The Cross Section, Volume 16, Number 9, September 1970 Page: 3
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Texas State Publications and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
September, 1970 THE CROSS SECTION Page 3
THE TALLEST WINDMILL
It is not very often that one gets
to attend the dedication of a wind-
mill. Even less frequent are wind-
mills dedicated that can not pump
water, and, in this case, did not even
have a well beneath it. But such was
the happy occasion when on August
28, 1970, a replica of what has been
claimed as the world's tallest wind-
mill was dedicated as a part of the
City of Littlefield's (Lamb County)
Second Annual Festivities Days.
The original 132 foot, wooden
tower, windmill to which the new
steel structure (114 foot) was dedi-
cated, originally stood on the XIT's
Yellow House Ranch, about 10 miles
southwest of Littlefield.
There were two such exceptionally
tall windmills erected at this same
site-so located to tap the source of
the spring issuing from the eastward
facing escarpment of the Yellow House
canyon in the vicinity of the Yellow
House Lakes. Their tremendous
heights were necessitated to permit
their rosette wheels to project above
the nearby escarpment; below which
they would be protected from the
gentle prairie breezes.
The same feat could have been ac-
complished by a much shorter tow-
ered windmill, if the well had been
located upon the escarpment. How-
ever, in those days it was not the
practice to search for the subsurface
source of the water; the pioneers de-
veloped the sources (springs) where
they found them.
The second tall windmill at the
Yellow House site was reportedly re-
sponsible for the demise of the first.
It has been reported that the winds
that toppled the second windmill
caused it to fall upon the wires guy-
ing the first, resulting in the destruc-
tion of both. Whatever the reasonsurn
rt
/ /
I 1/
y AwT I
Dedicating Littlefield's replica of the
World's Tallest Windmill, August 28,
1970. Photograph courtesy of the
Lamb County Leader-News, Bill Turn-
er Editor.
for their passing into history, we have
been left with the enjoyable heritage
of being able to marvel at their hav-
ing ever existed.
The paper, "Windmills, Plains and
People", presented by David B. Gracy
at the dedication of the World's Tall-
est Windmill, gives an interesting in-
sight into these sentinels of the Plains.of only a decade; a crew as highly
specialized as the cook or the bronc-
buster was necessary on larger spreads
just to keep the thing in repair. And
most importantly, on the open range,
who wanted to pay the cost of putting
in a watering place just anybody could
use. The simultaneous introduction
of barbed wire solved the problem.
Barbed wire also permitted fencing of
ranches into pastures, which required
in turn more, and more dependable
watering places than the high plains
could even begin to provide naturally.
At this point, the windmill came into
its own.
The first windmills on the Texas
plains-a country then known as "the
Great American Desert"-were put
in shortly after 1880. Soon they were
a common sight, and actually more
common on the High Plains than any-
where else. On the XIT Ranch, be-
tween 1886 and 1900, 335 of them
were installed. By the 1890's, the
old saw was in vogue that, "on the
plains, the wind draws the water and
the cows cut the wood."
The windmill at once became the
faithful and unmistakable sign of
human habitation. And with water
on the land, settled agriculture at last
was possible on the plains. Though
most men dry-farmed in the early
years, the only crop they could be
sure of was, ironically, the one they
watered from the windmill. And in
a dry season, the dependable windmill
made the difference between bank-
ruptcy and starvation.
But why sound so pessimistic. The
windmill did much more than this.
For one thing, it promoted peace and
harmony between rancher and settler.
Thanks to the windmill, fighting to
control precious natural water sources
was unnecessary. At Littlefield, for
example, there were no hostile feel-
ings. Why should there be.. Title tothe land was secure, water was se-
cure. Furthermore, the ranch pro-
vided a good market for agricultural
produce, especially surplus garden
crops which had been raised under
windmill irrigation. The rancher and
the settler here worked hand-in-hand
to develop the country to mutual bene-
fit. For another thing, the windmill
truly brought luxury into the plains
home. A city visitor to the Yellow
House Ranch in the summer of 1916
marveled that, "A telephone, electric
lights, and a water system through the
house are the comforts made possible
by windmills. Keeping house on ar
Jr -
Mrs. Jewell Pritchard and the World's
Tallest Windmill, that, as a young
woman, she climbed on a dare-one
of the "Sunday afternoon thrills" of
that time.
western ranch," she continued, "has
lost much of its former disadvantages."
