The Rise and Fall of the Lazy S Ranch

The Lazy S Ranch, one of the last major ranches to be established in Texas, came into being at a time when most of the other great ranches were disappearing. Founded in 1898 by Dallas banker and rancher Colonel Christopher Columbus Slaughter, the Lazy S grew to comprise nearly 250,000 acres of the western High Plains in Cochran and Hockley counties, much of which lay in a single contiguous pasture of more than 180,000 acres. Even with careful investment and management, C. C. Slaughter faced many