texas State Fair for a pair of gal-leg spurs with inlaid and overlaid gold and silver. Bass retired in 1924 and bought land west of Plainview. He passed on February 3, 1950, and is buried in Plainview Cemetery. Worn and loved by many cowboys and ranchers, J.O. Bass's legacy of craftsmanship impacted the Panhandle frontier and beyond. (2016)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Ozark Trails Association — steps away
• First Methodist Church of Tulia — 0.2 mi
• Swisher County — 0.3 mi
• Rose Hill Cemetery — 1.6 mi