Mooar, John Wesley, Papers, 1871-1917 and undated

 

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Mooar, John Wesley, 1846-1918

Title: John Wesley Mooar Papers

Dates: 1871-1917 and undated

Abstract: Papers relating to business activities of brothers John Wesley Mooar and J. Wright Mooar as buffalo hunters and ranchers in Texas.

Collection #:S 720.1

Quantity: 2 small boxes (0.6 linear feet)

Language: English

Repository: Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

Biographical Sketch

A buffalo trader and rancher, Mooar was born in 1846 in Pownal, Vermont. He lived in New York from 1861 to 1872, receiving and selling buffalo hides sent by his brother J. Wright Mooar. He joined his brother in Kansas in 1872, and they moved to Texas in 1872. With the decline of the buffalo trade, the brothers established the Mooar Brothers Ranch in Scurry County, Texas. John Wesley Mooar married Margaret McCollum and they had two children, Lydia Louise Mooar and John Combs Mooar. In addition to his ranching and business interests, Mooar assisted in bringing the Texas and Pacific Railroad to Colorado City, Texas. Mooar died in 1918 in Colorado City, Texas.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes correspondence, financial material, printed material, and a diary relating to the business and personal concerns of the Mooar brothers. It bulks (1871-1900) with financial materials of the Mooar brothers' business enterprises. There are lesser amounts of correspondence dealing with personal and family matters. Of particular interest is a letter describing the battle of Adobe Walls.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions: Open for research.

Index Terms

The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally developed.

Subjects (Persons)

  • Mooar, John Wesley, 1846-1918
  • Mooar, J. Wright (John Wright), 1851-1940

    • Places

  • Mooar Brothers Ranch (Tex.)
  • Scurry County (Tex.)--History
  • Mitchell County (Tex.)-- History

    • Subjects

  • Adobe Walls, Battle of, Tex., 1874
  • American bison hunting--Texas--history
  • American bison

    • Related Material

    For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, see the following collections:

    Margaret McCollum Mooar Papers, 1870-1920

    Lydia Louise Mooar Papers, 1876-1971 and undated

    Administrative Information

    Preferred Citation

    John Wesley Mooar Papers, 1871-1917 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

    Gift, 1955

    Processed by: Abel Ramirez, June 2003

    Bibliography

    Branch, Edward Douglas. The Hunting of the Buffalo. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.

    Robinson, Charles M. The Buffalo Hunters. Austin, Texas: State House Press, 1995

    Collection Inventory

    Papers, 1871-1917 and undated

    Box 1

    Box 2

    Recent Submissions