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Hal Clark, owner of Clark Ranch in Boise City, Okla., values the tight-knit community in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Photos by James Pratt


“Life on the ranch just can’t be beat.” - HAL CLARK, CENTENNIAL RANCH OWNER Panhandle Proud


A handshake is as good as a contract if you’re willing to stand behind it, according to Jason Hitch, Co-CEO and chairman of the board at Hitch Enterprises in Guymon, Okla. That sense of honor and integrity has been passed down through more than 125 years of family land ownership. The family agriculture values continue to guide fifth-generation owners Jason and Chris Hitch, Tri- County Electric Cooperative (TCEC) members. It all began in 1875 when James Kerrick Hitch bravely put $10 in his


pocket and said goodbye to his Tennessee home. Nine years later, Hitch homesteaded the original 160 acres in a strip of what was called “No Man’s Land,” a term that now refers to the Oklahoma Panhandle. Today the family’s holdings have grown to deal in corn, wheat, beef and pork com- modities, supplying jobs to more than 300 employees. Among many accomplishments, the Hitch family notably introduced modern beef production and center pivot irrigation to Oklahoma in the mid-1900s. H.C. Hitch, Jr., was the first landowner in the state to apply for and receive the honor from the Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program in 1989.


Among many shifts in technology, one of the biggest changes in the family’s way of life was when electricity first powered the ranch in the mid-‘40s. “The first priority was to give power to run the offices and take care of the cattle,” Hitch says. “They only ran the household electricity a few hours a day.” However, progress is not without its hardship. Hitch recalls stories passed down through generations about the adversity the area faced during the Great Depression. “We bought a lot of the land during the Great Depression and traded for things that would help people travel,” Hitch says. “One of our neigh- bors packed up his whole family and traded his acreage for a buckboard


wagon. Another traded land for a mule and shotgun.” Despite the challenges, the tightknit Panhandle territory is filled with neighbors who work together to bring success to the counties. Hal Clark, owner of the Clark Ranch in Boise City, Okla., knows the power of com- munity first hand.


After graduation from Texas Tech in 1953, Clark and his wife Pat moved into the house Hal’s grandfather, Robert, built in 1895. Although the home held a lot of memories, it had no electricity and no phone. “Bless her heart, I don’t know how she stayed with me,” Clark says with


a chuckle. “It must have been love.” The young couple was then greeted with a terrible drought followed by destructive blizzards in ’57 and ’58. “Our folks and neighbors helped us survive those lean years and get started on our own,” Clark says. Clark enjoyed many years on the ranch and was active with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Farmers Royalty Company. Perhaps his greatest joy was raising his three children, Jan, Brad and Jay, and seeing six grand- children also develop a love for the land. Jay ran the ranch for more than 25 years with his own wife and three children. Hal and his son talked about the ranch almost every day on the phone until Jay passed away in 2006. “Now that we have lost Jay, it means everything to me that I moved away from the ranch so he could raise his family there.” Clark then returned to ranch operations, which still uses the original ZH brand from the 1880s. Hal is strongly involved in the conservation move- ment in Oklahoma. He is putting his college degree in animal science with a minor in ranch management to work, focusing on preserving and main- taining the land for the state. “Looking back on my life, certainly I am happy,” Clark says. “Life on the ranch just can’t be beat.”


AUGUST 2016 13


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