Cottle County Was Cattle Country Before It Was Cotton Country

The Texas legislature created Cottle County in 1876, but the county was not formally organized until 1892. Paducah became the county seat that same year. The county is named for George Cottle, who died at the Alamo. Before settlers arrived, Comanche bands controlled the area. The U.S. Army drove them out in the 1870s, and buffalo hunters wiped out the large herds around the same time.

Large ranches moved in first. The OX, SMS, and Matador ranches all had operations in the area. By the early 1900s, cotton farming expanded rapidly and peaked in 1930 at over 133,000 acres planted. The Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad reached Paducah on Christmas Day 1909, which helped the town grow. Drought, the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowl cut the population sharply in the 1930s. Today the county economy still centers on cattle, cotton, and wheat. The Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas has a detailed entry on the county.