Borger – Rip Roaring “Booger Town”
Borger, Texas, a city nestled in Hutchinson County, carries a history as colorful and turbulent as the oil boom that birthed it. From its rapid ascent as a bustling boomtown in the 1920s to its struggles with lawlessness and eventual redemption, Borger’s story is a testament to the wild spirit of the American West and the transformative power of oil. This is the story of how Borger came to be known as "Booger Town," a moniker earned through its trials and tribulations.
The Genesis of a Boomtown
The saga of Borger begins with the discovery of oil. On May 2, 1921, the first oil well in the region struck pay dirt on the sprawling 6666 Ranch. Though the initial strike was of modest quality, it ignited a flurry of drilling activity across the Texas Panhandle. Soon, successful wells dotted the landscape around what would become Borger, promising prosperity and attracting fortune seekers from far and wide.
In January 1926, Asa Phillip "Ace" Borger, an experienced townsite developer already known for establishing two other Oklahoma oil boomtowns – Slick and Cromwell – arrived to assess the potential of the burgeoning oilfield. Recognizing the opportunity, Borger partnered with John R. Miller, an attorney and acquaintance from his Oklahoma ventures. Together, they purchased 240 acres of land from rancher John Frank Weatherly for $50 an acre.
Ace Borger then secured a grant to form the Borger Townsite Company, capitalized at $10,000 and divided into 100 shares. The company, comprised of Ace Borger, John R. Miller, and C. C. Horton of Gulf Oil Company, was poised to transform the windswept plains into a thriving city.
A City Springs to Life
March 8, 1926, marked the official birth of Borger. On that day, the Borger Townsite Company began selling lots, amassing between $60,000 and $100,000 by day’s end. The speed of development was astounding. Within a month, on April 13, a post office opened, with Lawrence E. Brain serving as the first postmaster. The Borger Town Company actively promoted settlement through advertisements in area newspapers, further fueling the town’s rapid growth.
Within months, the population of Borger exploded to an estimated 45,000 residents, drawn by sensationalized advertising and the allure of "black gold." However, many of these newcomers were transient, living in makeshift tents and shacks, reflecting the raw and untamed nature of the boomtown.
After just six months, Ace Borger sold his interest in the Borger Townsite Company for a substantial profit exceeding a million dollars. But his involvement with the town and its surrounding area was far from over. In October 1926, the city of Borger was officially incorporated, and John R. Miller, Ace Borger’s partner, was elected mayor.
The town was quickly developing essential infrastructure. The Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad extended a spur line to Borger, facilitating the transport of goods and people. A school district was established to educate the growing population. A newspaper, the Hutchinson County Herald (now the Borger News-Herald), began publication, providing a vital source of information. Ace Borger, ever the entrepreneur, established a lumber yard to meet the demands of construction.
Borger’s Main Street, stretching three miles, became the heart of the burgeoning city. It boasted the town’s first hamburger stand, established by J.D. Williams, as well as a hotel and a jail. By the end of the year, telephone service and steam-generated electricity were available. Initially, drinking water was supplied in tank wagons until wells could be drilled.
Local ranchers John R. Weatherly and James A. Whittenburg also sought to capitalize on the boom by establishing three competing townsites: Isom, Dixon Creek, and Whittenburg, all adjacent to Borger. Eventually, Isom and Dixon Creek were absorbed into the Borger city limits. Whittenburg merged with the town of Pantex to form Phillips.
"Booger Town": A Descent into Lawlessness
As oilmen, roughnecks, prospectors, and fortune seekers poured into the oil boomtown, so did a darker element. Cardsharks, prostitutes, bootleggers, and drug dealers descended upon Borger, transforming it into a haven for criminal activity. The city quickly earned the nickname "Booger Town" due to its attraction to fugitives and notorious hoodlums from across the Southwest, including figures like Yellow Young, Ray Terill, Spider Gibson, Wireline Yerkey, and Waltine. J. "Shine" Popejoy became infamous as the "King of Texas Bootleggers."
