"From the time the first settlers arrived in any region to the present time, numerous changes in their economic life occurred. In the thirty-eight counties of the Texas Panhandle and upper plains, these changes have occurred in rapid order; for in only the past seventy-five years (1875-1950), this region has progressed from one of buffalo hunters to businessmen, through intervening stages of cowboys, "nesters," farmers, and "dust eaters." The purpose of this study is to evaluate each step, thereby enabling the reader to gain a general knowledge as to what the economic situation in the panhandle is based upon today. The area to be studied is composed of the seven northern tiers of counties in the Panhandle and upper plains of Texas. These seven tiers contain thirty-eight counties with an approximate are of 23,491,840 acres. The western part of the Panhandle is located on the Great Plains, or High Plains, while about a third of the area is situated in the North Central Plains. " -- leaf 1.