Rath City, Texas
Encyclopedia
Rath City was a frontier town which existed for less than five years and is presently a ghost town
. The town was located on the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
fourteen miles northwest of Hamlin
in southern Stonewall County, Texas, United States
.
war party led by Black Horse, in a campaign known as the Buffalo Hunters' War
or Staked Plains War. The men pursued the Comanche to a site in present-day Lubbock
. A battle
ensued on March 18, 1877, at Yellow House Canyon
; its results were inconclusive. The hunters returned to Rath City and thus ended one of the last Indian campaigns on the southern plains.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
. The town was located on the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about west-northwest of...
fourteen miles northwest of Hamlin
Hamlin, Texas
Hamlin is a city in Fisher and Jones Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,248 at the 2000 census.The Jones County portion of Hamlin is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in southern Stonewall County, Texas, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
The town was founded in 1876. Its original establishment was meant to capitalize on the buffalo trade and it was Stonewall County's first settlement. In 1877 the town housed a store, two saloons, a dance hall, and a few tents and dugouts. The town's namesake was Charles Rath, whose store, built in 1875, was the structure the village grew around. A declining buffalo population ended the settlement and it was abandoned in 1880.Rath City and Native Americans
In Feb. 1877, after buffalo hunter Marshall Sewell was killed by Native Americans, Rath City became a rallying point for over 300 frontiersmen. A group of 45 men left Rath City in pursuit of a ComancheComanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
war party led by Black Horse, in a campaign known as the Buffalo Hunters' War
Buffalo Hunters' War
The Buffalo Hunters' War, or the Staked Plains War, occurred in 1877. Approximately 170 Comanche warriors and their families led by Black Horse left the Indian Territory in December, 1876, for the Llano Estacado of Texas...
or Staked Plains War. The men pursued the Comanche to a site in present-day Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. A battle
Battle of Yellow House Canyon
The Battle of Yellow House Canyon was a battle between a force of Comanches and Apaches against a group of bison hunters that occurred on March 18, 1877, near the site of the present-day city of Lubbock, Texas...
ensued on March 18, 1877, at Yellow House Canyon
Yellow House Canyon
Yellow House Canyon is a canyon that is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three major canyons along the east side of...
; its results were inconclusive. The hunters returned to Rath City and thus ended one of the last Indian campaigns on the southern plains.
See also
- Double Mountain Fork Brazos RiverDouble Mountain Fork Brazos RiverThe Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about west-northwest of...
- Yellow House CanyonYellow House CanyonYellow House Canyon is a canyon that is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three major canyons along the east side of...
- Llano EstacadoLlano EstacadoLlano Estacado , commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle...
- Double Mountain (Texas)Double Mountain (Texas)Double Mountain is the name of a pair of flat-topped buttes located southwest of Aspermont in Stonewall County, Texas. While the Handbook of Texas gives their elevation as either or , United States Geological Survey maps give the elevation of the western mountain as and that of the eastern...
External links
- Rath City, Texas on Ghosttowns.com
- History of Rath City, Texas