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Wellington, Texas

Wellington

© Texas Department of Transportation

The face of an Indian warrior in an Art Deco

bas-relief embellishes the Collingsworth County Courthouse in Wellington -- symbol of an era when Kiowa, Apache and Comanche Indians once lived in the area.

Photo by

Wes Reeves

Artifacts at the Collingsworth County Museum are from different eras long ago when various tribes farmed and hunted in the region, years before ranchers and settlers came onto the scene. 

Pioneer Park, just west of the bridge, is a camping and picnic area on the Salt Fork of the Red River. Two Texas Historical Markers at the site offer information about the history of the area. One tells about a famous ranch; the other tells a tale about America’s most notorious outlaw couple:

On June 10, 1933, Mr. & Mrs. Sam Pritchard and family saw from their home on the bluff (west) the plunge of an auto into Red River. Rescuing the victims, unrecognized as Bonnie Parker and Clyde and Buck Barrow, they sent for help. Upon their arrival, the local Sheriff and Police Chief were disarmed by Bonnie Parker. Buck Barrow shot Pritchard's daughter while crippling the family car to halt pursuit. Kidnapping the officers, the gangsters fled. Bonnie & Clyde were fated to meet death in 1934. In this quiet region, the escapade is now legend.

North of Wellington on U. S. 83, a 1939 truss bridge spans the Salt Fork of the Red River at Pioneer Park.

Owned by Scottish Earls of Aberdeen and Tweedmouth. The headquarters were at Aberdeen (about 7 miles northeast). Starting with 14,745 cattle, the Rocking Chair made profits for a few years, then failed. In north part of county are hills bearing its name. Also, town of Wellington was given that name at wish of rocking chair owners, who had a kinsman die at Waterloo where he was aide to the Duke of Wellington. W.E. Hughes in 1893 bought the land and added it to Mill Iron Ranch. Later the 235 sections were sold to others, to convert to farms and smaller ranches.

Rocking Chair "Ranche"

(1883-1893)

the red river plunge

of bonnie and clyde

© 2010

H. HUMPHRIES

PHOTO BY KIRBY

PROVIDED BY COLLINGSWORTH COUNTY MUSEUM

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Collingsworth County Museum

... on the square at 824 East Avenue, just a few blocks off U. S. Highway 83. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The museum can be opened on request at other times.

Phone: (806) 447 5327

Photos Courtesy of Collingsworth County Museum

ARTIFACTS ON DISPLAY

SEE PICTURES OF WELLINGTON’S QUANAH PARKER TRAIL ARROW Photos_Collingsworth.html