Born in 1840, Wm. Edgar Hughes came from Illinois to Texas in 1859. During the Civil War he rose from private in the 1st Texas Artillery to colonel in the 16th Cavalry and fought in the bloody battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Nashville, and Richmond. After the war, when he "didn't have 2 pairs of pants," he taught school and read law in Weatherford. As a lawyer he took many land cases, and in 7 years became organizer and president of the City Bank of Dallas, now 1st National, Dallas. Later he was an officer in Exchange Bank of Dallas, Union Trust Company of St. Louis, and Continental Trust Company of Denver. In 1880 he bought a half interest in the Mill Iron Ranch and purchased small holdings from Pease to Red River, including bridle bits, DV's, Diamond D's, and others. The range lay in Childress, Cottle, Hall, and Motley counties. In 1885 he added windmills and wells to run larger herds of up to 50,000. In the early years headquarters used dugouts and chuckwagons, and the first small ranchouse was built at windmill 62 near Estelline. He bought out the Rocking Chair Ranch in Collingsworth County in 1896. Until 1898 he ran only longhorns. He was said to have had the largest men, the most practical jokers, the longest cattle drives, and the biggest horses in Texas. He sold off the last Mill Iron herd in 1918, the year of his death.