History
The 65,000 acre Lit Ranch is located on the Canadian River in Oldham, Hartley, Moore and Potter counties and now includes the Lit Farms — 5,000 acres of farmland in Hartley and Moore Counties. The ranch’s history is as old as the history of the Texas Panhandle. The ranch began in the 1880s when Major Littlefield discovered the value of the mild climate and protection of the river breaks when trail driving cattle from Abilene to Dodge City. Major Littlefield sold the ranch to the Prairie Land and Cattle Company, a Scottish land company, who developed the ranch into a 240,000 acre ranch stretching from Tascosa to Dumas. Lee Bivins purchased the ranch from Prairie in the early 1900s and it was operated by the Bivins until 1980s when it was purchased by the W. H. O’Brien family of Amarillo, Texas.
Today
The LIT is situated 40 miles northwest of Amarillo near what was once Tascosa, one of the first and most prominent towns in the Panhandle. LIT cowboys were among the first settlers of the Panhandle and their tradition of animal husbandry and environmental awareness is a hallmark of modern day ranching. While networked databases store important information on each animal, the cattle know little difference in the ideal grazing options offered today vs. 100 year ago. The strong native grasses such as gramma and buffalo, form a diet rich in protein and provide forage available only to ruminants.