Site of Historic Drift Fence (Sunray)

Until the mid-1880's, no range fences existed in the Texas Panhandle. Thus when winter blizzards came, cattle drifted from Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas onto the Texas ranches of T ("Box T"--Dominion Cattle Co. Ltd.), 7K ("Seven K"--York, Parker & Draper), CC ("Bar C's"--Creswell Land & Cattle Co.), ^ ("Turkey Track"--Hansford Land & Cattle Co.), LX (Bates & Beal), LIT (Littlefield), and LE (Lee & Reynolds). The influx caused these ranches in the Canadian River breaks to be overgrazed, for by spring roundup there were as many northern as local cattle in the herds. To prevent the costly and time-consuming job of separating the cattle, each Texas rancher agreed to construct a fence along his north boundary line. The resulting fence was 200 miles long and ran from the northeast corner of the Panhandle southwest to near the site where Dumas was later founded, then west about 35 miles into New Mexico. It was a 4-strand, 4-barb fence with posts 30 feet apart and a gate every 3 miles. The materials amounted to about 65 carloads of wire and posts hauled from Dodge City. In 1890, however, to comply with an 1889 state law prohibiting any fence from crossing or enclosing public property, most of the fence was removed. (1969)

Site of Historic Drift Fence is a historical marker in Sunray, Moore County, dedicated in 1969. It is one of 10 historical markers documented in Moore County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 17 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 35.9228, -101.6408 near Sunray. The nearest cataloged historic site is Palo Duro Cemetery (cemetery), about 2.8 miles away. Others within a short drive include Route of Tascosa-Dodge City Trail, Lane Memorial Cemetery, and Record Cemetery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5341004812. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.