Document text
Gauthier, lluldon
tiangelor e
'arrant
age I
r•70
aeorge led*, 61, living at 310 r.7.
Aunt ""orth, -.7as horn on
a farm in labine oo.,Tex.Ria father, -,lbart
ledo, end family Joined a solos, that w4
rated to Tire Nixie, in 167Y. abort Node
found employment on the Jinglebob Ran*,
five at. V• of, Roswell,ownedb7 John %Loom.
ne worked on this ranch for five yeare.hotui-
ing his firstly in shank near the ranoh.
141 left the Zinglebob to wceik fcr That Garrett.
nactege 3edo spent his dkildhood on the two
ranches and at the age of /23 returned to Ilex.,
!here he seourel enplbymeat on the Slue
Mountain laser, owned by John Oar for ands
loosted '‘fter leaving the
Slue Mountain, be worked fbr the Ranch,
owned by the "Llama brothers and toasted ao
at. it .of las AagelopTex4a ail eabraoing 192,)00
&ores. all under fere*. On Luring the ir,'8.
he Joined the outfit of the 'VP' Ranoh, rimed
by 3.11.7allaea, also lasated in the f'an 'Angelo
area. Thereafter, he worked far various stook
!farmers the remainder of his **Live life. Iris
etcry:
flthees name was abort "ado, anti he lived on a Pi=
in 4q1bins oo.,Tsz.,witsre t was born kpril 1,1876.
followl.m1 70er, 1877, there was a oolony of folks got
to,zether for a drag out to Now Mexico. itioilr the crowd was rly
father's !tinily. ry tither landed a Joib with the Jirelebob
Ranch. The ranoh was given this mos because they narked t7
.orittirrs by Gutting a muscle in the sere, at that *tweed the
animals' ears to flop- down and would tines ani bob an they
walked. The ranoh was famed by 'flow' John lhisum. vatther nested
on tholt outfit ibr five years The outfit was looatld five
mites east of Roswell, W. ,742x.
"The camp where father was working was the min outfit. The
Jinglekob outfit hill many *amps sal several in that seotion of
.Mex.
Gauthier,
flan -!el or e
Tarrant. rio.,nist. 7
le 42
ther pr,vided a shack fbr family to live in, near
the ranch. The only thirtTs r. saw while growinr• up were erittov•,
cowhands and wild animals. "hat T hearl, besides the voice of
the humans, were the bigwig of the wolves, caterwauls of rift
oat amounts, bellows !.ng of the art ttere all the si acing of
birds. ?!.:y playin7 wan lone with a lasso, :pretendinrr 7 was ricf-
i177 a hoes en'' rrioarirr the rope over the critters, until t
becsame bL ncYlah to ride; -and then I used a hone asvl used
erittere fior my play.
"After the five years nesting period father put in at
the Jinglebob outfit, he went to work ibr Tht larrett. it run
an rryitl faum, an well an a vow camp, but father Iwoe.,!ed on
the farm. T was a id of six yeare,
"-Mile in that section of the country t mat tlilly the
Kid', the notorious bud man of that seetton in those days.
worked fo,7 ranchers in vrit section and anon,: them was the
Jiaglebob outfit. qe worked there for a spell while father wan
with the outfit.
"nurin 7, the spell of time t was 'owing up in thnt natation,
T often net the Ttd an hearl father and r. -le othir eowhEride
tallrin-7 about him many tines.
""7'lenever T met him he acted mimht7 decent anl 'twas
said about htn that he never turned a fellow down thlt
1074.1 up a7flinst it .ond called for a littla help, alno, the
foUta 'lowed he would shoot a man Just to see the fellow f7ivc
the lyin,1 kidk. "Twee said he oot a poamrful lot of amuse -teat
out of watchinr a fellow, .t-rit he didn't tine, twist arta :7.roan.
Osuthier, "hellion
langelore
Tarrant Co..list
ftes
&flyway, it was well know* by all be did plenty stooting.
