Document text
/Range -lore
Nellie B. Cox
San Angelo, Texas.
CONTINUITY
RANGE -LORE
Williim (Billy) Whytock came
from the capital of Scotland,
as he proudly tells, but the
fact that he is a Scotchman
is apparent without his call-
ing attention to it. After
all these years in Texas, his
speech still retains the Scott-
ish accent and roll. Mrs. Why-
tock also is an 'old-timer'.
They are a genuinely congenial
couple, observing all the cour-
tesies toward each other. Each
year lir. Whytock,with the help
of the best singers, musicians
and other artists of the city,
prepareand presents a program
honoring Robert Burns, who is
Mr. Whytock's dearly beloved
poet. Mr. Whytock tells in de-
tail:
Page one
"I was born in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. I
was apppenticed for seven years and learned the trade of
carver, gilder and woodworker, but when the immigration
agent talked to me and five other young fellows, he made
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the states sound so fine, so wonderful, that we were
in a hurry to start.
"The boat on which we came over was loaded with
pig iron and as the boat rolled, the iron shifted from
side to side, sometimes we were up and again we were
'doon'. One night I remember was particularly rough.
Some of the boys were in the beds, others were playing
cards, when an extra hard lurch sent the ones in bed
out on the floor, the ones on one side across to the
other. There was pandemonium. We came in November,
1884. I was then 27 years old. The immigration agent
took us to San Antonio, some went on to California. I
had been accustomed to macadamized streets in my native
city end those streets in San Antonio were so rough
that we held on with both hands. All the vehicles were
drawn by mules. The transportation was extremely crude.
"There was no work for us around an Antonio so
when we found a man coming to Menard, each of us paid
him five dollars to bring us that far toward San Angelo.
The cook of the outfit stayed drunk nearly all the way
so we took turns at the cooking. None of us knew any-
thing about cooking but our appetites were such that
we could eat anything.
"At Menard, while looking for work, we met a
Scotchman who said he had no work for us but took us
in because we were fellow countrymen. /I suppose,' said
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our new friend, 'that you all have guns.' We proudly
jerked our six-shooters out of our pockets. *Well,'
he continued, 'take my advice. Go out to that fence
and throw those guns as far as you can.' He gave us
quite a lecture, telling us how quickly a bad man
could draw his gun and fill us full of holes. We took
his advice and so far as I know those guns are still
in that pasture where we threw them.
"We walked on in to Eden, a distance of about
twenty-two miles. As we walked along after dark, we
could see Eden but something puzzled us and that was
long streaks of light about twelve inches apart. This was
explained when we got there- the hotel was built of
twelve inch boards with no stripping over the cracks.
That hotel was one large room and it was lobby, bed-
room. dining room and kitchen. The kitchen was sep-
arated from the other part by a curtain. We were
given a quilt or blanket and we picked our places on
the floor to put down our bed. There was a doctor
waiting around on a baby case and he told us that one
of us could ride into San Angelo with him. Vie tossed
a coin and I lost. I have always been able to sleep
anywhere but that hotel almost finished me. Fellows
stumbled over me all night, walked in my face and all
over me.
"My friend came on with the doctor and got a
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job keeping books for Yr. Millspaugh. After a few days,
I rode the stage in. My friend at ITenard had told us
that we had better leave our valuables with him. I
didn't have anything except a gold watch which I had
brought from the home country but I was glad I had
left it, for the stage was held up. It was night and
two fellows stepped out into the road and ordered the
driver to halt. None of us were very much excited
and if none of them had any more than I, the robbers
wasted much valuable time. When I reached San Angelo,
my friend who had cone in with the doctor, was ready
to go hone. He was disgusted with this wild, uncivilized
country. But I was not much of the roving type and stayed
on. There was very little work,in the country; too early
for lambing, but a Mr.Hill who ranched toward the head of
South Concho said he would give me work if I could cone
out there, giving me directions. I started out walking.
