Lynching of Tom Farrar

In October 1886, 19-year-old Tom Farrar was one of several African American cowboys working on area ranches. On his way to the Buchanan Ranch, he stopped at a sheepherder’s dugout. The bodies of a father and daughter were discovered there the next day. Deputy Tom McCarver recognized a unique horseshoe print at the crime scene. Farrar was arrested and brought to the calaboose, where he confessed to the killings and sent a note to his family. During the night, a mob of dozens of men broke into the jail, put a rope around Farrar’s neck, dragged him behind a horse, then hung his body from an elm tree on the creek near this site. This act of vigilantism affected generations, with African Americans virtually disappearing from Throckmorton County. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011