Memories of Mullin: Mulllin My Hometown

By Ivan R. Chesser

The Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company planned a railway from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, N. M., in 1885. The new railway would pass through the town of Williams Ranch, Texas. Seeing an opportunity for a windfall profit, the landowners of Williams Ranch increased the price of their land to a level that proved to be economically unfavorable to Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Another negative factor was the reputation of the Ranch as a sanctuary for lawbreakers, outlaws, and other characters of savory reputation. W. D. Kirkpatrick, a surveyor in the Moses Austin Colony of 1821, worked for the Mexican Government and was paid in land grants. When he died, his brother, J. D. Kirkpatrick, a physician, acquired the land grants from other family members. One of the grants was just three miles north of the proposed route for the new railway. J. D. Kirkpatrick approached the Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and persuaded them to abandon the planned route through Williams Ranch for a more northern route through his land grant. He knew it would increase the value of his land if Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe built the new railway through it. He offered partial grant ownership to Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway if they would alter the railway route to pass through his land grant and survey a town site for him.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0D415HWML
• ISBN13: 9798325256271
• Release Date: May 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 84 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"