There were no roads and as Hill had told me, I followed
the river. Walking on one side of the river, I'd think
that the other side looked much letter, so I would cross
over. I must have crossed the river ten or twelve times.
The day had been fine but just before I reached the place
about where Christoval is now, a cold norther began to
blow. I went up to a ranch house and asked to stay all
night but the men were all away and the women looked on
me with suspicion. I lay down under a tree and went
to sleep and when I awoke, I was numb with cold and as
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hungry as a young man could be. I went back to the
ranch, (it was the W. C. Jones ranch), and by then the
men were at home. I told my story and explained that
I could understand the reason Mrs. Jones wouldn't take
me in. 'Of all the blundering set of people,,' said Mr.
Jones. He took me in and gave me a good supper. It
was the first time I remember eating a biscuit. After
the meal we went in by the fireplace where there was a
glowing fire of big logs. They asked me question after
question. The children were all young. Will, the boy,
Mrs. Weddell, Mrs. Shepperson and Jane-, they all en-
joyed hearing us talk.
"The next morning, the children went with me a
short distance to show me the way to the ranch for which
I was bound and at which I arrived in a few hours.
"Yrs. Hill was trying to tack up a wagon sheet on
one side of the kitchen to keep out the north wind. She
turned over the job to me and that was my first job on
a ranch. h -y work consisted of getting the horses up,
tmuling wood, crawling under the house for eggs, build-
ing fires in the early morn, cutting the bacon, grind-
ing the coffee and all the other things an inexperienced
person might do. Then, while this was a big cattle ranch,
we had to milk, of all things, a goat. It was a wild
creature and I had to hold the goat while Mrs. Hill did
the milking. I had to hitch up a team of mules to haul
wood. I had never handled mules but thought I must be
kind to dumb brutes but my kindness went for naught, for
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a mule kicked me as I stooped over to pick up a part of
the harness.
"It was the custom to break in a newcomer. When
the boys on the ranch asked me to ride an unbroke colt,
I knew I must make the best of it. Then as a boy, I
would never take a dare, so they put me on the colt
without even so much as a string to hold to. .Away I
went. The horse would go up on his hind legs and then
up on his front legs. The cowboys yelled and hit the
colt with their hats. I held on to the colt with both
hands around his neck and both legs around his belly.
When he decided I couldn't be thrown off, the horse
ran under the trees trying to pull me off with the
limbs. My clothes were torn in strips and my back
bleeding and the cowboys decided that 'Scottie' would
do.
"In the early days they told many tales on the
Englishmen who came over. One is of the fellow who
rode all day along the river and was extremely thirsty
but wouldn't drink without a goblet. Another is told
of an Englishman who sat somewhat withdrawn from the
bunch eating at the chuck wagon. 'Come and get it,'
called one of the boys. With uplifted eyebrows and a
haughty tone, the Englishman said, 'In England I'm the
son of a lord, and by jove, I'll not eat from tin plates
with iron forks.' 'Well;' said the boys, 'you might be
the son of a lord over there, but here you are the son
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of a so-and-so,' and did they make him eat.
"Being out in the open air and in a new country
gave me a big appetite. I am sure Mrs. Hill cut her
biscuits with a thimble. It seemed that I was al-
ways asking that the biscuits be passed. One day at
the table the little Hill boy said, 'Mama, Mr. Billy
sure must be hungry. He has eaten 14 biscuits.' I
was embarrassed and Mrs. Hill kicked the boy's foot
to make him observe manners, but he insisted that he
was right and I guess he was.
