Mobeetie

MOBEETIE, TEXAS . Mobeetie, on State Highway 152 in northwestern Wheeler County, is considered the "mother city" of the Panhandle . It developed from Charles Rath and Bob Wright's supply store on Sweetwater Creek at a buffalo-hunters' camp called Hidetown, established in 1874, and grew to 150 residents the following summer as a trading post for nearby Fort Elliott, which had been opened in May of that year. Bat (Bartholomew) Masterson, Patrick F. Garrett qqv and Poker Alice were among the famous visitors to Hidetown, which was so named because residents used buffalo hides in the construction of their dwellings. Henry Fleming, later the first sheriff of Wheeler County, built his rock house across the creek from the camp. The village was located at the southern end of the Jones and Plummer Trail and was a center of activity for the buffalo-hide trade. After the buffalo slaughter waned, many transient hunters stayed. Some made a living catering to the soldiers at the fort, and in 1878 the town was moved a short distance closer to the post. At first the community was called Sweetwater, but when a post office was applied for in 1879, duplication in names caused the Indian word mobeetie , possibly meaning "sweet water," to be chosen. George A. Montgomery served as the first postmaster.