Document text
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Mrs. C. My Cohea
Amerillo, Texas
District #16
(AN
Related by S. P. Merry
609 Washington Stre-t
Amarillo, Texas
Mr. Merry on Juno 11, 1,4E13, came to Mobeetie, the wcanital of the Panhandle',
as he desianeted it. Leter, he worked for the Diamond Peach, the Pow., and the
TeAnchor, not as a regular cowboy, but me a fence rider or odd-ohore man. When the
railroad wee surveying a route through the Panhandle towards Las Vegas, New Mexico,
he drove e weter wagon which the rail officials hired from the Diamond 7, for whom
Mr. Merry was working at the time. When the surveying -arty reached the send hills
of New Mexico, he returned to the Diamond 7 with the eaeon, ehich wee no longer needed.
Mt. Merry worked for the T-Andhor re-nch under the wenegement of John nucleon,
en Inglishman elo had received his cattle trninieg et the etockyards of the north
and in Canada. Mr. Hudson, with the knowledge of the work of hounds in the English
countryside, brourht
were making if-lronds
manner of en tnglish
a number of tram to the uleins to rid the rnnch of wolves whieh
on the cattle. These hounds often followed him to town in the
cauntrr s,nire.
A man nered Poston, m frienr3 of Mr. Merry, was placed in charge of the dogs.
The cow bond thoroughly disliked rlayinr nursemaid to n ,eck of hounds. Once, tiring
of the erkuous duty, he left for town, (Cenyon) feeling the need of e little somethine
to sustain his morels. Before denerting, roston ehrin- ,r- severel of the enimels,
nerhnps thinleinr th-t the other' "hang around" enA not h, uneccoented for upon
his return. His upree, hinge, or high lonesomedlester! for severel days. Uren
re-
turning to his charges, he found thst eolvee bed devoured the chaired hoends, which
could not defenA themselves en well as the free mnirl. roston, asked what he was
going to say when he made his report to the manager, eret ierainful1y and drawled,
"Anyway. I've done somethia,.,etter then cetch wolves. I heve pot rid -of some of
them dops".
2
Mt. Merry whose worlr often found him camping in the Palo Duro, seeinr that
nesters and others did not denude the r -nee of it canyon ceders for posts and build.'
ing eurposes, riding f tce, end performine other outside duties on the T -Anchor
range, had numerous encounters with wolves and bears, which were plentiful in the
canyon at the time. The big lobo, or "loafer" wolf was canny and hard to catch.
The ranch had a -bounty of $10 on a lobo sonlr end nlo meintained the hounds to help
in exterminating the wolves end coyotes of the onnyone. One day, riding the rim of
the canyon, he aaw a mother wolf site several ruPs ambling -long the prec-rious
wall beneath hm. His arproach Alarmed the old wolf wvi she quickly sped into the
distence, before he could have shot her, even if he had had a eun with hime HA bad
left the only run which he an his brother owned in comeon at camp, since his brother
etched to us., it to kill a panther that had been erowling in the vicinity. Lismountine,
he picked u- rocks fror the canyon rim and at -tented to kill the lobo pups. The little
wolves looked ye at 'non with pick, bright eyes, dodeine the rocks neatly at each
throw. A stone dislodged accidentally from the rim fell upon the head of one of the
little fellows and he ran whiningwith pain into a swell opening in the canyon
wall, the othsrs folloeine him into the shelt,r. After the pups had tone into the
hole, Mr. Merry climbed down to the seot and filled the orenin with dirt and stones
to keee them safe until he cold eo to camp and brine back a wagon to teke them to
the reach headquarters. Feturnine with the wagon tens, he cut an eight -foot
ceder pole, about as thick as his wrist at the larger end and attach'ed it to a ehovel
which he bent in the shape of a hoe. ,With this contrrpti:ei he raked away the obstruct-
i• e dirt end twisted thg, little wolves out of their h4.6ing place. The avnine was
too smal for hie to enter, but he lid crawl part of the way into the 20 -foot deep
aperture to get the last of the 14 reps, one of which ,ot, away later. He took the
.wolvea to Hedson and asked for tee bounty on the 13 scalps. The manager paid half
the bounty and asked Aie. eerry to wait for the other half, sAyine that be could not
afford to ray so much for scalps w: en he was maintaining large peak of hounds for
the purpose.
