Halff of Texas: A Merchant Rancher of the Old West Book

For sixty-nine years, cowman Mayer Halff rode a long, busy trail that few men could have followed. It carried him from 1850s France to Texas and across 1,500 miles of wild western country waiting to be tamed. From humble beginnings, he built the largest dry goods business in the Southwest, M. Halff & Brother, as the San Antonio firm was known, which gave him the finances to pursue his passion—cattle ranching. Eventually, he founded several of Texas's famous ranches: the JM along the forbidding Pecos River, the Quien Sabe in the Midland region, the Circle Dot in the Big Bend, the Mallet on the south plains, and the Schreiner and Halff in South Texas. He eventually controlled almost a million acres in Texas, as well as range land in New Mexico, Indian Territory, Kansas, and Wyoming.

Patrick Dearen of Midland, a Spur Award finalist and author of nine other books, carefully weaves Halff's story against the backdrop of the Texas cattle industry of the day.