"My next job was herding sheep. A man went from
place to place building rock houses or fireplaces and
would take sheep as pay. I herded the sheep. We had
quite a flock of them and I had such a time with those
sheep. The Merino sheep would graze quietly on the
grass but the .Mexican sheep would go skipping and jump-
ing over the country. My employer came one day and
said to me that he would have to po to Lampasas as a
witness and could I let him have some money. I did
and I have never seen that man since, but I stayed on
with the sheep. My camp was in an old rock house be-
yond Panther bluff. The house had no roof and when
it rained I would sit up in the chimney as there
wasn't quite so much open space above me. The animals
would come in and get my food, at last getting every-
thing except the salt. I starved for several days until
a ranchman happened to be passing and I told him of my
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plight. He brought me food which I kept, but one morn-
ing my clothes were gone. I herded the sheep but when
I would think any one was coming,I would hide in the
brush. I was helped out of that predicament by the
same man who brought some clothing from town.
"One day a Mexican herder was going along with
his flock; and his flock and my flock became mixed.
While we were running hither and thither trying to
separate them, the owner of the other flock came riding
up. When he took in the situation, he jerked out his
gun, pointed it at me and said, 'Get those sheep sep-
arated or I'll shoot your head off.' That man on his
horse towered high above me and the gun looked as big
as a cannon but I said, 'Shoot,_ but in my country
when we have grievances, we settle them like men.' The
man stared a moment. 'Why Scottie, you plucky little
devil,' he said. Then he ordered his Mexican to sep-
arate the sheep. That man was always my good friend.
"With winter coming on, I turned the sheep over
to others and came to town. Mr. Nimitz gave me work
in his hotel, washing dishes.- At that I was nothing
to brag about. Often the help would all get drunk and
Mr. and Yrs. Nimitz and I would be left to do the work.
Latertafter saving some money, I went into the restaurant
business with a partner. This restaurant was called by
outsiders the "Fighting Restaurant" and it was rightly
named. There was scarcely a night that a fight did not
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occur. Things were very quiet in the day, but at night
the boys were looking for fun. In the restaurant for
instance, one night they saw a mouse and immediately
began to throw things- cups, saucers, plates, every-
thing; but they paid the bills. my partner, Buck,
was an Irishman and a bit of a fighter himself. One
night he and a man by the name of Delano began 8 fight
at the front door. They had both been drinking. They
rolled and fought, turning over tables and chairs,
smashing dishes and making a clear track through the
dining room and back into the kitchen until they cane
in contact with the hot stove.
"In business, you never knew whether you would
have the same partner in the morning that you had the
night before or not. They would sell out their share
or may be all of the business and be pone when you
found out. It kept you guessing. I once knew of a
fellow who sold xxxxxxt the same milk cow to several
men. They were to go to a certain pasture end get her.
The man moved, took the cow and the cash, too. 7r.
Mott, the dairyman who brought milk to our restaurant
was among those who bought the cow. He said that if
he could find some one to take his dairy, he would
follow that fellow plum to hell to give him a beating.
"I have looked down a gun barrel twice in my
life, that I know of. I was running a short order
eating place in the back of the Legal Tender Saloon.
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Above, there was a gambling hall. One evening an
overbearing fellow came down from the gambling joint
and ordered six suppers. 'Bring them upstairs as
quick as you can,' he said. I told him that I had
no one to send them by and that he could come and
get the suppers as I would have them ready in about
twenty minutes. He threw his gun on me and ordered
me to get those meals upstc.irs. Well, I stood and
looked in that gun but I was determined I wouldn't
do as I was ordered. Some men came in for a meal
and the man with the gun backed off.
"Mrs. Whytock and I were married in 1889. In
the early 90's we opened a variety or racket store.
I painted a sign for my store and Fred Peck liked the
sign so well that he r-ot me to paint a large sign for
his butcher shop. From then I have been painting
signs of every kind. It has developed into an art
with me and my work is said to be the very best of
its kind.
"Of the other boys who came with me, I am the
only one left in this country. Two went back soon
after they got here, two drank themselves to death,
one who went to California did not live many years."
Range -lore
Nellie B. Cox
San Angelo, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wm. Thytock, San Angelo, Texas, interviewed,
February 4, 1938.