Hansford County, Texas
| Hansford County, Texas | |
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Hansford County Courthouse in Spearman
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 Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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 Texas's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1889 |
| Seat | Spearman |
| Largest city | Spearman |
| Area | |
| • Total | 920 sq mi (2,383 km2) |
| • Land | 920 sq mi (2,383 km2) |
| • Water | 0.6 sq mi (2 km2), 0.06% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 5,613 |
| • Density | 6.1/sq mi (2/km²) |
| Congressional district | 13th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Hansford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,613. Its county seat is Spearman. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1889. It is named for John M. Hansford, a Texas state congressman and judge.
Artifacts of the Antelope Creek Indian culture abound along the Canadian valley in Hutchinson County. Archaeologists have found 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) of Alibates flint in the area that was used as a quarry for shaping flint tools. Nomadic Plains Apache also camped in this area as did Comanche, Arapaho, Kiowa, and Cheyenne.
In 1873 English brothers James Hamilton Cator and Arthur J. L. (Bob) Cator were sent by their father, British naval officer Captain John Bertie Cator, to Kansas in search of financial opportunity. The brothers soon found their true calling as buffalo hunters and established an outpost along the North Palo Duro Creek. They named this camp Zulu, and it soon became known as Zulu Stockade.
The depletion of the buffalo herds led in part to the ongoing conflict between Indians and settlers. The Second Battle of Adobe Walls took place in neighboring Hutchinson County in 1874 and led to the Red River War of 1874-1875. A group of buffalo hunters attempted a revitalization of Fort Adobe. The Comanches, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Kiowa saw the fort and the decimation of the buffalo herd as a threat to their existence. Comanche medicine man Isa-tai prophesized a victory and immunity to the white man’s bullets in battle. Quanah Parker lead several hundred in a raid on the fort. The buffalo hunters were able to force the Indians into retreat. The Red River War of 1874-1875 was a United States Army campaign to force the removal of Indians in Texas and their relocation to reservations, to open the region to white settlers.
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