Mr. Merry and Mt. Poston were out eorkine in the canyon one day when they sighted
a boar. The latter refused to go nearer the animal and Mr. Merry borrowed the other's
pan to follow the beer end kill it. He had not on very fez- when he hearl a shout
and his companion indicated that he wished to go with tim. The bear ran to shelter
in a thicket and Mr. Merry let his oomnenion shoot it, since be seemed to want to tic
so after recovering from his obear ague".
At another time Mr. Merry, elon' at the time, killed a bear which he discovered
on an on osite canyon wall. Me fired, wounding the bear, seemingly breaking its back
or neralysing it. Raving finally disoatched the animal, he had great difficelty
in loadine it upon his horse, which objected to the scent of the bear. At camp that
night he prepared bear steaks for him and his partner, who at first refused to eat
the stuff. lie took a bite to taste the steak and liked it so well that he ate his
whole nortion. /Ater. while Mt. Merry was at town, 71oeton, prepered a bear steak for
himself end Merry but reeorted to the latter that he had devoured both his own end
the other's share before Merry returned.
Bears were not the only things to fear in the Panhandle at th-t time. When
the Indian scare of l891 developed, People in the region were not surprised, for
the Indians hnci been wandering nt various times upon the plains from their reserve-
tio-s nnd were aleays threatening to cross the plaine on their way to their old
grounds in mPvACO. The night of the Jay upon which the rumor was heard there was a
dance at Oanyon. The people ?Paced on, intent wen havine their pleasure at all
costs. Men and women ceme into town for protection. A ran who ren a store asked
Mr. Merry to keep it for him While he took his family to town for sefety. Men threw
un breastworlts about the.litle frame courthouse which ocmavied the center of the
town squere for defense from the Indians who never came. When the stege driver with
the mail arrived from AmaTillo, he was asked about the trutriof the report. He
verified the rumor and aidedieruesome details to spice the tale. He told the twines
peo-le how two rangers had been attacked near Claude. Red Murphy, one of the two,
bad had his fingers shot off of one hand. With such refinement of detail, the citte
sens of Canyon could not refuse to believe the report. When the people found out
that they had been spoofed, they lay in wait for the return of the stage and its
driver, who was working for Clisbee, who held the mail contract. The driver, an-
ticipating the retaliation on which he might expect from the Canyonites, got Iletr,ge*
fright plid had someone else to make the return trip for him.
Mr. Merry was working for the T -Anchor when the cowboy strike of 1883 was in
progress. A few of the men on the ranch joined the strikers, the manager telling
all those who wished to -o to work at the former wage to stay on and those who did
not to go. Mr. Merry's nephew was in the strike, later going to New Mexico. A
blacksmith shop about hundred yards south of the T -Anchor headquartre
in anticipation of attack by the striking cowboys. A bomb of scrrp iron
in the shop, beneath the dirt floor with a ker of runpowder under it and
was mined
waa placed
a fuse
leading to the headquarters building. Mr. Merry recalls that when he came to the
ranch the main bu lding had on17 one room completed, the second being in the course
of construction. A cook shack was nearby, made of picketts with log and Sod roof.
Mr. Merry recall a thf,t Auststorms were not general over thwIlains in those
days, although winds were terrific then as now. Dust was so etirles stirred ur from
ploughed fields after the settlers came, but sandstorms were not as heavy Ind lasted
a shorter time than now. Re was overtaken by one on his return trtp7With the water..
soon from New Mexico. Observing a low black cloud in the north, be expected to
be caught in a terrible storm or tornado, but it was only a duster, which did not
last very long.
tornado near Canyon in tiv- e'rly days blew down barns, bog/stacks and lifted
big males and set them down 73 or a hundred yards distant from their corr.l.s.
Another tornado, contrary to the usual idea of such storms, felled to Jump the Palo
a. 5
taro Csnyon, but went down the calls, uprooting tree on the canyon side. Still
another mind storm from the southeast blew uo against the canyon rim, throwing huge
stones and rocks into the air.
When Mt. Merry visited in Amarillo in the early eWs there were about 15
rangers quartered in their bP.rracks near the old Pock Barn. They were here to keep
the sheriff out of mischief". Jim Goober, then the youngest sheriff in the United
States, was drinking too much and feeling his liquor 07 ht g importance.
Rangers leaving Amarillo for duty elsewhere killed their negro cook neer
Punningwater Draw, claiming 1;elf-defenss, saying th,l they had told the cook to either
return or go with them (MT. Merry was not sure wridh) and he had been ugly about it,
refusing to do their bidding and offering resistance. Mr. Merry and Mr. T. D.
Mobart saw the grave•soon-after it was made, when he was accompagying the latter to
see about buying some land in that vicinity.