Matador Ranch

Matador, Texas

Matador Ranch cowboys enjoying a catered meal
Photo courtesy Paul Cloyd

Historical Marker (on SH 70, 0.5 miles S of Matador, roadside park near ranch headquarters):

MATADOR RANCH

The Matador Cattle Company began as an open range ranch in 1879 when Henry H. Campbell, A. M. Britton, and three others bought range rights in this area. In 1882, the ranch was purchased by Scottish investors, who formed the Matador Land & Cattle Company, Ltd. The ranch utilized one and one half million acres of owned and leased range in Motley, Floyd, Dickens and Cottle counties. In 1902, the ranch acquired the 210,000 acre Alamocitas Ranch in Oldham County. Additional pastures were leased in the Dakotas, Montana and Canada. At its height the ranch owned 90,000 cattle and title to 879,000 acres of Texas land. In 1913, the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad was built through the ranch in Motley County and the town of Roaring Springs was established.

General managers of the ranch were Britton (1879-90), Murdo MacKenzie (1890-1911, 1923-1937), John MacBain (1912-1922), and John MacKenzie (1937-1951). The general manager's office was located first in Fort Worth and later in Trinidad and Denver, Colorado. Corporate offices were maintained in Scotland from 1882 until the ranch's liquidation in 1951. The ranch headquarters was purchased by Koch Industries, Inc. and became The Matador Cattle Company.
Texas Sesquicentennial, 1836-1986

Mural of Matador Ranch in Matador
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

Related Stories

The Pitchfork Kid by Mike Cox
A cowboy�s cowboy, the Kid sat a horse well and had the reputation of being the best roper in the Panhandle. On the sprawling Matador Ranch, where he spent much of his career as a waddy, the foreman often worked him as an �outside man,� someone who didn�t mind saddling up and riding off by himself to hunt up a stray. more

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