JA Cattle Company.

Hide Profile

The JA Ranch located in the panhandle of Texas is the oldest privately owned cattle company. Its history can be traced as far back as 1876 when Charles Goodnight began his ranch. The JA Ranch began with the partnership of Goodnight and John G. Adair. After several years of managing the ranch, Goodnight took his part of the ranch and left the JA Ranch. Cornelia Ritchie Adair became sole owner of the ranch after the death of John Adair. She ran it until her death in 1921. Her only remaining son, Jack Ritchie passed away in 1924. Jack's son, Montie, operated the ranch until his death on July 19, 1999. The heirs to the ranch are his daughter, Cornelia "Ninia" W. Ritchie Bivins and her son, Andrew M. Bivins. The ranch was incorporated in the late 1940s and became the JA Cattle Company. It is currently handled by the Ritchie family and is situated in Palo Duro Canyon and consists of over 335,000 acres of land. The land covers portions of Armstrong, Briscoe, Donley and Hall counties. Much of the land is leased to local ranchers to ease the cost of operations.

From the description of Records, 1813-1994, 1990-1994. (Texas Tech University). WorldCat record id: 47830724

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf JA Cattle Company. Records, 1813-1994, 1990-1994. Texas Tech University Libraries, Academic Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Adair, Cornelia W. (Cornelia Wadsworth), 1839-1921. person
associatedWith Adair, John George, 1823-1885. person
associatedWith Birkbeck, Daisy Muriel Ritchie. person
associatedWith Bivins, Andrew M. person
associatedWith Bivins, Cornelia Ritchie. person
associatedWith Coke, Henry C. person
associatedWith Goodnight, Charles, 1836-1929. person
associatedWith Hobart, T. D. (Timothy Dwight), 1855-1935. person
associatedWith Ritchie, Elizabeth Barrell. person
associatedWith Ritchie, James Wadsworth, 1861-1924. person
associatedWith Ritchie, Montie (Montgomery Harrison Wadsworth) person
associatedWith Ritchie, R. M. W. (Richard Morgan Wadsworth) person
associatedWith Ritchie, Sophia Harrison. person
associatedWith Style, Gabrielle Muriel Ritchie Keiller. person
associatedWith Thompson, George, Jr. person
associatedWith Wadsworth, James W. person
associatedWith Word, W. G. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Paloduro (Tex.)
Texas
Baffin Island (Nunavut)
Arctic regions
Palo Duro Canyon (Tex.)
J.A. Ranch (Tex.)
Subject
Aeronautics
American bison
Cattle
Cowboys
Natural gas
Petroleum industry and trade
Ranches
Ranching
Occupation
Activity

Person

Active 1813

Active 1994

Related Descriptions
Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6768t2x

Ark ID: w6768t2x

SNAC ID: 49178188