Edwin Ward Moore
Edwin Ward Moore, was an American naval officer who served as Commander-in-chief of the Navy of the Republic of Texas. Moore was born in Virginia, his grandfather and uncle had served in the American Revolution. Moore was a classmate of Robert E. Lee at the Alexandria Academy. Moore entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1825 at the age of fifteen, his first assignment came when he was posted to the USS Hornet, followed by stints on the Fairchild and the Delaware. He saw active service on the Mediterranean Sea. In 1830, Moore was stationed at the Gosport Navy Yard and five years was commissioned a lieutenant and assigned to the sloop-of-war Boston on July 1, 1836. While serving on the Boston, Moore saved the ship from sinking when it encountered heavy seas in a hurricane. In September 1836, the Boston, captured the Texas privateer Terrible off the coast of New Orleans; the Texas ship was sent to Florida, on piracy charges. It is believed. Promotion within the U. S. Navy at this time was a slow process as many of the officers who served in the War of 1812 still held rank above Moore.
In 1839, Moore was accused of recruiting officers and up to eighty sailors from the Boston to join him in enlisting with the Republic of Texas Navy. Moore's cousin, Alexander Moore, confirmed this rumor to Commodore Charles Ridgley who forwarded the charges to the Secretary of the Navy. On July 8, 1839, Moore resigned from the U. S. Navy to become commander of the Republic of Texas Navy. U. S. Secretary of the Navy, John Forsyth tried to bring charges against Moore based on his violation of the Neutrality Act of 1819, but Moore resigned his commission before any trial was held. From 1840–1841 he sailed off the Mexican coast to hasten peace negotiations between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. On collapse of the negotiations, Moore returned to Texas and to the support of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar. Lamar signed a treaty with the Mexican state of Yucatán for the lease of the Texas navy for $8,000 per month and to protect their ports from being blockaded by the Mexican Navy. On September 18, 1840, Moore received orders to guard the Yucatán coast in conformity with the Texas-Yucatán Treaty and on December 13, 1840, left Galveston, Texas with three ships to join the small Yucatán fleet at Sisal, Yucatán under the command of former Texas Navy officer Captain James D. Boylan.
Moore captured the town of San Juan Bautista and surveyed the Texas coast. His chart was published by the British Admiralty. In September 1840, Moore invaded the Mexican state of Tabasco in support to the Tabasco federalist forces, collaborating in the overthrow of the centralist governor José Ignacio Gutierrez, capturing the state capital San Juan Bautista on November 17, 1840. Subsequently, due to a disagreement with the new federalist government, for the lack of a payment of $25,000 Mexican pesos promised to Moore, on December 14, 1840, he bombed the capital again, until he reached a new agreement with the Government of Tabasco for the payment of the debt. Upon becoming President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston suspended the treaty with the Yucatán and ordered the fleet to return to Texas. Houston was not a big supporter of the Texas Navy; when funds for naval repairs, approved by the Texas Congress, were withheld by Houston, Moore re-instated the treaty with the Yucatán in defiance of Houston's orders.
Moore and two other Texas ships, along with a few from the Yucatán navy, engaged the Mexican fleet in May 1843 in the Battle of Campeche. Mexico's naval fleet consisted of the British-built ironclad steam-powered warship the Guadalupe and was the most advanced fleet assembled in the Gulf of Mexico at that time, their battle was determined a draw though Mexico suffered high casualties. The Mexican government coined a medal of bravery for their sailors. Mexican Commodore Francisco de Paula Lopez, a naval veteran, was recalled for his failure to defeat a smaller and out-gunned force and was court-martialed. On January 16, 1843, the Texas Congress ordered the sale of the Texas fleet. On June 1, 1843, Moore and the fleet had received Houston's proclamation accusing them of disobedience and piracy and suspending Moore from the Texas Navy. Houston went so far as to ask for any friendly nation to capture and execute the Texas fleet. Moore returned to Galveston on July 14 and turned himself in at the port of Menard's Wharf, a hero to the people of Texas, demanded a trial.
After the dissolution of the Texas Navy, Moore spent many years in prosecuting financial claims against Texas. In 1844 the Texas House of Representatives concluded that Moore was owed $26,510.41. He was paid, in installments, with the last payment coming in 1856. Moore married Emma Matilda Stockton Cox of Philadelphia in 1849, she was a distant cousin of Commodore Robert Stockton. In 1850, Moore and other officers petitioned the U. S. Navy to recognize their rank as officers with the Texas Navy; the House Naval Affairs Committee supported their claim, but the United States Supreme Court did not agree holding that when Texas joined the Union, only property, not human beings, belonged to the United States. On March 3, 1857, Congress closed the books on Moore and the other officers by granting them five years of back pay at the salaries of corresponding U. S. Navy officers, he was in New York City for a time attempting to perfect a machine to revolutionize marine engineering. His quarrel with Sam Houston over the justice of his suspension from the navy continued during Houston's term as U.
