After getting up one morning at four to work cattle when home from college, Swamp owner Jane told her dad on the way home, "When I get up in the morning I ask myself why and when I am coming home, I ask myself why I would do anything else."   Click on river to see more photos.

 

   Video done by NBC Learn.

A.C. Kandler

  In 1985, Panhandle cattleman Jay O'Brien and his daughters started purchasing land in Donley County between McLean and Clarendon. The ranch was a large part of the RO Ranch, founded by Alfred Rowe of England.   Mr. Rowe was one of the very few English investors who actually managed the ranch and was successful.  

Indian Blanket and Lazy Daisy color up the hills.  More wildflowers

    The RO was later purchased by William Lewis after Mr. Rowe died on the Titanic.   William and his son Will were both known as astute cattlemen and they built large land holdings in the eastern Panhandle.   Both men died in the 1950's.  The Lewis Family continued operations under the capable management of Frank Derrick and Vera Lewis, Will's widow.  Part of the original RO Ranch is still owned by the Lewis family.  The O'Brien family purchased the eastern part of the RO Ranch from three different owners in several different purchases.

Gathering Peavine

          The O'Brien girls own Hag Farm which is south of the Swamp.    The Swamp is blessed with good looking women on good looking horses.

Ranch owner, Jane O'Brien on a gather.	Lawrence Gruet, an intern from France, on Houdini.                                              Owner Mary Manahan

          Dry summers during his youth in the 50's are the main reason O'Brien was attracted to the Donley County ranch.   After summering on a New Mexico ranch watered only by tanks (and not many of them), a ranch with eleven miles of the Salt Fork of the Red River, fourteen miles of Whitefish Creek, the wooded Lake Creek, Eagle Arroyo and numerous other small creeks and springs looked like an ideal home.  Because of the sub irrigated pastures, the ranch earned the nickname The Swamp.  The first time he took Lucy O'Brien to the ranch, they were stuck for hours and she said, "You are the only idiot stupid enough to buy swamp land in the Panhandle of Texas," and the ranch became The Swamp.

Penning at Locust Grove

1.           The ranch also supports good turf and O'Brien is proud of the opportunity to be steward of the ranch.   He won the Society of Range Management's Excellence in Grazing Management award in 1995--the presentation emphasized the turf in riparian areas on the Swamp.   In 1997, the ranch received over 22 inches of rain in a 48 hour period with 12 inches in a few hours.   Whitefish, Skillet and the Salt Fork ran higher than anyone had ever imagined.   All of the creek beds became beaches as did nearby land that had been stirrup high in bluestem.   O'Brien said, "It was as if the Lord had said, "Grazing Manager, ha, let me show you something."   We are not in control."

      In 2005, O'Brien won The Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society's Land Stewardship Award.  O'Brien works to enhance the ranch for wildlife.   The ranch abounds in game and hunting is terrific.

  Sam Hermsmeyer, Damon Shipp and Gary Lewis

    Charles Goodnight helped Alfred Rowe get started in Donley County after Rowe worked on the JA for a short period.   Many of the great cowboys worked at both the JA and the RO.    The connection between the two ranches remains as O'Brien is a managing partner of the JA.   The connection has now been expanded to include the Circle, XL and Turkey Track ranches.   Jeremy Hawkins was brought up on the JA, now is foreman of the XL.   His brother Jeremy also was brought up on the JA and now works at the XL.    Also, Andrew Bivins is one of the owners of both the XL and JA.

Early morning cowboys ride along the Salt Fork.

 

The pens filled to capacity at Locust Grove.

 

 

One of the joys of a family ranch is that as the old folks are retired, new owners take over.   In 2016, owner Exie Manahan went on her first gather.   She still let the old timer weigh the cattle.   Mary Manahan worked at the Swamp the summer of 2024.

Whether fencing or riding, Mary poses. 

Salt Fork of the Red River, Spring Branding, Paleontology at the Swamp, Map of Ranch; Fog in No Name, wildlife, hunting, Billy Lewis, Rio Grande Turkey project, Barbed Wire Museum, Shoe Bar Ranch, Wildflowers The reckless cloud seeding experiment in the Panhandle.

Hunting: Colorado wildlife, Spring Turkey Hunt,  Quail hunting,  mule deer & aoudad hunting,  elk in Colorado, Texas Wildlife; Swamp hunting, White-tailed deer.