Compounding the problem, the town government fell under the control of an organized crime syndicate led by Richard "Two-Gun Dick" Herwig, a shady associate of Mayor John Miller who was reportedly under indictment for murder in Cromwell, Oklahoma. Herwig, appointed as the town’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, staffed his city marshal force with fellow criminals. Their primary focus was not upholding the law but rather collecting fees from bootleggers and weekly fines from prostitutes.
Herwig and his men openly sanctioned and supervised illegal saloons, defying Prohibition laws. They controlled the supply of bootlegged alcohol, beer, and narcotics to these establishments. Dixon Street (now Tenth Street) became the epicenter of illicit activities, housing brothels, dance halls, speakeasies, and gambling dens. It was estimated that around 2,000 prostitutes operated in the area, each paying a weekly "fine" of $18 to maintain their business.
In addition to these "fines" and the profits from illegal products, the city marshals extorted arbitrary fines from other businesses and ordinary citizens, and engaged in the buying and selling of stolen cars. Murder and robbery became commonplace as the "marshals" neglected their duty to protect the public.
Crackdowns and Martial Law
In the summer of 1926, the brazen lawlessness reached a breaking point when two deputy sheriffs were gunned down in a Borger street by a fugitive who had sought refuge under Herwig’s protection. The double murder, like previous homicides, went unpunished, prompting a crackdown by state and federal authorities.
In October 1926, Borger was infiltrated by Prohibition and narcotic agents, U.S. Marshals, and Texas Rangers. They padlocked approximately 20 bars and gambling dens, confiscated illegal liquor, and destroyed gaming equipment. Fifty violators were arrested, and hundreds more were herded into a domino hall by shotgun-wielding federal marshals and strongly encouraged to leave town. The federal agents then departed, leaving the Rangers to police Borger and process the prisoners, who were transported to jail in Amarillo. Numerous other "undesirables" were ordered to leave town. By the end of the month, the Texas Rangers declared Borger to be "100% better." However, this assessment proved premature.
Within three months, the criminals were back in business, and Borger was again overrun with slot machines, brothels, and over 20 gambling establishments. Sheriff Joe Ownbey, allegedly receiving payoffs, took no action. In late March, gangsters killed a city policeman, followed by two of Ownbey’s deputies on April 1.
In the spring of 1927, a new governor, Daniel J. Moody, took office in Texas. Responding to petitions and investigative reports, Governor Moody dispatched another detachment of Texas Rangers, led by Captains Francis Augustus Hamer and Thomas R. Hickman, to restore order in Borger. While the Rangers managed to stabilize the situation and force many undesirables to leave once again, crime and violence continued to plague the town intermittently into the early 1930s.
In 1928, Governor Moody appointed John A. Holmes as the new District Attorney for the area, tasking him with investigating and prosecuting the numerous criminals who had infested Borger and the surrounding oil fields. Despite receiving numerous threats, Holmes relentlessly pursued his investigation of crime and corruption in Borger. However, on September 13, 1929, just as Holmes was preparing to appear before the Hutchinson County grand jury in Stinnett, he was assassinated by an unknown assailant.
Holmes’s murder proved to be the final straw for Governor Moody. Within 48 hours, the Texas Rangers returned to Borger. Two weeks later, they were joined by the 56th Cavalry of the Texas National Guard. On September 30, a train carrying the troops arrived in Borger, where ten Texas Rangers were already stationed. Martial law was declared for Hutchinson County, and the Texas Rangers and the National Guard were tasked with eradicating the criminal elements from the lawless town and its surroundings.
Led by General Jacob F. Wolters, who had previously overseen martial law in another city, the troops disembarked and immediately took control of the town. Wolters later recounted an incident that had a positive psychological impact: "Within one minute after the troops had detrained, a drunk man approached one of the guards. He was promptly put under arrest. This occurrence, in the presence of spectators, had a good psychological effect, however minor the incident was."
Detachments of officers and soldiers were dispatched to city hall, where Wolters’s provost marshal, Colonel Louis S. Davidson, took possession and disarmed all local law enforcement personnel. Another detail traveled to Stinnett, the county seat, removed Sheriff Joe Ownbey from office, and disarmed all of the sheriff’s department personnel. Military police were stationed at all city street intersections in Borger, and patrols were conducted throughout the city. Members of the police force and constables were disarmed, and their uniforms and badges were confiscated. City offices and all records were placed under the authority of the Provost Marshal.