S. Senator. In 1860, Moore returned to Galveston. Moore died in New York City on October 5, 1865, of a
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most identify, indicate whether or not they are of Hispanic or Latino origin. The racial categories represent a social-political construct for the race or races that respondents consider themselves to be and, "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country." OMB defines the concept of race as outlined for the US Census as not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference." The race categories include both national-origin groups. Race and ethnicity are considered separate and distinct identities, with Hispanic or Latino origin asked as a separate question. Thus, in addition to their race or races, all respondents are categorized by membership in one of two ethnic categories, which are "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino".
However, the practice of separating "race" and "ethnicity" as different categories has been criticized both by the American Anthropological Association and members of US Commission on Civil Rights. In 1997, OMB issued a Federal Register notice regarding revisions to the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity. OMB developed race and ethnic standards in order to provide "consistent data on race and ethnicity throughout the Federal Government; the development of the data standards stem in large measure from new responsibilities to enforce civil rights laws." Among the changes, OMB issued the instruction to "mark one or more races" after noting evidence of increasing numbers of interracial children and wanting to capture the diversity in a measurable way and having received requests by people who wanted to be able to acknowledge their or their children's full ancestry rather than identifying with only one group. Prior to this decision, the Census and other government data collections asked people to report only one race.
The OMB states, "many federal programs are put into effect based on the race data obtained from the decennial census. Race data are critical for the basic research behind many policy decisions. States require these data to meet legislative redistricting requirements; the data are needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act by local jurisdictions". "Data on ethnic groups are important for putting into effect a number of federal statutes. Data on Ethnic Groups are needed by local governments to run programs and meet legislative requirements." The 1790 United States Census was the first census in the history of the United States. The population of the United States was recorded as 3,929,214 as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution and applicable laws."The law required that every household be visited, that completed census schedules be posted in'two of the most public places within, there to remain for the inspection of all concerned...' and that'the aggregate amount of each description of persons' for every district be transmitted to the president."
This law along with U. S. marshals were responsible for governing the census. One third of the original census data has been lost or destroyed since documentation; the data was lost in 1790–1830 time period and included data from: Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia. Census data included the name of the head of the family and categorized inhabitants as follows: free white males at least 16 years of age, free white males under 16 years of age, free white females, all other free persons, slaves. Thomas Jefferson the Secretary of State, directed marshals to collect data from all thirteen states, from the Southwest Territory; the census was not conducted in Vermont until 1791, after that state's admission to the Union as the 14th state on March 4 of that year. There was some doubt surrounding the numbers, President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson maintained the population was undercounted; the potential reasons Washington and Jefferson may have thought this could be refusal to participate, poor public transportation and roads, spread out population, restraints of current technology.
No microdata from the 1790 population census is available, but aggregate data for small areas and their compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. In 1800 and 1810, the age question regarding free white males was more detailed; the 1820
1940 United States Census
The Sixteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.3 percent over the 1930 population of 123,202,624 people. The census date of record was April 1, 1940. A number of new questions were asked including where people were 5 years before, highest educational grade achieved, information about wages; this census introduced sampling techniques. Other innovations included a field test of the census in 1939; this was the first census in which every state had a population greater than 100,000. The 1940 census collected the following information: In addition, a sample of individuals were asked additional questions covering age at first marriage and other topics. Full documentation on the 1940 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Following completion of the census, the original enumeration sheets were microfilmed; as required by Title 13 of the U.
S. Code, access to identifiable information from census records was restricted for 72 years. Non-personally identifiable information Microdata from the 1940 census is available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. On April 2, 2012—72 years after the census was taken—microfilmed images of the 1940 census enumeration sheets were released to the public by the National Archives and Records Administration; the records are indexed only by enumeration district upon initial release. Official 1940 census website 1940 Census Records from the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration 1940 Federal Population Census Videos, training videos for enumerators at the U. S. National Archives Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts from the U. S. Census Bureau Snow, Michael S. "Why the huge interest in the 1940 Census?"
CNN. Monday April 9, 2012. 1941 U. S Census Report Contains 1940 Census results 1940 Census Questions Hosted at CensusFinder.com
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Dallam County, Texas
Dallam County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 6,703, its county seat is Dalhart. The county was founded in 1876 and organized in 1891, it is named for a lawyer and newspaper publisher. Dallam is the northernmost of the 10 Texas counties that from 1885–1912 constituted the legendary XIT Ranch; the ranch is still celebrated through the XIT Museum in Dalhart and the annual XIT Rodeo and Reunion held the first long weekend in August. Dallam County was formed in 1876 from portions of Bexar County, it was named after the lawyer who made the first digest of Texas laws. The first settlement in the area followed in 1870, which resulted in the Red River War of 1874 and 1875 with the native Comanche and Kiowa tribes. In 1900-01, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad company built a stretch from Liberal, Kansas to Tucumcari, New Mexico, which ran through the county; the location where the tracks met those of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway was named Dalhart.
