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4authier, aheldon f.
ha:aelore
Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
James Childers, 82, a Copeville, Texas, resident,
born taty 14, 1857, in log cabin on father's farm
at Chamberburg, Kentucky. In 1865 the family moved
to ,rkansaw and at the age of 18, James went to
work on a cattle ranch in the Indian Territory.
fter terminatin, his range career he farmed for
a livelihood.
4
-ta, Page 1
FEC 240
"I was born in Kentucky at a pities called Chamberburg on the Ohio River.
The event happlined on Yay 14, 1857. ky father, J. H. Childers, was an early
settler of the section. During my childhood the country was spersely settled and
farming !nd logging a: s the means of making a livelihood.
"The conditions under ahicr ay tamily lived will be fair illustration of
the community as a whole. Our home was a two room log cabin. The average home was
two rooms, some were one room structures and few had three rooms. They were
double log cabins with rooms on either side, on of abich contained the fire place.
The aire place Oarnished most of the light for th room during the dark hours, exci4
duriu, the ,auumr Jeason when c!aidlea Tame used, as well !*6 heat and means for
cooking food. If company alas making e cell we ould light the coal oil lamp.
'During my childhood I did not know what tailored clothes aerei homespun was
the only clothing pe Lle ire able to secure. y folks, as all our neighbors did,
raised the material, orkea it into thret.d and selved the thread into cloth and from
this cloth made clothes. Even our shoes were home-made, the hides from our butchered
stock were made into leather by the tanner of the community. The shoemaker made the
shoes and they aire aood shoes too.
"Veaetsbles in abundance were r iesd in our girden %,..nd kept in a celler from
one crai to another. e r ised wheel, corn and outs which aave us flour, corn meal,
and feed for the stock. We hauled the grain to the griat abil and traded grain to
the ailleor for the milling charge. eo had milebeows for d4iry products and beef;
and raised sheep for wool as well as mutton.
"On our i.le.ce was rAl orchard and from it we obtained our fmuit, such as applea
Gauthier, eheldon F. Page 2
tieneolore rx 240
Terrant Co. Dist. 7
pie hee, cherrieJ and berriee of various kinds. In addition to producing fruit to
oat, ask. proseetos and jellies, the appltel provided cid*, which turned hard, and
the pirciee3end. brandy. Some oe the corn was used to make corn whiskey. Almost
all of the settler had a still and made their own brandy and whiskey. In any home
of those days eould be found a jug of hard cider, brandy and whiskey. The custom
for the propee welOOMO of a visitor was to offer liquor.
"Our smokehouse alwaye conteined a plentiful supply of hams anu bacon smoked
with hickore wood. During the winter months the climate of Kentucky is such that
meat will keel. athout any proceesine, in summer it was neteeeary to selt-and smoke
meet. During the summer we never vent eungry for fresh meat, the forest contained
many different kind e of ediele animals and fowls that are easily hunted. So far as
food en, clothes were concerned my tether was never worried about an adequate eupely.
"even e stranger in the community wee a eelcome eueet, and people went out of
their way to give him e start. But if any_ne became obnoxious they had their own
way o, deeline with such matters. If the stamp of seeeroval was not placed on a man,
the party was compelled to leave the community, and in severe cases if they failed
to leave in a hurry they were retorted to their creator. There was e food be ween
some pecele existine 511 th time and eenerelly one or more decieive fi,hts would
take Flee, durine, the aneual religious cm meeting.
"There wes no regular ereecher in our community but e traveline minister hold
servic once a month in a one room log caLin an: once each year we had a revival
lastine a week. Aleoet everybody atteneed the revivals. Those Urine at a distance
would bring a supply of food and camp at the meeting place. Durine, the monthly vieits
and the revivals the preecher would busy himself atteepting to edjuet eifferences
beteeen peAies. he always eueceeeed in eettine wany of tbt. disputants to shake
hands and redeeicete themeelves to reliehen, but a foe would refuse until skiistact-
ion was oetained in fighting it out with guns.
f,eathier, Sh,ldon F. Page S
Rangelore FEC 240
Tarrant Co., Diet. 7.