"Another thing t often heard Ghia about was that he was
a dependable fellow to u.se in settling long standlng 4010antr
between the reach owners and cowhands.. ta those dire a greener
would be stood off for his my by some of the ranehmes. lash
was hard to get at times, and whoa it was scarce the settlirinct
with the greener would be delayed at times on general prinolples«
In some oases the s000unte would run from six months on to too
years. The cowhand would be paid a little along, .woueh to buy
'Imogy and audit,
"lone wo,41.4 stArt squawking sooner than others. In many
oases, so it saw told (and no one denied it as not betas" the
fast,. vLhen a greener went to squawking too hard 'Silly the Kid
would be called upon to settle the acmunt.
The settlenent wpuld be hada by seaditr the greener out
with the Kt1 to pull. a twitter out of a bog. The 'td would send
the greener into the bog to tie the rope on the animal. "bile
,the party was malziar the tie the Kid would load him so full o2
lead that the fellow would also tamole bogged down.
"loather told me t)nt, while he never seen lilly 40 any
of the settling, he did personally see several fellow that
got to squawking and stddenly disappeared. The last seen of
the fellows they wars riding off with the
',tile we lived on the rat Garrett plates. 3illy Game there
several. times, on invitations fm at. You see, net had been
a partner of Dilly's before "Nkt went to 'Pinang and rannhing.
Under some sort of an arrangemett, "at surrendered and was not
sent to prison., After a short spell of time "at was appointed
Gauthier. ltsados
Rangelore
Tamest
r*
44
to a 17.1.marehals position. lome folks eay,that he was
sheriff, but t eft sure that during the, midals 80's he was
parehal.
"Then rat,beoame s law, he sent for Billy the "id and
had him oome to the far* fOr a talk. Re promieed the Kid
that he woald not arrest him and would lot him return to his
hangout, if Pat's shape up was not to the adve way of thinking.
Pat was hsnkrtrig to have the Kid give up under some sort of
compromise. The Kid made several palls end *soh time he called
I heard eome of the chinning. Oarrett failed to pound it into
the !id's conk that it would be beet for him to change his 1147
of living. I gages the Kid hankered for hie anueemest of watdh-
ing shot men kit* and groan, end liked his work of settlinp
long standing wage accounts.
an sure father and I heard the last words the two men
said on the sdbjeot of the Ktille wurrender. As mg reeolleotion
has it, the 'rid never dragged to the fere again. The Kid was
mounted and ready to leave mad rot said to lam:
you. can goo it, gel I game'
"So Pat: the Kid said.
"'roil, you understand I have to eithsr resign or kill
you, and r am not Aping to resign'
"Mums* that you'll try to kill me', the Kid angoorod
While laughing; and than he rode off saying, ego long, portages.
mil was some spell after that last (sill of the Kid's whine
Pat killed the fellow. The Kid was oornered,in a Memloan's
Mafia and'taere at gado his rd geed shop 311:ZY radhaid to
surrender.
Ivathier, r'heldon
ta,r.e.tore
Tar -ant o. List ,7
Page 45
r wss 13 earr; old I drati7ged aek to '!'exas. r lit
in the Yidland section and joined tie with the Outfit,
owned by John .7f)rfor. The outfit %WV?! lce,,ted in the Mae
ta in country about Z';rU.eenorth of !!idiand.
all trA outfits that r hive nested on, that rue
the top in sever 11 ways. never will foret the outfit. "he
fii't oz' V lid robs to help brand sone eritters. Garf,-)r sold'
have 2 o. tI iite!toge er ittev to brand wcr-ed
for the —hite }1002:1 oltrit, which vs locoted atiout 10 miles
way. he owner 1131 101 and Oarfor tot:),r the Job of rtinftnr,'
t'le cattle the -ian's wife. It rras ac.x.eed tit he shculd
roceive 1CO collie for do the job, so 'le said.
"T utayed wtth the outfit 18 months. -The firat lay we
branded 10 of the 2 tit ae said were to -let the iron.
Z branded on an avora.e of five oritters a day for the w'io10
IA months and the deky before r left the outfit he told rie hi!
had 7a of the Nita nose critters left to brand.
