When people think of legendary Texas cattle ranches the images that
first come to mind are iconic, open-range operations like King Ranch of
South Texas. In Henry C. "Hank" Smith and the Cross B Ranch,
historian M. Scott Sosebee tells the story of one pioneer settler's
small but significant ranch in West Texas. The Cross B Ranch of Blanco
Canyon struggled but endured to become quite successful, even while
surrounded by big ranching empires. Founder Hank Smith went on to become
one of the region's most prominent, civic-minded citizens.
Born in Bavaria, Smith left Germany in 1851 at the age of fourteen and
traveled to Ohio to live with a sister. Less than two years later, he
left Ohio to seek better opportunities in the American West. In the
course of his westering life he worked as a teamster on the Santa Fe
Trail, searched for gold in Arizona and New Mexico, served in both the
Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War, operated a freighting
business, owned a hotel, and eventually moved to Blanco Canyon and
became a stock raiser. Although he did raise cattle, for most of his
life as a stockman he raised twice as many sheep as he did cows, yet was
one of the first in West Texas to upgrade his cattle stock with purebred
bloodlines.
In Henry C. "Hank" Smith and the Cross B Ranch, M. Scott Sosebee
enriches our understanding of western heritage and ranching in America
through a compelling and lively biography set on the small stage of an
unassuming but important ranch.
