Established by W. H. Bates and D. T. Beals, merchants and ranchers on the Arkansas River in Colorado since 1870, the LX ranch was moved with its herd and brand to the Texas Panhandle in 1877 after crowded conditions there, three years after Indians were expelled from this region. As buffalo were being exterminated in the area, LX cattle were driven to Dodge City for shipment to market or to ranges in Montana and Wyoming. The ranch stretched from present-day Dumas to Amarillo and was twenty miles wide, totaling one thousand square miles of open range. In 1884 it was sold to the American Pastoral Company, Ltd., of London, whose holdings included 210,597 acres of land, 45,000 cattle, and 1,000 horses. Among the famous LX cowboys were Allie Bates and John Ray, whose names appear on geological maps, and Charles Siringo, author of Western Americana and Cattle Rustler Detective. Potter County was organized on Aug. 30, 1887, by 53 qualified electors, and by the unanimous vote of the 38 LX cowboys, Amarillo became the county seat. In 1906 the Pastoral Company began liquidating, and the properties are now owned by heirs of large purchasers.