Mobeetie, Texas

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Coordinates: 35°32′1″N 100°26′21″W / 35.53361, -100.43917
Mobeetie, Texas
Location of Mobeetie, Texas
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Wheeler
Area
- Total	0.6 sq mi (1.6 km²)
- Land	0.6 sq mi (1.6 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation	2,641 ft (805 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	107
- Density	175.3/sq mi (67.7/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	79061
Area code(s)	806
FIPS code	48-48852^[1]
GNIS feature ID	1363014^[2]

Mobeetie is a city in northwestern Wheeler County, Texas, United States, just across the Sweetwater Creek from Texas Route 152. The population was 107 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The settlement was a trading post for hunters and trappers for nearby Fort Elliott (aka Cantonment Sweetwater), it began as a buffalo hunter's camp un-officially called "Hidetown" by the locals. The first formal name for the town was "Sweetwater." The town was a wild place early on, as the night of January 24, 1876 would prove. In what has been called the "Sweetwater Shootout," Anthony Cook (aka Corporal "Sergeant" Melvin A. King; of the 4th Cavalry-Company H, stationed at Ft. Elliott), shot and killed Mollie Brennan (a dance hall girl and former prostitute). Brennan then wounded Bat Masterson, in return Masterson killed Sgt. King (King may have shot Masterson first and then killed Brennan, accounts vary).^[3]^[4] Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight said about the town: "I think it was the hardest place I ever saw on the frontier except Cheyenne, Wyoming." When the town applied for a post office, in 1879, that name was already in use, so the town took the new name of "mobeetie," believed to be a Native American word for sweetwater. In 1879 Mobeetie became the first county seat for Wheeler County. From 1880 to 1883, the notorious Robert Clay Allison ranched with his two brothers, John William and Jeremiah Monroe, 12 miles northeast of town, at the junction of the Washita River and Gageby Creek, and one day rode through Mobeetie drunk and naked.^[5]^[6] Allison married America Medora "Dora" McCulloch in Mobeetie on February 15, 1881.^[7] The town was the judicial center of the Thirty-fifth District, made up of fifteen counties, in 1881. At its peak in 1890 the town had over 400 people, but Mobeetie's boom days ended when Ft. Elliott closed that same year. Further decline came with the tornado of May 1, 1898, and then the loss of the county seat, in 1907, to Wheeler. In 1929 the town had to move two miles when the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway built their tracks that far away. The town steadily grew again until the start of World War II brought a peak of around 500.

[edit] Geography

Mobeetie is located at 35°32′1″N, 100°26′21″W (35.533551, -100.439228)^[8].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), all of it land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 107 people, 48 households, and 28 families residing in the city. The population density was 175.3 people per square mile (67.7/km²). There were 68 housing units at an average density of 111.4/sq mi (43.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.07% White and 0.93% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.54% of the population.

There were 48 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,625, and the median income for a family was $39,583. Males had a median income of $35,417 versus $23,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,059. There were no families and 2.9% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64.