Midland County and Surrounding Areas
The Panhandle of Texas is the southern extension of the flat High Plains that runs through Kansas & Nebraska.
When the Spanish first explored the area is was covered in tall "Buffalo Grass"
and stakes had to be driven in the ground to mark the trails. Today it is commonly
called the South Plains, but earlier it was called the Staked Plains or
the "Llano Estacado". This area varies from 2500 feet
above sea level around the Midland-Odessa area (at the south most end of the plains) to
4,000 feet in the far north portion of Texas. The area was natural cattle country and home of
the Buffalo.
Midland County is located on the southern edge of the High Plains in West Texas. The county was named for its location halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Midland County extends across 939 square miles of flat land broken by draws and covered by scattered mesquite. There are no rivers or any other permanent surface waters in the county.
The first permanent resident was Herman N. Garrett, who moved to Midway from California with a herd of sheep in 1882. Over the next two years a number of other ranchers moved into the area, and a post office was granted on January 4, 1884, when the area was still attached to Tom Green County. In 1885, when 300 people were living in the area, the Texas state legislature established Midland County from lands previously assigned to Tom Green County, and the county was organized later that same year. The town of Midland became county seat. . By 1890 twenty-nine ranches had been established in the county along with one school house. The agricultural census reported 14,867 cattle and 13,364 sheep in the area.
Further settlement in the area was encouraged when the Texas legislature passed the Four-Section Act of 1895; this law enabled stockmen to buy four sections for each family member at favorable terms, and provided opportunities for leasing range lands for a modest price. By 1900 there were seventy-three ranches in Midland County, and cattle dominated the local economy. Almost 45,000 cattle were reported in the area that year, while the number of sheep had declined to only 2,257. Only one acre of cropland was reported in the county that year; it was planted in oats.
Land Records show that William C. Sparks, father of "Will" owned land in Midland County.
Midland County,
Texas Deed Records
Volume Two 12 April 1886 - 1 April 1889
A. B. Rountree, County Clerk
Marguerite Deardorff, Deputy Clerk
E. B. Lancaster, County Judge
J. C. Rathbun, Justice of the Peace
Theo. Ray, Sheriff and Tax Collector
Page 200
Quit Claim Deed: J. C. Peoples to Wm.
C. Sparks, both of Midland Co., TX Dated 27
Dec 1886.
(Filed 17 Jan 1897)
Further settlement in the area was encouraged when the Texas legislature passed the Four-Section Act of 1895; this law enabled stockmen to buy four sections for each family member at favorable terms, and provided opportunities for leasing range lands for a modest price. By 1900 there were seventy-three ranches in Midland County, and cattle dominated the local economy. Almost 45,000 cattle were reported in the area that year, while the number of sheep had declined to only 2,257. Only one acre of cropland was reported in the county that year; it was planted in oats.
SPARKS Family in Midland, Texas
William Isaac "Will" Sparks, according to his obituary in the Dallas Morning News on July 17, 1940, lived near Midland, Texas. There he was a cattle rancher, as were most of the Sparks men, and he specialized in shorthorn cattle. It was stated that when the area around Midland became too filled with settlers, he moved on to New Mexico to continue stock-raising. Will retired in 1920 and moved to Dallas where he died June 16, 1940. His obituary identifies four sons and one daughter. It is thought that he may have had one other son as well. His wife was not mentioned in the obituary, so it can be presumed that she had died prior to Will.
There is a marriage record in Midland County, Texas showing:
W. I. Sparks married M. E. Peoples, Jan 5, 1887, Midland County, TX. and also,
Source: "MIDLAND
COUNTY, TEXAS RECORDS - THE THORNY TRAIL - MAY, 1975 ",
Contributed by
Mrs. H. N. Phillips
Source: Mary G. (Crawford) Ramos, first published in the 1990-91 Texas Almanac. (Midland, TX)
As yet, no census
record has been located for Will Sparks and his family in the Midland area.
Note: There is a Sparks Park, in northern Midland County.