Ochiltree Townsite

Ochiltree tried first to bring a railroad to itself. On September 23, 1909, the Enid, Ochiltree and Western Railroad Company began building a line meant to join Ochiltree and Dalhart, a project Dalhart helped establish. The section from Dalhart to Dumas was graded, but only 13.7 miles of track were laid before the company failed. George M. Perry, for whom Perryton was later named, was among the men involved in what the Handbook calls a disastrous scheme. A decade later the Santa Fe passed several miles north, and the town went to the rails.

What the plaque says

(Bordering this highway) This county was created in 1876 and named for noted Texas jurist William Beck Ochiltree (1811-1867). In 1876 it was attached for judicial purposes to Clay and later to Wheeler County. In 1886 pioneers began to settle in dugouts here on the prairies near Wolf Creek, saying they lived "in Ochiltree." For convenience in making land and tax transactions, and establishing law and order, they organized the county in 1889, making their village the county seat. First elected officials were William J. Todd, county judge; Dave C. Kettell, sheriff and tax collector; George M. Perry, county clerk; Myrtle L. Daily, treasurer. In 1891 a 2-story courthouse was built (100 yds E) of lumber freighted from Dodge City, Kans. This also served as church, schoolhouse, and social hall for the town. By 1903, Ochiltree had 600 people, churches, a high school, a newspaper, bank, flour mill, and other facilities. In 1919, the Santa Fe Railway founded a new town between Ochiltree and Gray, Okla., and induced people from both places to relocate by offering free lots. In 1919 steam engines and heavy equipment hauled the improvements from Ochiltree to the new site (8 mi. N), called Perryton, in honor of veteran county official George M. Perry. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Plains — 9.0 mi
  Perryton's four-acre museum of the wheat country at the top of Texas, with an 1899 depot, five historic buildings and a life-size Hank the Cowdog, whose author grew up here.
• Canadian River Wagon Bridge — 34 mi
  The longest pin-connected bridge in Texas, 3,255 feet of Parker trusses across the Canadian River at Canadian, built for wagons in 1916 and reopened as a footpath in 2000.

More markers nearby

• Site of the Trading Post — 6.7 mi
• Colonel William B. Ochiltree — 7.9 mi
• George Morgan Perry — 7.9 mi
• Ochiltree County — 9.0 mi