The White Buffalo Story Runs From County Road 253 to Snyder's Square

The physical starting point is north of Snyder. A Texas Historical Commission marker stands on US 84 just west of County Road 253. J. Wright Mooar's 1876 camp was 2.8 miles south of that marker, near the Old Mooar Ranch headquarters.

On October 7, 1876, Mooar killed a rare albino buffalo at the Scurry County camp. Its hide later appeared at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and at other exhibitions. That record gives the county's white buffalo identity a date, a road, and an object that traveled far beyond the ranch.

Mooar came west from Vermont at age 19 and began hunting for the hide market in 1870. He and his brother John set up a buffalo-hunting camp in the Texas Panhandle in 1873. Mooar hunted regularly until 1879, and his career total was about 22,000 buffalo.

His work changed with the region. The brothers began ranching in 1877. In 1881, Mooar supplied game and hay to Texas and Pacific Railway construction crews. They also ran a livery stable in Colorado City from 1881 to 1905.

Scurry County's downtown walking trail brings the Mooar story back to Snyder's square. The actual camp remains tied to County Road 253, while the courthouse marker turns that distant ranch episode into a piece of the county's public identity.