Changes

  | name =JA Ranch​​

  | name =JA Ranch​​

  | birth_date=1879

  | birth_date=1879

  | birth_place=Palo Duro Canyon of [[Texas]]}}

  | birth_place=Palo Duro Canyon of [[Texas]]<br>

(1,335,000 acres of land in six counties and a herd of 100,000 cattle)}}

'''The JA Ranch,''' founded jointly by John George Adair (1823-1885) and Charles Goodnight (1836-1929), is the oldest privately owned [[cattle]] ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon section of the Texas Panhandle southeast of [[Amarillo]], [[Texas]]. At its peak size in 1883, the JA, still managed by descendants of the Adair family, encompassed some 1,335,000 acres of land in six counties and a herd of 100,000 cattle.   

'''The JA Ranch,''' founded jointly by John George Adair (1823-1885) and Charles Goodnight (1836-1929), is the oldest privately owned [[cattle]] ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon section of the Texas Panhandle southeast of [[Amarillo]], [[Texas]]. At its peak size in 1883, the JA, still managed by descendants of the Adair family, encompassed some 1,335,000 acres of land in six counties and a herd of 100,000 cattle.   

In 1879, Goodnight moved the ranch headquarter to the foot of the Caprock, some twenty-five miles east of the Home Ranch. He built a four-room house of cedar logs and supervised construction of a bunkhouse, a bookkeeper's residence, a wagon boss's house, a [[blacksmith]] shop, a wagonyard, and a [[milk]] and meat cooling shed. Later, the two-story, nineteen-room main house was added. The old Home Ranch house was then used as a line camp until it burned on [[Christmas]] Eve 1904, according to the [[historian]] and archivist H. Allen Anderson of [[Texas Tech University]] at [[Lubbock]] in an article in ''The Handbook of Texas''.<ref name=hbook/>​

In 1879, Goodnight moved the ranch headquarter to the foot of the Caprock, some twenty-five miles east of the Home Ranch. He built a four-room house of cedar logs and supervised construction of a bunkhouse, a bookkeeper's residence, a wagon boss's house, a [[blacksmith]] shop, a wagonyard, and a [[milk]] and meat cooling shed. Later, the two-story, nineteen-room main house was added. The old Home Ranch house was then used as a line camp until it burned on [[Christmas]] Eve 1904, according to the [[historian]] and archivist H. Allen Anderson of [[Texas Tech University]] at [[Lubbock]] in an article in ''The Handbook of Texas''.<ref name=hbook/>​

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==Goodnight as JA manager==

==Goodnight as JA manager==

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In 1887, Goodnight withdrew from the arrangement and limited his ranching activities. Falling beef prices, the arrival of farmers to the canyon, the decline of the open range, and the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway were obstacles to continued large-scale ranching. In the dissolution, Goodnight acquired the 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch in Briscoe County with 20,000 head of cattle and remained manager of the JA for another year.<ref name=hbook/>​

In 1887, Goodnight withdrew from the arrangement and limited his ranching activities. Falling beef prices, the arrival of farmers to the canyon, the decline of the open range, and the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway were obstacles to continued large-scale ranching. In the dissolution, Goodnight acquired the 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch in Briscoe County with 20,000 head of cattle and remained manager of the JA for another year.<ref name=hbook/>​

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==Later ranch managers==

==Later ranch managers==

In 1888, Cornelia Adair named John Edward Farrington as manager though Goodnight had specifically trained Henry Webster Taylor for the position.. Jack Ritchie, Mrs. Adair's son by her first marriage, served briefly as foreman of the JA’s steer division in Tule Canyon before he returned to New York City to handle the purchase of JA horses for the police department.<ref name=PPHM/>​

In 1888, Cornelia Adair named John Edward Farrington as manager though Goodnight had specifically trained Henry Webster Taylor for the position.. Jack Ritchie, Mrs. Adair's son by her first marriage, served briefly as foreman of the JA’s steer division in Tule Canyon before he returned to New York City to handle the purchase of JA horses for the police department.<ref name=PPHM/>​

As the railroads brought more settlers, the JA began leasing and selling excess pasture. In 1891, the "Heckman school," named for homesteader John Heckman on whose camp the school was erected) opened near JA headquarters. It was for the education of the children of ranch employees and neighboring settlers. Over the years the ranch was gradually reduced in size as longtime employees began their own operations on former JA lands. In 1917, Edward D. Harrell purchased the acreage where the Old Home Ranch was located.<ref name=hbook/>​

As the railroads brought more settlers, the JA began leasing and selling excess pasture. In 1891, the "Heckman school," named for homesteader John Heckman on whose camp the school was erected) opened near JA headquarters. It was for the education of the children of ranch employees and neighboring settlers. Over the years the ranch was gradually reduced in size as longtime employees began their own operations on former JA lands. In 1917, Edward D. Harrell purchased the acreage where the Old Home Ranch was located.<ref name=hbook/>​

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==U.S. Senator James Wadsworth==

==U.S. Senator James Wadsworth==

After Walsh resigned as manager in 1910, John S. Summerfield served for a year in that capacity. His successor was James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., a nephew of Cornelia Adair. Cornelia came across Wadsworth in England and offered him the vacant position. He was the manager until 1915, when he was elected as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] to the [[United States Senate]] from his home state of New York. He was also a former Speaker of the New York Assembly and a future member of the [[United States House of Representatives]], serving in the House after his Senate tenure. Though Texas at the time was historically [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], many of the Adairs were Republicans or Republican sympathizers.<ref name=PPHM/>​

After Walsh resigned as manager in 1910, John S. Summerfield served for a year in that capacity. His successor was James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., a nephew of Cornelia Adair. Cornelia came across Wadsworth in England and offered him the vacant position. He was the manager until 1915, when he was elected as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] to the [[United States Senate]] from his home state of New York. He was also a former Speaker of the New York Assembly and a future member of the [[United States House of Representatives]], serving in the House after his Senate tenure. Though Texas at the time was historically [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], many of the Adairs were Republicans or Republican sympathizers.<ref name=PPHM/>​

==Troubles with Timothy Hobart==

==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>