Mooar, John Wesley, 1846-1918

Buffalo trader, rancher. Born 1846 in Pownal, Vermont. Lived in New York from 1861 to 1872, receiving and selling buffalo hides sent by his brother J. Wright Mooar. Joined his brother in Kansas in 1872, and they moved to Texas in 1873. With the decline of the buffalo trade, the brothers established the Mooar Brothers Ranch in Scurry County, Texas. John Wesely 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 Colorado City, Texas, in 1918.

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 1873. 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.

John Wesley Mooar (1846-1918) and his brother Josiah Wright Mooar (1851-1940) were buffalo hunters and businessmen, credited with the beginning of the American buffalo-hide industry. Josiah Wright Mooar, who was also a freighter and a rancher, had sent buffalo hides to his brother in New York City in 1871, and John Wesley sold them to a tanning firm. In 1872 John Wesley moved to Dodge City, Texas, to partner with his brother in the business, and they moved to the Texas Panhandle in 1873, where they were among the first to hunt buffalo. Josiah Wright Mooar was known for opening the Texas Panhandle for hunting and settling, as the location had previously been thought to be for Indians only. The brothers stayed in the Panhandle until 1876, when the herds were close to being vanquished there. They moved to Fort Griffin, and remained in business until the destruction of the buffalo in 1905. John Wesley went on to freight for ranchers in West Texas and finally own land and a carriage agency in Colorado City, and Josiah Wright established a ranch ten miles northwest of Snyder.

Sources : Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Mooar, Josiah Wright, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmo16.html (accessed June 3, 2010).

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Mooar, John Wesley, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmo17.html (accessed June 3, 2010).