Marcy crossed the area along Paint Creek, and a month later a large company of gold-seekers heading for California set out from Dallas over Marcy's route. The party camped near a tributary that they named California Creek in the southeastern part of what is now Haskell County; one young woman in the party died and was buried there.
Dick Tucker, one of the members of the expedition, wrote a glowing account of the region, and in William Armstrong and I. Searcy led a party to survey the land for possible settlement. In the Texas legislature formed Haskell County from lands formerly assigned to Milam and Fannin counties. Because of Indian hostility in the area, however, the county remained unsettled for nearly two decades.
Adna R. By the Indian menace had subsided, and the county was reestablished. Wright Mooar and other hunters operating out of Fort Griffin slaughtered the buffalo herds that roamed through the area; mustangs that frequented the springs in the county were rounded up in annual drives. Ranchers began moving into the area in , when George T. Reynolds and John A. Matthews established their ranch headquarters on California Creek.
In Thomas F. Tucker, remembering the description of the area written by his brother Dick, settled near the Matthews ranchhouse and began his own cattle operation. Sometime later W. Standifer, a former buffalo hunter, brought a flock of sheep to Willow Pond, or Rice Springs, near the center of the county.
The census found forty-eight people living in the county; the agricultural census reported two ranches in the county that year. By the fall of the ranching community of Rice Springs had begun to flourish, and in December its name was changed to Haskell in response to a request from the United States Post Office.
The Swenson family added portions of the county to their SMS ranches during the s. Haskell County was organized in January , with Haskell designated as the seat of government; Tom Tucker was elected the first county judge. A small, two-story frame structure served as the first courthouse until a larger, native-stone building was completed in By , ranches and farms had been established in the county.
Ranching was the mainstay of the local economy; 5, cattle and 6, sheep were reported that year. But crop farming was also beginning to become important, as corn was planted on 1, acres and cotton on 1, By the county had farms and ranches, and though corn was grown on only acres that year, cotton cultivation had expanded to 3, acres.
The county population grew during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, to 1, in and 2, in Two railroads built into the county in the first years of the twentieth century. At about the same time, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient also extended its tracks into the county. By linking county farmers to national markets the railroads helped to develop the area's economy and encouraged immigration.
In there were 2, farms in Haskell County, and the population had increased to 16, That year more than 18, acres in the county was planted in corn, and 1, acres in wheat, but the county's most important crop was cotton; more than 75, acres of Haskell County land was devoted to the fiber by The county's agricultural economy was also becoming more diversified.
County farmers had planted more than 28, fruit mostly peach trees by , and more than 10, chickens were reported on local farms. While declining in relative importance, cattle ranching remained an important component of the economy, as over 34, cattle were counted in Haskell County that year.
Though cotton production continued to expand in the county, the economy declined between and ; by the latter year there were only 1, farms in Haskell County, and the population had dropped to 14, The area revived again during the s, however, thanks in part to a rapid expansion of cotton culture. By more than , acres of land in the county was devoted to cotton compared to about 86, acres in , and corn and wheat culture also expanded; by more than , acres of land in the county was under cultivation.
Poultry production was also increasingly important to the local economy; that year, more than , chickens were reported on Haskell County farms, and county farmers sold almost , dozen eggs. Population figures reflect the economic expansion during the s; by Haskell County had 16, residents.
The farming sector suffered severely during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years of the s, however. Almost , acres of cotton land fell out of production, and by the county had lost farms, or almost 19 percent of the total ten years earlier. It was once on the Fort Worth and Denver Railway. The townsite was at one time known as Willow Pond Springs, a watering place for Indians, explorers, and buffalo hunters. A member of Randolph B. Marcy 's expedition encouraged his brother, Thomas F.
Tucker , to settle at the site in Jones and W. Standefer moved to the area in Tucker became the first county judge when Haskell County was organized in ; that same year a post office was established, and the developing community was renamed Haskell, after Charles Ready Haskell , a soldier in the Texas Revolution who died at Goliad.
Standefer was the community's first postmistress. As the county seat, Haskell dominated regional trade and culture. Barbecues and dances were annual events, as were visits of the Mollie Bailey show, and later, the Harley Sadler tent show. A saloon known as the Road to Ruin was also used for church services.
The Haskell Free Press began publication in Haskell prospered until the panic of and the drought of ; it recovered from these adversities after , the year the Texas Central Railroad reached Stamford. Haskell acquired a rail line and organized a volunteer fire department in ; the community was incorporated in The town's population was reported as 2, in , as 3, in , and as 3, in
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