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 Ozona-Barnhart Trap Company
N 30° 50.105 W 101° 10.155
14R E 292531 N 3413338
The second of two state historic markers in a desolate and dusty picnic area that Mama Blaster would never, ever, ever, EVER use along the state highway 163 in Crockett County, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMPPGY
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/01/2015
Views: 2
This state historic marker at a desolate yet inhabited rest area on the state highway 163 north of Ozona preserves the method by which ranchers could drive their cattle to market freely through fenced lands, without the need to cut fences (and start a war with landowners).
Mama Blaster knows a black widow spider web when she sees one, and as of July 2015 they are under the picnic table seats, at the joints of the tables and ground supports, and all under the joists of the corrugated roofing over the picnic shelters.
---> This is a waymark to visit while staying in your car (unless it's winter or early spring). <---
Marker Number: 3899
Marker Text:
By the 1920s many ranchers in Crockett County had fenced their land, preventing their neighbors from driving sheep and cattle to the railroad shipping point in Barnhart (23 miles north of here). A solution to the problem was offered by the Ozona-Barnhart Trap Co., which was organized in Ozona in 1924. By buying or leasing land for trails, traps (small pastures), pens, and water wells, the company established a corridor through which ranchers could drive their livestock to the railroad without crossing their neighbor's fences or destroying his grass supply. The main trail extended about 34 miles, from south of Ozona to Barnhart, with branch lines throughout the county. The McNutt traps (2 miles northwest), with 1340 acres of pasture, were the hub of the trail. Sale of stock to area ranchmen financed the enterprise, and operating expenses were handled by a charge per head of livestock for services used. The O. - B. Trap Co. saved the ranching industry at a time when it was the only important business in Crockett County.
The need for the trail dwindled with the rise of truck transportation in the 1930s, but drives were still held until the 1950s. The O. - B. Trap Co. now leases its land for grazing or gas production. (1974)
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Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
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