Loss of Sonora facility leaves many memories

For many of us who grew up in the sheep and goat business, the Sonora Wool and Mohair Company is our Mecca. The Monday morning fire that destroyed the office and retail store took away pictures and history, but not the many memories made there. When the wool market dropped to half price during the Great Depression, sheep and goat raisers on the Edwards Plateau organized the Wool and Mohair Cooperative Marketing Association, later known as the Sonora Wool and Mohair Co. The cooperative sold 2,738,600 pounds of wool in its first year, and as time went on it helped stabilize commodity prices nationwide. In 1964, the firm sold 4 million pounds of wool and mohair at a return of $3 million. The late Fred T. Earwood was founding director and longtime manager and president of the warehouse from the 1930s until his death in 1968. In dual roles as warehouse manager and rancher, Earwood helped fellow sheep and goat producers cull their herds and select breeding stock that would improve the marketability of fleeces. Sonora, 65 miles south of San Angelo, has long been the center for wool and mohair marketing in Texas because of the lessons today’s industry leaders learned from Earwood...read more