Las Escarbadas Ranch House, Tierra Blanca Draw, Bovina, Parmer County, TX

Significance: This two-story structure is located on Tierra Blanca Draw, approximately one mile east of the New Mexico state line in the southwestern corner of Deaf Smith County, Texas. "Les Escarbadas" is a Spanish term meaning "the scrapings," a name given the location by nineteenth century comancheros who obtained water by scraping shallow holes in the bottom of the draw. Constructed in the later 1880's, the building served as the headquarters of the Las Escarbadas division of the Xit Ranch. Situated on a south slope, the site for the house was selected with due respect to the terrain and wind. Location below the crest of the incline on the north protected it from the cold winter northers. Orientation with its broadside to the south-southwest allows cross ventilation by the cool breezes of summer.
Survey number: HABS TX-3229
Building/structure dates: after 1880 Initial Construction