J. Evetts Haley was a noted Texas historian, writer, and public figure of the early 20th century. Born in Belton in Bell County, he grew up in Midland, where he worked on area ranches and competed in rodeos. He attended Midland College and West Texas Normal College in Canyon, earning a degree in history, and later received a master's degree from the University of Texas in Austin in 1926 with a focus on post-Civil War Texas cattle trails. In 1925 he became the first field secretary of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society and Museum in Canyon, where he interviewed ranchers and farmers about old trail drives and the early development of the cattle industry in west Texas. He also collected artifacts and documents from early ranches and pioneers that were installed in numerous museums and collections across the region. A prolific author, he wrote articles and many acclaimed books on early west Texas, especially on Charles Goodnight and the XIT Ranch. Haley was an original member of the Texas State Historical Survey Committee, later the Texas Historical Commission, and received many honors, including induction into the Hall of Great Westerners at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in 1990 and the Heritage Hall of Fame at the State Fair of Texas in 1994. His library and personal papers became the initial collection of the Haley Memorial Library and History Center in Midland, and he died in Midland and was buried in Moffat Cemetery in Bell County.