Hawkins Ranch

The Hawkins Ranch is a historic ranch in Matagorda County, Texas, USA. The ranch was established in the 1840s as a cotton and sugarcane plantation, with African slaves. After the American Civil War, slaves were replaced by convicts, and it became a cattle ranch. More recently, oil was discovered and wells drilled.

History

The Hawkins Ranch was established by James Boyd Hawkins in 1846.[1] It was a cotton and sugarcane plantation,[1] with 101 African slaves by 1860.[2] During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, it was used as the headquarters of Confederate States Army General John B. Magruder.[2] After the war, slaves were replaced by convicts.[2] For example, in 1876, Hawkins employed 37 convicts.[3]

In 1887, blacks working on the plantation staged an uprising, prompting Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross to send the Houston Light Guard to neutralize them.[4]

In the wake of the invention of barbed wire, the plantation was gradually became a cattle ranch.[1] Wells and trails were built throughout the ranch.[1] Most cattle are a crossbreed of Hereford and Brahman cattle.[1]

As early as 1919, Hamill and Associates started drilling for oil on the ranch.[5] It is now drilled by Orbit Petroleum.[6] Oil wells were shut in by the Texas Railroad Commission as a result of Hurricane Rita in 2005, and they were reopened in 2007.[6]

Further reading

  • Furse, Margaret Lewis (2014). The Hawkins Ranch in Texas: From Plantation Times to the Present. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-62349-110-9.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lewis, Frank Hawkins (February 1979). "Evolution of an Early Texas Ranch". Rangelands. 1 (1): 6–8. JSTOR 3900331. (Registration required (help)).
  2. 1 2 3 Leatherwood, Art (June 15, 2010). "HAWKINS, JAMES BOYD". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Office Insp'r State Penitentiary". The Austin Weekly Statesman. Austin, Texas. June 29, 1876. p. 1. Retrieved December 31, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "War Between the Races. Negro Uprising Near Brazoria. The Houston Light Guard Ordered to the Front by the Governor--Rumors of a Bloody Engagement". The Galveston Daily News. Galveston, Texas. September 27, 1887. p. 1. Retrieved December 31, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Hull Field Has 2500 Bbl. Wells. Gulf Production Company Brings in Best Test of Coastal Field". El Paso Herald. El Paso, Texas. August 21, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved December 31, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "The Orbit Petroleum Hawkins Ranch Project is Back in Focus". Houston Chronicle. January 12, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2015.


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