Following the forced removal of Indians from North Central Texas in the mid-1870s, open-range grazing attracted the first Anglo-American settlers to Hardeman County. Herds were moved through this area along the Western Trail to Kansas railheads. Hardeman County was created in 1858. Quanah was organized in 1884 as a stop on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway and was named for Quanah Parker, the last Comanche war leader. The county seat was moved here from Margaret (now in Foard County) in 1890 in order to be on the railroad. A second railroad, the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway, made Quanah a crossroads for a regional economy built on cattle, cotton, wheat, and corn. Paved highways U.S. 287 and TX 6 built in the 1930s reinforced Quanah’s economic role as a hub and crossroads.
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