The XIT Museum in Dalhart

Dalhart, Texas

Dalhart is a city in Dallam and Hartley counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and the county seat of Dallam County. The population was 7,237 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dallam and Hartley counties. Dalhart sits at the intersection of U.S....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, seeks to preserve the history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 and culture of one of the best-known ranches of the American West, the legendary XIT

XIT Ranch

The XIT Ranch was a cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle which operated from 1885 to 1912. Comprising over 3,000,000 acres of land, it ran for two hundred miles along the border with New Mexico, varying in width from 20 to 30 miles...

, which at its peak encompassed parts of ten Texas counties along a 200 mile stretch of acreage in the late 19th century. The ranch operated from 1885–1912. The museum exhibits include a model of an XIT division headquarters. The museum also displays period artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

: an early kitchen

Kitchen

A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...

, parlor, bedroom, an inspirational chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 (which can accommodate small wedding

Wedding

A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...

 parties), dozens of historic photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

s, and collections of gun

Gun

A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...

s, hat

Hat

A hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...

s, and camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

s.

The railroad exhibit stems from a major event of May 31, 1901, when the Rock Island

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...

, now Union Pacific, crossed the Fort Worth and Denver Railway

Fort Worth and Denver Railway

The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic development of the region....

 lines near the stop called “Twist Junction”, which became the future Dalhart, derived from the combination of Dallam and Hartley counties. Another popular exhibit is that devoted to the life of the county sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

. There is also wildlife exhibit of mostly bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s.

Dalhart also offers live theater at its LaRita Performing Arts Theatre, an original 1920s film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 palace. Nearby are the Kiowa

Kiowa National Grassland

Kiowa National Grassland is a National Grassland located in New Mexico, USA. The Great Plains grassland includes prairie and part of the Canadian River Canyon.-Sections:...

 and Rita Blanca

Rita Blanca National Grassland

Rita Blanca National Grassland is a National Grassland located in northern Dallam County, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle, and in southern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, in the western Oklahoma Panhandle, USA. It is not one solid block of government owned land but rather several small blocks of...

 national grasslands, the Rita Blanca Lake State Park, and the annual XIT Rodeo and Reunion held since 1936 during the first long weekend in August. Visitors come from hundreds of miles for the activities. The reunion serves what is called the “world’s largest free barbecue dinner.”

The museum is located at 108 East Fifth Street across the street from the Dallam County Courthouse. It is sponsored by the Dallam-Hartley Historical Association. It provides various services to educators, including the use of educational trunks filled with period artifacts, microfilmed newspapers, particularly the Dalhart Texan, and other archival ranch materials. Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. There is no admission fee.

External links

• XIT Museum - official site