In February of 1887 the great drought of 1886-1887 continued to parch Erath County, which was close to the geographical center of the dryness at Weatherford. Settlers were returning to the east by the hundreds, while land speculators continued to describe Texas as a semi-tropical paradise.

C. Richard King. Wagons East: The Great Drouth of 1886. Austin: The University of Texas, 1965; and J.W. Williams. “A Statistical Study of the Drouth of 1886.” West Texas Historical Association Yearbook. 21 (October 1945), 85-109.