The name is taken from the first letters of Dallam County and Hartley County, between which the town's area is divided. Within a short time, the small railroad stop turned into a sizable town and was named county seat in 1903. Dallam County was one of the hardest hit areas in the Dust Bowl. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,505 square miles, of which 1,503 square miles are land and 2.0 square miles are covered by water. U. S. Highway 54 U. S. Highway 87 U. S. Highway 287 U. S. Highway 385 State Highway 102 Cimarron County, Oklahoma Sherman County Hartley County Union County, New Mexico Moore County Rita Blanca National Grassland As of the census of 2000, there were 6,222 people, 2,317 households, 1,628 families residing in the county; the population density was 4 people per square mile. There were 2,697 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 82.64% White, 1.64% Black or African American, 0.90% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 12.41% from other races, 2.20% from two or more races.
28.38% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In terms of ancestry, 19.6% were of German, 8,2% were of Irish, 7,1 % were of English, 5,5% were of American, 2,8% were of French, 2,7 % were of Scotch-Irish, 1,6% were of Dutch. There were 2,317 households out of which 39.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.70% were non-families. 26.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.24. In the county, the population was spread out with 31.80% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, 10.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 102.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,946, the median income for a family was $33,558.
Males had a median income of $27,244 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,653. About 11.30% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.40% of those under age 18 and 24.80% of those age 65 or over. Dallam County is located within District 86 of the Texas House of Representatives; the seat has been held by Amarillo attorney John T. Smithee, a Republican, since 1985. Dallam County as a whole is Republican in orientation; the following school districts serve Dallam County: Dalhart Independent School District Stratford Independent School District Texline Independent School District Dalhart Coldwater Texline Conlen Kerrick Perico List of museums in the Texas Panhandle National Register of Historic Places listings in Dallam County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Dallam County Dallam County commissioners’ website Dallam County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas Dallam County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties The XIT Ranch claims to have been the largest range in the world "under fence"
Texas
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U. S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast. Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth largest in the U. S. while San Antonio is the second-most populous in the state and seventh largest in the U. S. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin, the second-most populous state capital in the U. S. and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed "The Lone Star State" to signify its former status as an independent republic, as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico; the "Lone Star" can be found on the Texan state seal.
The origin of Texas's name is from the word taysha. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U. S. Southern and Southwestern regions. Although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10% of Texas's land area is desert. Most of the population centers are in areas of former prairies, grasslands and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the desert and mountains of the Big Bend; the term "six flags over Texas" refers to several nations. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the union as the 28th state; the state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846.
A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, joined the Confederate States of America on March 2nd of the same year. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. Four major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle and bison, cotton and oil. Before and after the U. S. Civil War the cattle industry, which Texas came to dominate, was a major economic driver for the state, thus creating the traditional image of the Texas cowboy. In the 19th century cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative, it was though, the discovery of major petroleum deposits that initiated an economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century.
As of 2015, it is second on the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with 54. With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including agriculture, energy and electronics, biomedical sciences. Texas has led the U. S. in state export revenue since 2002, has the second-highest gross state product. If Texas were a sovereign state, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world; the name Texas, based on the Caddo word táyshaʼ "friend", was applied, in the spelling Tejas or Texas, by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves the Hasinai Confederacy, the final -s representing the Spanish plural. The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was completed near the Hasinai village of Nabedaches in May 1690, in what is now Houston County, East Texas. During Spanish colonial rule, in the 18th century, the area was known as Nuevo Reino de Filipinas "New Kingdom of the Philippines", or as provincia de los Tejas "province of the Tejas" also provincia de Texas, "province of Texas", it was incorporated as provincia de Texas into the Mexican Empire in 1821, declared a republic in 1836.
The Royal Spanish Academy recognizes both spellings and Texas, as Spanish-language forms of the name of the U. S. State of Texas; the English pronunciation with /ks/ is unetymological, based in the value of the letter x in historical Spanish orthography. Alternative etymologies of the name advanced in the late 19th century connected the Spanish teja "rooftile", the plural tejas being used to designate indigenous Pueblo settlements. A 1760s map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin shows a village named Teijas on Trinity River, close to the site of modern Crockett. Texas is the second-largest U. S. state, with an area of 268,820 square miles. Though 10% larger than France and twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Zambia. Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers; the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas to the south.
