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→Troubles with Timothy Hobart
==Troubles with Timothy Hobart==
==Troubles with Timothy Hobart==
Upon Wadsworth’s popular-vote election to the Senate under the new [[Seventeenth Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States]], [[T. D. Hobart|Timothy Dwight Hobart]], a [[Vermont]] native living in Pampa in Gray County in the eastern Panhandle, became the new JA manager.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/tdHOBART.cfm</ref> Hobart discouraged Cornelia’s young grandson, Montgomery Harrison Wadsworth "Montie" Ritchie (1910–1999), from remaining at the ranch, perhaps because Hobart’s son wanted to become the manager. Montie Ritchie, who held dual British and American citizenship, was hence given all the toughest horses to ride, and he was once abandoned by the hands after a bronco bucked him.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/snooks_sparks.htm Snooks Sparks<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Upon Wadsworth’s popular-vote election to the Senate under the new [[Seventeenth Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States]], [[T. D. Hobart|Timothy Dwight Hobart]], a [[Vermont]] native living in Pampa in Gray County in the eastern Panhandle, became the new JA manager.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/tdHOBART.cfm</ref> Hobart discouraged Cornelia’s young grandson, Montgomery Harrison Wadsworth "Montie" Ritchie (1910–1999), from remaining at the ranch, perhaps because Hobart’s son wanted to become the manager. Montie Ritchie, who held dual British and American citizenship, was hence given all the toughest horses to ride, and he was once abandoned by the hands after a bronco bucked him.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/snooks_sparks.htm Snooks Sparks<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Cornelia Adair designated Hobart and [[Dallas]] [[attorney]] Henry C. Coke as executors of her estate. She died in [[England]] in December 1921. Earlier in the year, Cornelia had been at the JA and posed for a picture with the ranch hands on the celebration of her 84th and last birthday. In her will, Cornelia left most JA properties to son Jack Ritchie, and his heirs, including Jack’s sons. Her estate also put a financial burden on the JA for payment of her other debts. Not until 1948 was the Adair estate, with its accompanying debts and inheritances, finally resolved.<ref name=hbook/>
Cornelia Adair designated Hobart and [[Dallas]] [[attorney]] Henry C. Coke as executors of her estate. She died in [[England]] in December 1921. Earlier in the year, Cornelia had been at the JA and posed for a picture with the ranch hands on the celebration of her 84th and last birthday. In her will, Cornelia left most JA properties to son Jack Ritchie, and his heirs, including Jack’s sons. Her estate also put a financial burden on the JA for payment of her other debts. Not until 1948 was the Adair estate, with its accompanying debts and inheritances, finally resolved.<ref name=hbook/>
Cornelia at one point had ordered Jack to vacate the ranch, motivated by Goodnight’s allegations that Jack had been caught drinking and shooting craps with the cowboys. She intended for Jack to pursue a business career beyond “punching cows,” but instead Jack became a sportsman and worldwide adventurer.<ref name=JA/> Jack had told Montie how his own brief time at the JA had been the happiest of his entire life, and he encouraged his older son to consider management of the JA.<ref>http://www.cowboyroundupusa.org/JA.html</ref>
Cornelia at one point had ordered Jack to vacate the ranch, motivated by Goodnight’s allegations that Jack had been caught drinking and shooting craps with the cowboys. She intended for Jack to pursue a business career beyond “punching cows,” but instead Jack became a sportsman and worldwide adventurer.<ref name=JA/> Jack had told Montie how his own brief time at the JA had been the happiest of his entire life, and he encouraged his older son to consider management of the JA.<ref>http://www.cowboyroundupusa.org/JA.html</ref>
Hobart had operated the White Deer Land and Cattle Company from 1903 to 1924 in Pampa and was more experienced in the sale of land than the management of cattle. He had recommended selling the ranch, as it sunk into financial problems stemming from the [[Great Depression]] and a decade of [[drought]], but Montie Ritchie persisted with the first goal of paying off the debt. When problems persisted with Hobart, Montie Ritchie returned to England to secure the power of attorney from the then eight heirs to the ranch.<ref name=JA/>
Hobart had operated the White Deer Land and Cattle Company from 1903 to 1924 in Pampa and was more experienced in the sale of land than the management of cattle. He had recommended selling the ranch, as it sunk into financial problems stemming from the [[Great Depression]] and a decade of [[drought]], but Montie Ritchie persisted with the first goal of paying off the debt. When problems persisted with Hobart, Montie Ritchie returned to England to secure the power of attorney from the then eight heirs to the ranch.<ref name=JA/>
G. L. Moody of [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], in a letter to Timothy Hobart, explained the dilemma this way:
G. L. Moody of [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], in a letter to Timothy Hobart, explained the dilemma this way:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
With county, road, and school taxes steadily mounting even in the grazing sections of Texas, there is very little inducement left for the cattleman to buy large ranches at the present prices. All farm land colonization companies have disbanded because there is no longer a chance for steady long time employment. Because of present-day conditions, I would not take to organize a colonizing company, nor do I know anyone who could afford to do so except the large landowner who wishes to sell and colonize his own property exclusively.<ref>Lester Fields Sheffy, ''The Life and Times of Timothy Dwight Hobart, 1855-1935: Colonization of West Texas'' (Canyon, [[Texas]]: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1950), p. 227.</ref></blockquote>
With county, road, and school taxes steadily mounting even in the grazing sections of Texas, there is very little inducement left for the cattleman to buy large ranches at the present prices. All farm land colonization companies have disbanded because there is no longer a chance for steady long time employment. Because of present-day conditions, I would not take to organize a colonizing company, nor do I know anyone who could afford to do so except the large landowner who wishes to sell and colonize his own property exclusively.<ref>Lester Fields Sheffy, ''The Life and Times of Timothy Dwight Hobart, 1855-1935: Colonization of West Texas'' (Canyon, [[Texas]]: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1950), p. 227.</ref></blockquote>
By the time that Montie Ritche returned to the Texas Panhandle in 1935, Hobart had died. Ritchie took over the ranch and remained there for the rest of his life.<ref name=JA/> The White Deer Land and Cattle Company maintains a museum in Pampa with a history of ranching and land management in the region.
By the time that Montie Ritche returned to the Texas Panhandle in 1935, Hobart had died. Ritchie took over the ranch and remained there for the rest of his life.<ref name=JA/> The White Deer Land and Cattle Company maintains a museum in Pampa with a history of ranching and land management in the region.