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Buffalo was established in
1871. It was first well known as a farming, ranching town,
incorporated with an area of four square miles, consisting of a
mercantile, hardware store, owned and operated by I. M. Pearlstone,
Nathan Bloom. The Artesian Bottling Works, bottlers of soda water was
located where the present post office is today. The first doctors
of Buffalo were Drs. Hagard, Oliver, and Sam Burroughs, Haynie, Joyce,
and S. M. Brown. They were known as traveling physicians equipped
with horses and saddle bags literally fitted with their pharmacy on
their horse back, carrying all their medications with them would travel
to the many homes of Buffalo and surrounding communities tending to the
sick.
Upon receiving word of sickness from
a family member or neighbor traveling by horseback, wagon or buggy, the
doctors already equipped would be on their way often times the trip
would be a long distance and they faced hardships of swollen creeks,
snowstorms, and boggy roads.
Their circuit of travel was consumed
with days of medical attention before returning home. The
Physicians ate, slept, at the patients home and when delivering babies
they often stayed for long hours and then also these physicians were the
dentists for the people.
The first mayor of Buffalo was Frank
Bigham, the first secretary was W. T. Lyons and the first city marshal
was R. F. Lusk.
The majority of the settlers of
Buffalo being farmers and ranchers discovered the rich fertile land with
the natural resource of water from creeks and the ample supply of yearly
rain was sufficient to grow whatever they wanted for food for their
families and the lush Buffalo grass with the feed they raised was ample
supply for their livestock.
With the prosperity of the farmers,
ranchers, newspaper editors, local and state officials taking notice and
providing publicity and contact soon received market for their produce.
Grade conditions for their cattle being the center point of Leon Co. for
a variety of registered cattle breeds to replace the Texas Longhorns of
which were the first and only breed of the pioneer days. The
Longhorns played a vital part of the Buffalo, Leon Co. They long
before the cotton, corn crops, were economical pillars, providing meat
for our tables and a market for their hides and horns. They also
could survive on the natural resources of the greenery of the grass,
trees, shrubbery here and could endure well with drought seasons and
they took on the bears, wolves, panthers, and other wild animals of
protection. Later their adoptability, longevity, and stamina of
the Buffalo, Leon Co. area has earned the Texas Longhorn title of manes
for a University, Business and as mascots. |