View source for Sterling County, Texas

====R. Billie McEntire’s Operations====
R. Billie McEntire received the Harrison Ranch in Dallas, the N+ Ranch in Sterling County, and cash from the dissolution of McEntire & Co. and investments in the American National Bank in Dallas. That same year, he purchased 10,000 acres in Nolan and Mitchell counties and moved his family to Colorado City, Texas. Around 1915, his four sons—Fowler, James H., W.R. Jr., and R.B. Jr.—formed the McEntire Brothers partnership to manage the family’s ranching operations, which totaled about 20,000 acres split between Sterling County and Nolan/Mitchell counties. The partnership dissolved in 1928 as the brothers took over individual operations. In 1927, R. Billie sold his Sterling County acreage to his sons, with Fowler and James H. later consolidating full ownership.

James H. McEntire established the Campstool Ranch in its current form by 1925, on land originally acquired by his grandfather in 1884. Following James’s death in 1937, his wife, Sudie Rawls McEntire, managed the ranch until 1955, when their daughter, Jamie Sue McEntire Cole, and her husband, Bill James Cole, assumed operations, becoming full owners in 1981. Under Bill Cole’s leadership, the ranch expanded to about 35,000 acres across Crockett, Glasscock, Sterling, and Val Verde counties. In 1963, a sheep feedlot with a 32,000-head capacity was constructed on the ranch, later used primarily for their own livestock. In 1969, the Coles founded Custom Skins, Inc., a San Angelo-based sheepskin tanning company that became a leading domestic and international supplier. By the 1980s, operations expanded into Colorado and  California, making the family one of the largest individual producers of sheep and wool in the United States. To support this growth, Cole Trucking was established, operating a dedicated fleet between Texas and California. After selling all livestock in 1989 in anticipation of a market peak, the Coles refocused on Texas, acquiring an additional 40,000 acres between 1989 and 1992. In 2008, they sold a 9,000-acre Sutton County / Schleicher County ranch. Bill Cole was recognized by the Crockett County Soil and Water Conservation District for over 50 years of conservation practices, including brush and wildlife management and erosion control.