DIMMITT, TEXAS

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History in a Pecan Shell

The County was named after Henri Castro; the same man who had Medina County's Castroville named after him. W. C. Dimmitt was a partner in the original land development of the county and had nothing to do with Dimmit County down in South Texas, which is a misspelling of Phillip Dimmitt's name. Phillip Dimmitt had served in the Texas Revolution at Goliad. Now that that is clear, lets move on to the gunfight.

The Gunfight
While county-seat disputes were common in Texas, rarely did they result in fatal gunplay. This was the case however, in the dispute between rivals Dimmitt and Castro City back in 1891. Developer Ira Aten and Andy McClelland got into it on the courthouse lawn and a plaque commemorates the event today. The Handbook of Texas didn't mention the Victor (probably because it was just Andy and Ira in the gunfight), so we called the chamber and was about to ask if they'd go out and read the plaque for us. We spoke with Bill Sava, who seems to know his town and county well. He was able to tell us that there were no fatalities from the gunfight, and he didn't even have to leave his office.

WWII POW Monument
While Mr. Sava admits that Dimmit is a little off the tourist route, he did remind us that Italian Prisoners of War had been kept in Castro County during WWII. A monument dedicated to the ones who died in captivity is located on a ranch about 14 miles outside of town. He said that the lady who looks after the history of the shrine has letters from former prisoners and that several internees have visited over the years. We will add this to our growing list of things to do when we're in the area.

The Celebrated Jackrabbit Roundup of Castro County
(1925)

On a lighter note, Mr. Sava told us of the Dimmitt Jackrabbit Roundup that occurred in 1925. He got the story straight from one of the participants, who has since passed away. The idea was to round up the pesky varmints, (of which there was then a plague) and ship them to California, which was jackrabbit deficient. It drew quite a crowd and while people scoffed at the idea, visitors from neighboring counties were taking notes, just in case it was a success. Kind of like chambers of commerce today.

Well, a corral of sorts was set up and when the rabbits were herded in, people noticed that jackrabbits aren't like the plump ones that the French serve. But, they were there and so were the rabbits, so the event proceeded. Mr. Sava told us that they soon found out that jackrabbits were extremely territorial and didn't like being crowded. They jumped out of the corral like grasshoppers (see the Great Grasshopper Roundup of 1934) from a hot skillet. The narrator said (probably between tears) that the entire end result was one dead rabbit that had been hit by a club-wielding boy who might've mistaken him for a small piñata.

Now, for our sophisticated and urban audience, we'll pass along a country proverb: "Never shoot a slow rabbit." Of course, there is no need to shoot rabbits anyway, since we now have grocery stores, but the reasoning behind the proverb is that a slow rabbit is not a healthy rabbit, and that unhealthy rabbits when eaten can make you sick. Like most proverbs, they don't explain a thing, they just preach to you and if you don't listen and die a slow and painful death, then the proverb goblin will appear to say: "We told you so."

Dimmitt Attractions

Nearby Destinations
21 miles North on US Hwy 385 to Hereford, 30 miles East on Hwy 60 to Canyon, another 16 miles North on I-27 to Amarillo.


Dimmitt Local & Tourist Information
Dimmitt Chamber of Commerce:
115 W. Bedford - Telephone: 806-647-2524

Dimmitt Texas Forum