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The recorded history of Deaf Smith County began as part of the great period of European exploration, but the area was inhabited for thousands of years prior to that. Once the U.S. had absorbed Texas and succeeded in its military campaigns against the Plains Indians, Deaf Smith County became part of the great ranchland expansions in the West.

By the early 1880's the western half of the county belonged to the XIT Ranch, memorialized in the memoirs of former ranch hands as "6,000 Miles of Fence." The great land-for-construction-of-the-state-capitol scheme that underlay the formation of the XIT resulted in financial collapse of the ranch, and its ultimate division into smaller spreads. By the 1890's, however, there were still close to 30,000 cattle in the county, as compared with a paltry 179 human inhabitants.

Railways, farming, discovery of the Ogallala Aquifer, and the effective development of a statewide road system saw Deaf Smith County become one of the largest communities in the region, a position it still maintains with a population approaching 20,000. Hereford, the county seat, is one of the largest cattle feeding centers in the nation.

Detailed History of Deaf Smith County: from Handbook of Texas Online
Additional County Links: maps, biological, geographical information
People Facts: link to Texas Census data
Deaf Smith People Facts: link to Deaf Smith County census data
Red River War: link to information about military campaign against the Cheyenne and Comanches
Exploration of Texas: thumbnail of exploration in early Texas
Exploration of the Panhandle: begins with Pleistocene exploration by first Americans
Prisoner of War Camps in the Panhandle: McLean, Texas German POW camp link
Deaf Smith County WWII Casualties: list at genealogy web site
Prisoner of War Camp in Hereford: link to information about Hereford Interment Area
Cemeteries of Deaf Smith County: cemeteries and other genealogy resources
Researching Deaf Smith: link to Harrington Library Consortium database; search the Deaf Smith library
Deaf Smith History: link to the political graveyard of Texas
National Register of Historic Places: listing of E.B. Black House, Hereford
Landmarks and Vanished Communities: detailed list of things that are, and things that are no more, in DS County
Schools in Deaf Smith County: self-explanatory
Marriage Records 1891-1916: private publication with records from DS County
Historical Census Records: Deaf Smith County census, 1900

Deaf Smith County Museum
Box 1007
Hereford, TX 79045
(806) 363-7070
E-mail