Marker Details

LH7 Ranch


573 Barker-Clodine Road

Barker , 77094

Notes:
03/17/2008 inventory, property not accessible but marker near locked gate; marker attempts to show the LH7 brand with the "L" reversed to join the "H", "_H7"; THC approved relocation of marker 01/24/2012; Marks Ranch Headquarters and Grounds designated as State Antiquities Landmark; site inventory 10/27/2014, marker relocated to paved site on the west side of Baker-Codine, approx. two tenths mile north of original site
Directions: From eastbound I-10 feeder, one tenth mile east of Barker-Cypress Road, turn right/south onto Barker-Clodine Road, continue south five tenths mile to site; marker is in a small paved area on the west side of the road; marker is approx. fifty feet from the road (look for old style metal wind mill on the marker site; note: Baker-Clodine ends at George Bush Park bike trail entrance, approx. four tenths mile past marker location

Key Time Period: 1893 - 1919 City Beautiful - WW I

Corretions/New Research:

Marker Text: Emil Henry Marks (1881-1969), a descendant of Prussian immigrants, was orphaned at an early age and reared by his maternal grandparents in Addicks, Texas, and later by relatives in Pattison, Texas.



Marks registered the _H7 cattle brand in 1898. He married Maud May Smith in 1907. They raised longhorn cattle in Addicks and in 1917 relocated their expanding herd to a 640-acre ranch in Barker, Texas. By the early 1930s their herd had increased to 6,816 head of cattle and their grazing land had expanded to 36,000 acres.



A barbecue and rodeo held by Marks during spring roundup and branding activities in 1918 became such a popular annual event that he expanded the rodeo facilities and began charging admission. _H7 rodeos, a showplace for Marks' premier longhorn cattle, ended in 1950 after much of his Barker ranch was inundated by the creation of the Barker Flood Control Reservoir.



Marks helped found the South Texas Producers' Association (1931), Houston's Fat Stock Show and Rodeo (1932), the Salt Grass Trail Drive (1952), and the Texas Longhorn Breeders' Association of America (1964). In 1936 he broke ground for the San Jacinto Monument with _H7 oxen.



The heirs of Emil and Maud Marks continued to raise longhorn cattle and use the _H7 brand.



Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
Marker Type: Marker with Post
Historical Org: Texas Historical Commission (THC)

Key Map Information: 487 A

GPS Coordinates: 29 46.564, 95 41.147

Precinct No: 3

Marker No: 10719