The Red River forms a natural border with Arkansas to the north. The Sabine River forms a natural border with Louisiana to the east; the Texas Panhandle has an eastern border with Oklahoma at 100° W, a northern border with Oklahoma at 36°30' N and a western
Window on the Plains Museum
Window on the Plains Museum offers displays of ranching, industrial and family life exhibits of the Texas Panhandle during the late 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in Dumas, the seat of Moore County, at 1820 South Dumas Avenue on the common United States Highways 287 and 87. Dumas is fifty miles north of Amarillo. Housed in the ballroom of the landmark Sneed Hotel and first known as the Moore County Historical Museum, the facility was dedicated on Bicentennial Day, July 4, 1976, it was relocated in 2001 to a modern building on a 10-acre tract in southwest Dumas and renamed "Window on the Plains." The facility houses a research and archives center, the Moore County Art Association is located next door. The origin of the museum dates to January 1976, when representatives of the Moore County Historical Commission, the art association, the Bicentennial Committee met to consider the establishment of a county museum. Collier Phillips president of the historical commission, was elected temporary chairman.
A steering committee met with the county commissioners in February to seek permission to use the first floor of the hotel, now the Lew Haile Annex. The building had been donated to the county by Elizabeth Sneed Pool Robinette; the commissioners agreed to the proposal, work soon began on remodeling, building exhibit areas and placing artifacts, documenting records. Some fifty-two persons donated more than five thousand hours of labor, having completed the task in time for the formal dedication on July 4; the museum contains a section on the local history of Moore County. The origin of the city dates to 1891 when it was laid out by the Panhandle Townsite Company, headed by Louis Dumas from Sister Grove near Dallas. Dumas and his wife, Florence from Pilot Point in Denton County, were living near Dallas, when they lost a daughter, Johnnie. Dumas came to Moore County, while his grief-stricken wife stayed behind for a time before she joined her husband. After a blizzard again devastated Dumas in 1895, the couple returned to Sherman, the seat of Grayson County, where they died four years apart during the 1920s.
Dumas hence lived only about seven years in the Panhandle city. During the 1880s, a drift fence of barbed wire was built to hold back cattle from Oklahoma and Kansas from crossing into the Texas Panhandle during blizzards, it was strung along the northern boundary of each ranch. The fence extended for two with a gate every three miles. In 1889, Texas passed a law prohibiting fencing of public property, the fence was removed in 1890, it had been disastrous for the cattle in 1887, when they were unable to head south for greener pastures during a blizzard. Moore County is named for Commodore Edwin Ward Moore of the Texas Navy during the Republic of Texas and a friend of Robert E. Lee. Dumas became the county seat in 1892. In 1893, Louis Dumas donated land for the Moore County Courthouse, completed the following year at a cost of $6536; the original courthouse still serves the county. The first state bank was established in Dumas in 1908. In time, it became. Oil was found in Moore County in 1927. On July 29, 1956, eighteen volunteer, firefighters died while trying to extinguish a blaze at the Shamrock Refinery in Dumas, now owned by Valero Energy Corporation.
Ken Floyd and Gabriel Horn prepared a documentary on the heroic efforts of the lost. There is a monument at the Moore County Courthouse honoring the firefighters. Lew Haile, for whom the county annex building is named, was a Moore County commissioner from 1910 to 1952, the longest tenure thus far for such a local official in Texas. Noel McDade, the first Dumas mayor served as the Moore County administrative judge from 1935–1945, he was posthumously named "Citizen of the Century" in 1992. Museum exhibits include the following: 1900s Street Scene — A general store, post office, doctor's office can be viewed as one walks down a wooden sidewalk; the Phillips and Son General Store — Dates to 1892 and operated until 1994. Physician and Dentist Office — Early physicians served as druggists and dentists. Early Moore County Ranch House — This replica of a typical rancher's home was constructed of wood from a barn in the early 1900s. There are a Ranch House Kitchen, with impressive wood stove, a Ranch House Office.
1920s – 1930s House in Moore County — A master carpenter designed this replica of a 1920s family home, with dining room and bedroom as well. Clothes Washing — Originally a weekly chore of cleaning laundry began on Mondays with an open pot over a fire but led to manual and automatic washing machines Blacksmith Shop, with a forge used by the first blacksmith in Dumas and the original insurance policy that covered his business. Roundup Scene — Saddles cover the fence around the campfire of a cattle roundup; the cowboy represents Marshall Cator, a rancher from Sunray in Moore County, recognized in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum known as the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, in Oklahoma City. Tent Meeting — Camp meetings were held by traveling evangelists serving the scattered communities. Tents were pitched to attend the meetings. Playa Lake — Runoff from rain gathers in low areas and provides temporary water for cattle and wildlife. During the dry season, these lakes evaporate. Farming and Ranching exhibits — Items used by settlers into the area, including far
United States
Texas
Moore County, Texas