Yit wee tietoyheet branding job r ever tackled. The
:3ore of those eritters t branded, the „Tenter beeane the nunber
th'It wn left to brand, vi7t!.(311 he clairied er.,Is his snare of t's,o
1:0 critters. 7' me na*:ing lees pitrres,. than a frog jarapirvs
cut of a well. tn addition to his way of fl-71rine*,, he hal the
best breed inc rtook t ever saw or helped to Aandle. -hen T
landed cn the -outfit he h li just stIrted his outfit anl had
500 critters. the in months tine evas there the number
ilcreased to alvorat tho.zsand and he never bo,ir,:ht a critter,.
•itIr holes Were scarce in Viet country and Ourfor had
(lank ler Motion r.
Ran ,lore
Tarrant 0o.07.st -7
windmills pumping water, end around lhose riills he built a
fens*. The critters that came for water ooald be held inside
of the fence. I notioed that every time a :4,7oad loota critter
with a oalf came for water, that had Dome othor brand. M would
say:
"That's one of the 'white Noss erittars. ad I still have
some owning; put the '71 iron on it'.
"bring bad lttdk, I ea sure tailbr made a saneness vrith his
randt. I didn't stay to see how he osne out, beeause r was run
ming behird with my breading. I still had 70 to brand, out of
the orilsal 25, no r quit before r got farther in tte Wan.
"I then drifted, over to the or)* outfit, whieh was owned
by the "limn brothers an't located 50 miles ubrt.hof 3an Parelo,
on the lolorado !liver. That ranah is *till runnilg, but the
Ass has bnen *Nimrod to the lorugg Ranch. I worked there a
few years Arno in 1932 to be *met.
"The '7D' bad amoral oow amps. "!.ile one lettere t nested
was the main camp and ran critters over 300 seetions of /and.
'Them I mat -to work on the rf, it was in the 90's as the range
wag reload. !Ay job was fano* riding.
"r rode sad examinad the fame for a distanos of 15 miles
*soh dory ibr six daps, and on the seventh day I rode the gaol*
90 miles. num I bu.nd a piece of fano* needing to be fixed,
reported it and a area would out to do Vs repair work. Then
just a loose wire or some other trifling matter, r would repair
it. I carried a harmer, pliers and staples to do the small repair
jobs.
"I had one hoes that Gould sake that 90 mile trip trona Inni
Gauthier, Ihe'den r.
Resgelore
Tarrant lo.,niet,?
!age f4
1**11,11
to sun. Th., animal ass a hose weighing about 810 pounds and
Vet hoes could easily canter all day. Nit, after t 'rag,
pisaced the hoes in the pen and lst it rest unttl the next
trip. t used that hoes for those rune for a spell of two vexes
and he lid not seem any the worse for weer at the end of the
tine.
'The 17',I outfit was sort or different from tie old open
range outfits. r'n the open ranges the renolvnen worked, as
steady hands, Vireo waddies to the 1.000 emitters,: t at
roundup time extra hands wouie be taken on. ra the open nave
the boys lived behind the Musk wagon most of tne time ett
slept in the opal. rtters belongirr to several outfits wou.../
a found mixed and at the roundups there woull be the waddies
from several outfits working together sitting out the various
bran's. Those ferittern would be bunehsd, aocorl lag to their
brand, branded and drifted book to ttsir propel' range.
On the tro five steady heads did the work of handling
several lhoLaand head and the waddles were in most evory
The wallies workina the termed range had a snap occipared with
the fellow thrit mrted the open range.
"Nes t was u kid and father worked. for "limn, the wad
lies had t fight the drifting herd ani staapedes at times.
There was the nifrht riding to do that called for men with wand
in their gisserds.
-rn wen aril in Texne, the renahmen of a section
built drift fences, which helped a tolerable lot in taking *mill
of the drifts. I,fore a spell of bad weather, Vs critters would
start drifting towards ettalter !met gel on miner -until they
Oauthier. Iheidon
Rangelore
Tarrant lo.,niet.4.7
nage ,718
found it, if such could be found. That called for vork on tile
part of the waddies to hold the herd baok; if the animals were
not held back, t'ioy would drift for miles awl beoorie *clattered.
-rith the drift fence, the aritters were h•le to a eer-
tain extent and the waddles could handle the herd better.
1fter a storm, waddles would have to drag out and gather the
herd, thin drift the animals beak to their grazing grounds.
