This ranch contains 9,260 acres. It's a solid body of land in the Southwestern part of Comanche County, Kansas, and is about two and one-half miles from north and south by six and one-half miles east and west, the south line of the ranch being the Olhahoma-Kansas state line.The ranch is inclosed by eighteen miles of first-classs fences with cedar posts. It is twelve miles south of the town of Protection, which is on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Shipments of stock can reach Kansas City stock yards in less than twenty-four hours.
The Cimarron River flows through the property from northwest to southeast. Bluff Creek empties into the Cimarron inside the fences, and there are several small branches and springs. Quite a body of the land can easily be irrigated. A row on hills on the east side of the Cimarron river affords good shelter for stock from storm. Corn, wheat, oats, alfalfa, broom corn and fodder crops are raised in this locality, and the larger part of this land is suitable for such crops.
Improvements consist of a one-story six-room house and one of three rooms, with good barns, large sheds, corrals, 1,000 acres broken out and 500 of same in crop at present time.
Under circumstances this land will be sold below the market value at a lower price than you would have to pay for land in the Panhandle of Texas. Might consider an exchange for Southen California property at cash value. Wire, write or see W.F. Young, Owner, Union Trust Bldg., Los Angeles, California.
Above: Detail of an 1892 USGS topographical map showing a portion of the Box Ranch, Comanche County, Kansas. The defunct town, Comanche City, is seen in the upper left portion of the map. The bottom border of the map is the Kansas/Oklahoma state line. The left edge of the map is the Comanche County/Clark County, Kansas county line. The contour interval of the map is 20 feet. Note the Sand Hills in the map. This map is courtesy of Eugene Markstrom.
Above: Detail of a USGS aerial photo showing the present headquarters (Longitude: -99.45309. Latitude: 37.02913.) of the Box Ranch, Comanche County, Kansas, on 1 April 1996. The original ranch headquarters were a few miles away and today only foundations mark where the buildings once stood.
The above Oklahoman article is courtesy of a VERY helpful librarian who responded to a question I posted at Question Point Oklahoma
Comments by the librarian follow:
Hi Jerry,
I've looked in all our cattle books and in county histories in the Panhandle and did not find the Box Ranch listed. However some of the books have no index. In the book, "Man and the Oklahoma Panhandle" by Berenice Jackson, Jewel Carlisle and Iris Colwell it says "by 1883 cattle ranches completely checkerboarded No Man's Land." You might want to borrow this book on Interlibrary Loan through your local library since it discusses many ranches in the area. Again I did not see the Box Ranch listed. Another book you might find interesting is "They call it Cimarron" by Frank Dale Healy.
However in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper archives there is an article from 5/1/1901 where the Box Ranch is for sale!
It describes the land and has the owner listed as living in Los Angeles California. I'll send this in a separate email.
Again,
Thanks for using Ask a Librarian.
Librarian 1.
http://catalog.odl.state.ok.us/ask.htm
Also see:
E.S. Bennett: A Few Reminiscences of "Cowboy Days"
The Western Star, April 22, 1927. This article concerns the early history of the Box Ranch.Chad Jacob "C.J." Huck C.J. Huck, while currently serving in the U.S. Navy, is also engaged in a horse-breeding enterprise with his father, Dan Huck.
Dan Huck Dan and his wife, Bobbi, manage the Box Ranch today in 2005.
Obituary: W.S. "Wash" Mussett of the Box Ranch The Western Star, January 16, 1920.
Carl Betschart A five year old boy who was accidentally shot and killed by his older brother on the Box Ranch in 1918.
Luther Turner The murder of a former Box Ranch employee in 1919.
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