Tascosa, sometimes called Old Tascosa, is the former capital of 10
counties in the
Texas Panhandle. The town emerged briefly in the 1880s as an economic rival of
Dodge City, Kansas. Located in
Oldham County northwest of
Amarillo, Tascosa is now a
ghost town.
In 1893, the bridge was washed out and the flood damaged homes and businesses, so people began to move away. Two of the last residents were ex-gambler Mickey McCormick and a former
dance hall girl
A taxi dancer is a paid dance partner in a partner dance. Taxi dancers are hired to dance with their customers on a dance-by-dance basis. When taxi dancing first appeared in taxi-dance halls during the early 20th century in the United States, mal ...
and card dealer Frenchy McCormick. Mickey died in 1912, and Frenchy in 1941. They are buried next to each other outside town.
In 1939, Cal Farley's
Boys Ranch
Boys Ranch is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in northeastern Oldham County, Texas, United States, on the site of the original county seat, Tascosa. It lies along U.S. Route 385, northeast of the city of Vega, the county ...
opened after Julian Bivins, son of Lee Bivins, donated the town site, the renovated old courthouse, and the surrounding 120 acres.
[ The courthouse, now a museum, and the 1889 schoolhouse are the only buildings from the old town to survive into the 21st century.
Tascosa was the setting for the showdown between Lin McAdams ( Jimmy Stewart) and Dutch Henry Brown ( Stephen McNally) in the 1950 American Western ]film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, '' Winchester 73''. Stewart also played the sheriff of Tascosa, Guthrie McCabe, in the 1961 production '' Two Rode Together''.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Tascosa has a semiarid climate, ''BSk'' on climate maps.
See also
* LIT Ranch
References
External links
*
Tascosa: its life and gaudy times
Old Tascosa, Texas
{{Authority control
Geography of Oldham County, Texas
Ghost towns in the Texas Panhandle
Boot Hill cemeteries
Former county seats in Texas
1876 establishments in Texas