"The drift fens, was built leading into camnas, atO
other please of arleitirs;. so when the herd started a drift the
fence Igould lead the aritters into shelter. Icele of those fen
ass were nearly 100 miles long.
"I have seen, in the fall and winter, t%-3 orittera start
to drift when the weather was re etty and not a sign If a chary*
in sight. '7ather rluld say, twell.we are due for a spell of
weather', and rile spell would sure cone. "aybe it would be as
muoh four 1eyr off, Vat it would -hit.
"I worked f -r the.-Jittlefielil outfit for a spell, after
spent a 00u210 of years Ai the Tr) outfit,The raittlefiteld
had a cow !lamp in VI) an ingelo section one! had several. maps
scattered wound thz country, and also had their ranges fenced.
t spent a ample yews there, working as a fano* rider. %liter
quitti*r the ':.ittlefield oat fit I worked here and there, alrays
fnr as stockmen.
"Iix years ale I landed back on the old '1'N Jell worked for
the e'origgs outfit as a fence rider, and that was the last
fence riding t ever ions.
1-authier, ',heldon
Hangelore
Tarrant go.,-net.g7
ge
rpir
"I have enjoyed the work and that is why t have stayed
with the eattle timeic, in some way, all through my life. It is
an outdoor life and I Clear, felt pert. 'sf oourne, there was
not much amusement except what we got up for ourselves. "'hen
a greener came on to an outfit, we, always had our fun breaking
the fellow in.
"I recall one :•nener that we came near losing thro'01
our hankering to show him a good time. It was on the old
outfit and t'le boys fixed u to play the old ,game` of snipe
hunting.. rtf eourne the greener wan given the bent or easiest*
part to do, as we told him. "'a set him to 11ldirt.47 the bag to'
witch the snipes with, off shout three miles from camp. `re in-
struoted the youtvgifellow to stsy rilht quiet at that point,
beoause the rest of us were ming to make a wide °Iroise which
raLlit take a tolerable lot of time, de:lending on how soon we
would Jump a flook of snipe. 'is you know, the game is to co, on
home and let the bag holder stay put until he, decide, to quit,
or just quit because he can't stet* it any longer.
"him ,partioular night was made to oiler, because, shortly
after we had the boy set, the wolves began to howl a plenty,
and the catamounts began to (try. 'o a fellow tnat is not used
to eat*, those weirdhowle and eat male will lure raise the
bristles.
"After the fellow had been there for the time we caleulated
any human could stand it. and he felled to Itow up, we went
after him, but we found he had left the stand. Tell, we found
him the newt day 50 miles away from camp and not knowing 'hero
Gauthier. 3heldon P.
iangelore
Tarrant Co ,Met
'Nig* no
he was. Re said that, when the wolves and oats started to
serenade, he Just lit out. trying to get away from the animals,
and never thought of the direction until later and then didn't
know where he was.
"That kind of hose play ear pulled considerable; and the
the boys had shooting, riding, hulldoggilg end Toping matches,
that whiled away a tolerable lot of time.
.ha best shot r know of was Ruff Toung, who works! on lle
rr, outfit. 71, amid ride a hose on a deed run and,pat five out
six shots into n tree limb and do the shooting from the hip.
'The top roper was Joe 7osey, Who =cloud for the limIghter
outfit that had n ranah a pieoe out of ""an :tngelo. Re could
handler a rope the best of may man I ever,lemped do rope work.
That fellow could do a loop with his foot. Which I never saw
anyone elsre do. ne would put the loop ovne the toe of his boot,
then flip it own' e critters heed as oetta as you would goat
it done. It wae seldom that a emitter could hornswoggls 'IoeeY
out of a loop.
"The beet rider was Jim Miles, who worked for the Teoggins
outfit, in the "an Angelo section. Ilso, r was reckoned as tops
when it oame to riding end hoes busting. E never was spilled
but once, after T learned to rids, and I busted mare, muetang.
Ilaaidaa roping, riding god the likes, *for our fun, Poker
playing was one of the main pastimes. Then there general/7 was
at least one waddy r:nt could agitate the cat gut. f'olne could
mob, the fiddle sing, and game made it boa, but the boys scald
tare it and be pleased with the howling.