Origin Of The “White Deer” Name

A small plaque at the White Deer Land Museum relates the legend from which the museum received its name.

aper articles originally published in The Pampa Daily News of Pampa, Texas. The author is Eloise Lane, long time resident of Pampa. The first article was originally published September 7, 1988.

All articles are about the history of Pampa, Texas, Gray County, and the White Deer Land Museum.

Eloise Lane is the foremost keeper of Gray County history. She was a retired Pampa school teacher who wrote a monthly column for the Pampa News for 10 years. She called it “Museum Mementos”, and each story is kept in the archives of the White Deer Land Museum.

Eloise’s grandfather came to Texas before the turn of the century with the railroad, and later became Pampa’s first postmaster. The town then had 24 residents. Her father came here when Pampa was called Glasgow.

Eloise graduated from Pampa High School in 1932 and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Mary Hardin-Baylor University in Belton. Her first teaching job was in McLean, Texas. She taught there and one or two other small schools before coming back to Pampa to teach in 1944. Eloise retired, after a 41 year teaching career, in 1980.

Eloise was asked to write a pamphlet about Pampa’s first post office, and that began her writing hobby and close relationship with the White Deer Land Museum. She is the person called on in Gray County to answer all historical questions. She answers research mail for the museum and area residents. Eloise works tirelessly each month compiling documents and retrieving information to add to the accuracy of the county’s history.