Coldwater Creek was the first area in Sherman County to be settled and the only live water for miles. The first settler, buffalo hunter J.D. Rawlings, came in the 1870s and later became county judge. W.B. Slaughter acquired the Rawlings place about 1894 and later ran a bank and store in Stratford. John Lanners, who arrived in 1892, was a cowboy at Slaughter's ranch, later acquired land, and ran a mule-drawn supply line. One of the largest spreads was owned by Thomas Snyder, who also arrived in 1892. Other prominent early settlers included J.H. Williams, a freighter, and Geo. Loomis, a merchant.