Around 11,000 BC, Paleo-Indians were the first inhabitants. Archeological artifacts indicate hunter-gatherers hunted the mammoth, mastodon, saber-toothed cat, and giant ground sloth. Later Native American inhabitants included the Comanche. In 1871, Ranald S. Mackenzie fought Quanah Parker and other Comanches at the Battle of Blanco Canyon. The campaign established the Mackenzie Trail used by the first settlers in Crosby County in the late 1870s. The Texas Legislature formed Crosby County from Young and Bexar districts in 1876. Bavarian Heinrich Schmidtt and his wife Elizabeth Boyle and their six children became the first permanent settlers in the area in 1878; Hank was active in the county’s organization. Confederate veteran Paris Cox first visited the Caprock Escarpment of the Llano Estacado with a group of buffalo hunters in 1879. Estacado was named the county seat in 1886. By 1900, the beef industry was thriving, supporting 30,618 head. In 1908, the Bar-N-Bar Ranch began selling acreage to farmers. Crosbyton became the new county seat in 1910. Some in the county were planted in cotton, and 15,000 apple and peach trees were growing in the county in 1920. By 1929, farmers owned 83,000 chickens and sold 395,000 dozen eggs that year. The first soil conservation district in the county was formed in 1941. In 1955, oil was discovered in the county.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which are land and are covered by water.
As of the census of 2000, 7,072 people, 2,512 households, and 1,866 families resided in the county. The population density was eight people per square mile. The 3,202 housing units averaged four per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 63.77% White, 3.89% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 29.89% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. About 48.93% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 2,512 households, 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couplesliving together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were not families. About 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.30. In the county, the population was distributed as 30.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the county was $25,769, and for a family was $29,891. Males had a median income of $23,775 versus $17,229 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,445. About 22.6% of families and 28.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.6% of those under age 18 and 22.7% of those age 65 or over.
