Origin Of The "White Deer" Name
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Eloise Lane
A small plaque at the White Deer Land Museum relates the legend from which the museum received its name.
In the days when Apaches, Comanches, Kiowa, and Kiowa-Apaches roamed this area, an Indian saw an albino deer drinking at a creek which became known to the Indians as "the creek of the white deer."
Most of the 26 mile long creek, which flows northward to the Canadian River, is in eastern Hutchinson County.
Early Spanish explorers referred to the creek in their language: "El Rito del Venado Blanco." (The Spanish name was anglicized by the early American traders and explorers and became "White Deer Creek", its present name.)
In 1886, the insolvent Francklyn Land and Cattle Company was reorganized and called White Deer Lands because of the creek near which the company buildings were located.
Soon the company moved its headquarters to an experimental farm near the present town of White Deer which became known by the name of the company.
In 1892, the company moved its headquarters to the present city of Pampa and sometime thereafter changed its name to White Deer Land Company.
After the White Deer Land Company was liquidated in 1957, M.K. Brown bought its remaining assets which included the office building at 116 South Cuyler. Subsequently Brown donated the building, which had been built in 1916, to Gray County. Brown's request was that the building should be used as a museum to preserve the history of this area.
On December 6, 1970, the White Deer Land Museum was dedicated for this purpose.
In the days when Apaches, Comanches, Kiowa, and Kiowa-Apaches roamed this area, an Indian saw an albino deer drinking at a creek which became known to the Indians as "the creek of the white deer."
Most of the 26 mile long creek, which flows northward to the Canadian River, is in eastern Hutchinson County.
Early Spanish explorers referred to the creek in their language: "El Rito del Venado Blanco." (The Spanish name was anglicized by the early American traders and explorers and became "White Deer Creek", its present name.)
In 1886, the insolvent Francklyn Land and Cattle Company was reorganized and called White Deer Lands because of the creek near which the company buildings were located.
Soon the company moved its headquarters to an experimental farm near the present town of White Deer which became known by the name of the company.
In 1892, the company moved its headquarters to the present city of Pampa and sometime thereafter changed its name to White Deer Land Company.
After the White Deer Land Company was liquidated in 1957, M.K. Brown bought its remaining assets which included the office building at 116 South Cuyler. Subsequently Brown donated the building, which had been built in 1916, to Gray County. Brown's request was that the building should be used as a museum to preserve the history of this area.
On December 6, 1970, the White Deer Land Museum was dedicated for this purpose.
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