The XIT Ranch South Line

(About 100 feet south of this marker) One of most famous boundaries in Texas. Marked edge of XIT -- ranch empire bartered away by Texas for its Capitol building. The 16th Legislature in 1879 designated a 3,000,000-acre tract to be used in payment for the Capitol. The grant extended 200 miles north from line here. Besides portion in this county, it included lands in counties of Castro, Cochran, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Hartley, Hockley, Lamb, Oldham, and Parmer. Heading the investors who built the Capitol were wealthy Chicago merchants, John V. and C. B. Farwell. Their surveying was begun in 1886. (1970)