Although the Cattle Raiser's Association of Texas was organized in Young County, at Graham in 1877, there are those who think the real start of the Association was the pre-organization meeting held impromptu, in the store of Capt. J. H. Dillahunty in Palo Pinto a year before that.

Cattle thieves were causing the cattlemen a lot of trouble and some schemes worked by a few unscrupulous cowmen who drove mixed herds to market and failed to give proper accounting of them to the owners, come up for discussion.  A group of the victims who were gathered at the store discussed the situation and the suggestion was made by Capt. Dillahunty (reportedly from the vantage point of a goods box, while slightly inebriated) that something be done about the situation.  Col. Kit Carter and Mark Lynn, two of the biggest herd owners of the county at that time, said they would start the search to see what could be done about it.  Jere Hart, Scott Warren, Ham Taylor, S. B. Strawn and Billie Cowden were present and agreed that it was a good idea and the word was passed among cattlemen of the community and the organization in 1876 was the result.