The windmill is considerably less
common now than it was then, for
the advent of the rural electric co-
operative during the 1930's eliminated
the need for wind-powered generating
plants to run telephones and lighting
systems. But it is no less important.
Indeed, it has just returned to its tra-
ditional role of pumping liquid life to
the surface.
And the venerable windmill is now
passing into a well-deserved chapter in
our western folklore. Take the
World's Tallest Windmill for example.
It was put up over a half century ago
to do a specific job, and as long as
it did that, no one thought much about
it. But once the structure was blown
down, stories and anecdotes began to
circulate. One relates that greasing
this windmill was a cowboy's first
job; if he did it, the ranch foreman
knew he was loyal and could be
trusted to follow orders. Another tells
how the hands had to alternate at thechore and that, "it was no uncommon
occurence for a cowboy to find it con-
venient to quit just before his turn
came to climb the swaying tower." A
third says that being tapped to grease
the thing was a way of telling a hand
that his final pay was ready.
Of course, in reality the Yellow
House Ranch had windmillers the
same as any other big outfit. But the
anecdotes will continue to flourish,
and should, for the windmill is a per-
manent fixture on the West Texas
scene and must always occupy a cen-
tral place in any story of life in this
region.WINDMILLS, PLAINS, AND PEOPLE
by
DAVID B. GRACY II-Archivist, Texas Tech UniversityThe common windmill probably ap-
pears to a tourist crossing the hot,
sunswept plains in his comfortable,
air-conditioned car as just a part of
the landscape. Appearances can be
deceptive; for truly the windmill was
once, and to many still is a member
of the West Texas family.
Many West Texans got to where
they could not go to sleep without
the steady, reassuring whirr and
clank, whirr and clank of their mill.
Some even claim that before sun up,
they could tell from the creaking and
groaning of the mill what the weather
that day would be like.
Early-day cowboys had mixed emo-
tions about the spider-web-like affair.
Certainly the cooling, life-giving water
which the windmill afforded was du-
ly appreciated. But the chore of
greasing the contraption once a week
was almost more despised than walk-
ing. And in another vein, the thing
only added to the strangeness of this
unusual-dry, flat, windblown-coun-
try. This feeling was best summed
up by a hand on the Slaughter outfit
in Hockley County whose first chores
after he had hired on fresh from East
Texas were to grub mesquite roots for
the cook fire, then to grease the wind-
mill and carry water to the chuckwagon. "This is a strange country,"
he muttered, "you dig for wood and
climb for water." Even so, he was
willing to carry the pure water from
the marvelous underground reservoir
because he knew that surface gyp
water was worse. Why, navy beans
simmered in this brackish stuff just
got harder and harder and harder the
longer they cooked.
Of course, neither the windmill nor
the search for water on the Great
Plains are new. By the time ranchers
and farmers were prepared to move
onto the western plains, after the Civil
War, the windmill was ready, even
down to the rosette wheel still com-
mon today.
Actually, ranchers were at first hes-
itant to employ the new device. It
was rather expensive to set up-the
average mill cost $1000 to $2000 in-
stalled, and the price tag on the in-
itial well on a range might be much
higher. For the first well in Eastern
New Mexico--in the Ranger Lake re-
gion-the rancher had to stand the
added expense of freighting the drilling
equipment and timber 100 miles from
Midland and the water used in drilling
about 50 miles from Monument
Spring. Then, the all-wooden wheels
and gearboxes had a life expectancy4
xrA,
-- A
- .
'- -
The original World's Tallest Windmill near the Yellow House Ranch Headquarters
is shown by this early 1900s photograph. This photograph was supplied by Mrs.
Jewell Staggers Pritchard, now of San Jose, California.September, 1970
T HE CR O SS S E C T ION
Page 3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 16, Number 9, September 1970, periodical, September 1970; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1532946/m1/3/?rotate=90: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.