General Wolters issued "sundown" orders to all residents, ordering all "undesirables" to leave town immediately. A military court of inquiry was established, and over the following days and weeks, witnesses provided testimony aimed at convicting alleged leaders of the county’s criminal underworld. By October 10, 17 members of the organized criminal ring, including Dick Herwig and his henchmen, were in custody.
On October 5, a citizens committee asked General Wolters what was required to end martial law. He responded by demanding the resignation of the sheriff and all his deputies, the two constables and their deputies, the mayor, the city commission, and all members of the police department. After some initial resistance, Mayor Glen Pace and Sheriff Joe Ownbey, along with the other officials, resigned by mid-October.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers closed down every illegal still and saloon, confiscating alcohol and making arrests. Soldiers searched for weapons, and raids were conducted around the clock. Finally, on October 18, Governor Moody withdrew the military from Borger, and 11 days later, he formally lifted martial law. He granted Texas Ranger Charles O. Moore a leave of absence to serve as Hutchinson County Sheriff, appointed another ranger as Chief of Police, and appointed a new District Attorney.
Sam Jones, a former deputy constable of Borger, and Jim Hodges, a Borger boilermaker, were indicted for the murder of John A. Holmes. They were also charged with bootlegging, and Jones faced a federal count of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act. Jones was released on bond, but neither he nor Hodges ever faced trial on the murder charges. On October 26, 1945, the state dismissed the murder charges, citing insufficient evidence to warrant a conviction. The case remains unsolved.
From "Booger Town" to Modern City
After this final intervention by the state, Borger finally began to settle down. However, one more major criminal event occurred: the murder of town founder and developer Ace Borger on August 31, 1934.
Ace Borger had a reputation for being generous with some but miserly with others, which caused resentment among certain individuals. In June 1930, Ace established the Borger State Bank, serving as president with his son as vice president. Before the end of the year, the bank failed, causing panic among local businessmen and small depositors.
This angered those who disliked him, particularly Arthur Huey, the Hutchinson County Treasurer. Ace Borger was later convicted of receiving deposits in the insolvent bank and sentenced to a two-year prison term, although he remained free pending appeal.
Later, Arthur Huey was jailed for embezzlement and asked Ace Borger to help him post bail. When Borger refused, Huey threatened his life. Huey managed to raise bail without Borger’s assistance, and on August 31, 1934, while Borger was collecting his mail at the city post office, Huey shouted obscenities and shot him five times with a Colt .45. He then took Borger’s own .44 and fired four more shots into him. An innocent bystander was also struck by a bullet and died five days later. Incredibly, Huey was acquitted of the murder, claiming self-defense. However, Arthur Huey was later imprisoned for embezzling county funds.
The 1930s were a period of mixed fortunes for Borger and the rest of Hutchinson County. The nation was grappling with the Great Depression, and the devastating Dust Bowl storms had begun. With ten carbon black plants operating in the area, vast quantities of black soot were added to the Dust Bowl storms, coating the town in dark grime. Many "Okie" migrants, fleeing their ruined farms, found employment in the oilfields and plants. During World War II, synthetic rubber and other petroleum products became crucial in Borger. By 1943, Borger’s population was estimated at 14,000.
By the 1960s, the Borger area had become one of the state’s leading producers of oil, carbon black, petrochemicals, and related supplies. The creation of nearby Lake Meredith boosted the town’s economy as a popular recreational destination. In 1960, Borger’s population reached 20,911, but it declined to 14,195 by 1970.
Today, Borger is home to approximately 13,000 residents and remains a significant shipping point for agricultural products, as well as a producer of various petroleum products.
The Hutchinson County Museum, also known as Boomtown Revisited, showcases artifacts from the county’s pioneering past. Borger is situated at the intersection of State highways 136, 152, and 207 in south-central Hutchinson County.
Borger, once a symbol of lawlessness and chaos, has transformed into a resilient and resourceful city. Its history, though marked by periods of darkness, is a reminder of the human capacity for both destruction and renewal. The tale of "Booger Town" serves as a cautionary yet ultimately inspiring chapter in the story of the American West.