page 20: "Everybody in Texas had a story about the XIT. It was the ranch that built the state capitol, the granddaddy of them all. Fifteen years after the end of the Civil War, Texas wanted the biggest statehouse in the union, a palace of polished red granite. To pay for the new stone showpiece, the state offered up three million acres in the distant Panhandle to anybody willing to construct the building. After the tribes were routed, Charles Goodnight had moved a herd of 1,600 cattle down from Colorado to Palo Duro Canyon. The grass then was free, it attracted other nomadic Anglo beef-drivers and speculators from two continents. In 1882, a company out of Chicago organized the Capitol Syndicate, and this group of investors took title to three million acres in return for agreeing to build the capitol. It would cost about $3.7 million, which meant the land went for $1.23 an acre. The syndicate drew some big British investors into the deal, among them the Earl of Aberdeen and several members of Parliament. By then, the Great Plains cattle market was the talk of many a Tory cocktail hour."
* "Everybody in Texas had a story about the XIT" - Wow...everybody in Texas? According to the U.S. Census, the population of Texas in 1920 was 4,663,228. Are those 4 million plus testimonials documented?
* "the ranch that built the state capitol" - The ranch built it? Now that would be a grand feat. The sale of the land (upon which the statehouse was built) financed the construction. Probably a salute to the 1997 exhibit at the Texas Capitol called "XIT: The Ranch That Built The Texas Capitol."
* "Texas wanted the biggest statehouse in the union, a palace of polished red granite" - They wanted native limestone, originally. The limestone coloring was not up to par, so alternatives were sought. A Marble Falls quarry offered to donate the granite. Article on the granite coloring....I've heard the granite called "sunset red" and "Texas pink"...but not just 'red'....no big deal.
* "Charles Goodnight" - Not sure about his connection to the capitol building except maybe to show that cattle had been in the region...
* "It would cost about $3.7 million, which meant the land went for $1.23 an acre" - actually...the Capitol Syndicate's expenditures were $3,224,593.45; about $500,000 was assumed by the state. $1.07 give or take...but the land was valued at $1.5 million in 1882, so it's not like the Texans got swindled.
* "By then, the Great Plains cattle market was the talk of many a Tory cocktail hour" - They Tory cocktail hour may have been filled by talk about cattle markets, but the plans all along were to eventually subdivide and sell the land for profit. A ranch doesn't seem to have been planned for a long-term existence....so I'm not sure if that statement means the British investors didn't know there was a plan for profit or if they just thought it was the cattle market that would score profits.
City of Austin Source
Handbook of Texas Source
Republic of Texas Press Source
State Preservation Board Source
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