R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, One of the more intriguing chapters in the history 1-2 of the State of Texas involves the construction of the current 1-3 State Capitol and the origin of the legendary XIT Ranch; and 1-4 WHEREAS, When the previous Capitol was destroyed by fire on 1-5 November 9, 1881, a special legislative session was called to 1-6 develop a plan for erecting a new building; lacking sufficient 1-7 liquid capital, the legislature opted to encourage potential 1-8 investors with a portion of the state's vast land holdings in 1-9 exchange for the development and construction of an edifice worthy 1-10 of the citizens of Texas; and 1-11 WHEREAS, A Chicago investment group accepted the state's 1-12 proposal and took possession of more than three million acres of 1-13 prime Texas Panhandle land encompassing parts of 10 counties; the 1-14 10 members of the "Capitol Syndicate" christened the land the XIT 1-15 Ranch, a name popularly believed to stand for "Ten in Texas," and 1-16 soon drove in the first herd of cattle; and 1-17 WHEREAS, The XIT Ranch was hailed as the biggest ranch ever, 1-18 and its existence was largely responsible for Texas' worldwide 1-19 reputation as a cattle empire; at its height, the ranch maintained 1-20 150,000 head of cattle and was criss-crossed with more than 1,500 1-21 miles of barbed wire; and 1-22 WHEREAS, The construction of the Capitol began in early 1882 1-23 and was completed on April 20, 1888, at a cost of nearly $3.75 1-24 million; the state assumed more than $500,000 of this expense and, 2-1 in effect, received just more than one dollar an acre for the 2-2 Panhandle tract, at least twice as much as the asking price for 2-3 land at that time; and 2-4 WHEREAS, Although seeking outside investment aid would not 2-5 have been unprecedented, the sheer enormity of this bold move did 2-6 help to secure Texas' fame as a daring and iconoclastic state set 2-7 on distinguishing itself from the rest of the union; the Texas 2-8 State Capitol remains the tallest building of its kind in the 2-9 nation, and its fascinating history has made generations of Texans 2-10 proud; now, therefore, be it 2-11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 75th Texas 2-12 Legislature hereby commemorate the opening of the XIT Ranch exhibit 2-13 in the Capitol Complex Visitors' Center and recognize the vital 2-14 role this Panhandle expanse has played in the construction of the 2-15 State Capitol. Chisum Laney Gutierrez Oliveira Alexander Haggerty Olivo Allen Hamric Palmer Alvarado Hartnett Patterson Averitt Hawley Pickett Bailey Heflin Pitts Berlanga Hernandez Place Bonnen Hightower Price Bosse Hilbert Puente Brimer Hilderbran Rabuck Burnam Hill Ramsay Carter Hinojosa Rangel Chavez Hirschi Raymond Chisum Hochberg Reyna of Bexar Christian Hodge Reyna of Dallas Clark Holzheauser Rhodes Coleman Horn Rodriguez Cook Howard Roman Corte Hunter Sadler Counts Hupp Seaman Crabb Isett Serna Craddick Jackson Shields Cuellar Janek Siebert Culberson Jones of Lubbock Smith Danburg Jones of Dallas Smithee Davila Junell Solis Davis Kamel Solomons Delisi Keel Staples Denny Keffer Stiles Driver King Swinford Dukes Krusee Talton Dunnam Kubiak Telford Dutton Kuempel Thompson Edwards Lewis of Tarrant Tillery Ehrhardt Lewis of Orange Torres Eiland Longoria Turner of Coleman Elkins Luna Turner of Harris Farrar McCall Uher Finnell McClendon Van de Putte Flores McReynolds Walker Gallego Madden West Galloway Marchant Williams Garcia Maxey Williamson Giddings Merritt Wilson Glaze Moffat Wise Goodman Moreno Wohlgemuth Goolsby Mowery Wolens Gray Naishtat Woolley Greenberg Nixon Yarbrough Grusendorf Oakley Zbranek _______________________________ Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 227 was adopted by the House on February 25, 1997, by a non-record vote. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House