Changes

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 Charles 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/>​

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By 1945, after a decade of Montie’s management, JA operations had been reduced to 335,000 acres over Armstrong, Briscoe, Donley, and Hall counties. Subsequently, a tract of 130,000 acres was divided into eight leaseholds. The JA obtains its water from the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River and its tributaries, as well as natural lakes, dirt tanks, and fifty-eight wells. The JA had twelve winter camps and five farms on which to grow livestock feed. The winter range in the Palo Duro afforded maximum protection, and the summer range was singularly free from land waste, just as Charles Goodnight had first told John Adair in 1874. Nearly two-thirds of the JA properties was rolling pasture land.<ref name=hbook/>​

By 1945, after a decade of Montie’s management, JA operations had been reduced to 335,000 acres over Armstrong, Briscoe, Donley, and Hall counties. Subsequently, a tract of 130,000 acres was divided into eight leaseholds. The JA obtains its water from the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River and its tributaries, as well as natural lakes, dirt tanks, and fifty-eight wells. The JA had twelve winter camps and five farms on which to grow livestock feed. The winter range in the Palo Duro afforded maximum protection, and the summer range was singularly free from land waste, just as Charles Goodnight had first told John Adair in 1874. Nearly two-thirds of the JA properties was rolling pasture land.<ref name=hbook/>​

 

In 1988, the JA comprised several ranch buildings, including a supply store and garage. The centerpiece of the ranch remained the "Big House". In 1960, the house was designated a [[national historic landmark]]. Ritchie in 1971 and 1988, respectively, donated two of the JA's historic buildings, the old milk house and an oat bin, to the National Ranching Heritage Center on the campus of Texas Tech. A herd of longhorns, the animal once termed by the western [[artist]] Frank Reaugh as the most beautiful of animal creatures, roams in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, courtesy of the JA.<ref name=hbook/>​

In 1988, the JA comprised several ranch buildings, including a supply store and garage. The centerpiece of the ranch remained the "Big House". In 1960, the house was designated a [[national historic landmark]]. Ritchie in 1971 and 1988, respectively, donated two of the JA's historic buildings, the old milk house and an oat bin, to the National Ranching Heritage Center on the campus of Texas Tech. A herd of longhorns, the animal once termed by the western [[artist]] Frank Reaugh as the most beautiful of animal creatures, roams in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, courtesy of the JA.<ref name=hbook/>​

 

By 1990, the JA was substantially fenced and known for pure-bred Herefords and Angus bulls. Quarter horses were raised for ranch use, and a small buffalo herd was maintained; some commercial hunting of buffalo and deer was allowed. Tillable land continued to be leased. In 1998, the JA gave the state the last remaining wild herd of buffalo within Texas.<ref name=JA/> The Ritchie family also owns ranch land near Larkspur in Douglas County, to the north of  [[Colorado Springs]], where Montie's second wife, Hildy, spent most of her time.<ref>http://www.ranches.org/montie_ritchie.htm; http://www.ranches.org/ja_colo.htm</ref>​

By 1990, the JA was substantially fenced and known for pure-bred Herefords and Angus bulls. Quarter horses were raised for ranch use, and a small buffalo herd was maintained; some commercial hunting of buffalo and deer was allowed. Tillable land continued to be leased. In 1998, the JA gave the state the last remaining wild herd of buffalo within Texas.<ref name=JA/> The Ritchie family also owns ranch land near Larkspur in Douglas County, to the north of  [[Colorado Springs]], where Montie's second wife, Hildy, spent most of her time.<ref>http://www.ranches.org/montie_ritchie.htm; http://www.ranches.org/ja_colo.htm</ref>​

 

Montie’s daughter, Cornelia "Ninia" Bivins, former wife of Texas state Senator Miles Teel Bivins (1947-2009) of Amarillo, himself a rancher, carried the JA into a relatively brief fourth generation. On Montie’s retirement in 1993, Ninia formed a partnership with Jay O’Brien of Amarillo.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/JayOBrien.htm Jay O'Brien<!--Bot generated title -->]</ref> They changed the herd to predominantly black Angus and Charolais  bulls. In 2005, a fifth generation took charge when Andrew Montgomery Bivins (born c. 1969), son of Teel and Ninia Bivins, joined the JA management team.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/ninia_Bivins.htm Ninia Bivins<!--Bot generated title -->]</ref>​

Montie’s daughter, Cornelia "Ninia" Bivins, former wife of Texas state Senator Miles Teel Bivins (1947-2009) of Amarillo, himself a rancher, carried the JA into a relatively brief fourth generation. On Montie’s retirement in 1993, Ninia formed a partnership with Jay O’Brien of Amarillo.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/JayOBrien.htm Jay O'Brien<!--Bot generated title -->]</ref> They changed the herd to predominantly black Angus and Charolais  bulls. In 2005, a fifth generation took charge when Andrew Montgomery Bivins (born c. 1969), son of Teel and Ninia Bivins, joined the JA management team.<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/ninia_Bivins.htm Ninia Bivins<!--Bot generated title -->]</ref>​

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