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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town was founded in 1906 by John and Pat Landergin, sons of Irish immigrants
who immigrated to the US because of the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. The
brothers were born in New York and later moved to Indian Territory in the 1870s.
They raised longhorn
cattle along the Red River and once drove 1,040 head of cattle over the Chisholm
Trail to Kansas where they settled briefly - making a fortune by shipping cattle
to England.
The brothers leased land in the Texas
Panhandle to raise more cattle and in 1908 with the arrival of the Chicago,
Rock Island and Gulf Railway, the town of Landergin, was established - and subsequently
Vega, Texas where John Landergin opened
the First State Bank there. They bought part of the XIT
ranch and invested in other land in Oldham and Deaf Smith Counties as well
as New Mexico and Arizona. In 1912 they moved to Amarillo
and built a mansion on Polk Street. John died in 1923 and his brother in 1929.
Their company floundered after the death of John and the ranch holdings were finally
liquidated after WWII -
sold at auction to farmers and smaller ranchers.
In 1936 Landergin's
population was a mere 15 - and in the 1980s only two businesses were in operation. |
| | Landergin
grain elevators
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, July 2006 | |
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1940s
Oldham County map showing Vega and
Adrian
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office | |
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