Pampa is the next-largest city in the Texas panhandle, second only to Amarillo. Admittedly, Amarillo is about 10 times bigger, but we're proud of our 18,000+ people and of our heritage. Named for the "pampas" of Argentina-those broad, flat grasslands famous for gauchos and cattle- it has been confused with "Tampa Florida;" and there's really no resemblance.

The County Seat of Gray County, which celebrated its centennial in 2002, Pampa was originally a railroad town, then the headquarters for the British-based company, White Deer Land Company, and now is a ranching, petroleum and petrochemicals center.

When the oil boom hit in the 1930s, as well as the bust of the Depression, Pampa was so engrossed in the boom that many people scarcely noticed the bust. What they DID notice, however, was the dust.

April 14, 1935-Palm Sunday-often referred to as "Black Sunday," is still remembered as the date of the weirdest dust storm in known history. The entire 100+ miles of the Texas panhandle was covered with dust by a huge, mile-high cloud that "shut out the traffic and shut out the sun, and straight for home all the people did run," as Woody later wrote.

He also wrote the rest of that song, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You...." and took off for California shortly afterward.

Pampa, with its influence both Western and English, didn't pay too much attention to the likes of Woody Guthrie. In some ways, Pampa still doesn't.

But Pampa is a small city to be reckoned with. Accomplishments include the construction of what's known as "Million Dollar Row" during the 1930s, with such buildings as City Hall, Gray County Court House, the Combs-Worley Office Building, the Fire Station, the [former] Schneider Hotel and the Post Office. Over the years, a variety of people have called Pampa "home." They include, among others, such notables as Randy Matson, former Olympic athlete, Russ Bernard, country music publisher, Eugene "Gene" Anderson, international business executive, Martha Patillo Siev of the World Bank, Mary Jane Rose Johnson, opera diva, and.....Woody Guthrie.