The attitude of these folks is well illustrated by an incident told me by
father and which happened in our community. A feud existed between Holder and
Jameson. Holder oecame very ill and it was feared he would die. "ikhein the precher
came he called on bolder to per orm the usual duties before death and prevailed
on Holder to forgive Jameson. Jameson agreed to forgive and forget. LIter the two
men had shaken hands and agreed to be friends so that Bolder could leave this world
without malice in his heart, Holder saids'l meet it understood that if I don't die,
this farce of an agreement don't stand.'
"Resides farming, logging was a means of earning a livelihood for many people
throughout our district. The timber was out and the logs were hauled to the °hie
aiver. From the river they were rafted to various points *ore sawmills we.* located.
"Pt the time the Civil ,er ended we moved to Arkansaw in two covered wagons
pulled by oxen. Ye crossed the Fissiesippi River at Lemphis, Tennessee, and went on
to iine Auff. Father loca,ted a tract of land near ill's Bluff and there I spent
my young manhood days* s farmed under ths same conditions as in Lentucky.
"it 18 I left for the Indian Territory laoking or job with a cow outfit
and finally landed wt411 a job in what ism then called NoeMen'e-Land. That section
was about 300 miles between its E. and We border, and 50 miles wide between the
N. and S. borders. At that time the territory was not attched to any state and
since my time it hes become a part of aklahoma. It is that strii. of land extending
W. from tht main area of the state end bordering on the N. of the Texas Panhandle.
No-lian'sakand was used entirely for ranging cattle. There were some mighty large
cowcamps located in the territory.
"henchmen were the rulers of the country. There were no state leas or officials
to govern the section. Only the Federal Government had any authority there, and the
Government did not maintain any courts or permanent officials to keep order. There'
fore the ranchers maintained such ouLar that existed. There was a code or rules
Gauthier, Sheldon F. Page 4
Rangelore FBC 240
Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
which the ranchers enforced and they had a jail in which were placed men who viol-
ated the lea of the section. The Jail was e log hut and e men was keit on guard
night and day when anyone was in the Jail.
"The rules enforced related to tha cattle business. So far as the relations
between men there were no rules to speak of. liech man, more or less, took care of
himself, except in the matter of stealing and killing without cause. It did not
require much to Justify the Ms Shooting of a men. For instance, if two men became
en aged in a quarrel, it was allowable for them to shoot it out and the best shot
would be decla,ed to be on the right side. If the shooting was fatal to amen, it
was considered the result of his own doing and no one should be blamed. But, if a
man was caught stealing a yearling, he was subject to severe punishment, even to
being hanged or shot.
"Because of the condition existing in NoaNan'eaLand, there were many men who
came there to keep out of the law's bands of some state. There was an understanding
among the people that no one should ask questions about a stranger relating to his
name, where he was from or what his former business was. It was left to the stranger
to volunteer such information as he desired to furnish about himself. That the
citizens behaved better than in other places, so far as obeying their leas, is
indicatiid by the kangaroo court records. Almost all violations were committed by
transients. The ranchers had h kangroo court before which violators of the code
were tried, and the court was seldom called into 5eosion.
",hen a etranaer arrived he was accepted as a square man 6nd treated as such
so long as his conduct tLerit,d the treatment. ith this condition misting one might
think the territory was a sort of a den for the scum of the United States, but as
a whole the cowhands tAmd the ranchers were about as dependable and square in their
lauthier, .-leldon F.
fOingelore
Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
Fags 5
FEC 240
dealings es one could meet. Ferheps this was so bosoms* there necessity did not
goad nor pride tempt man to violate the laws of man. The fact is, I have never
beard of e cowboy being robbed of any article. Ault money we cowhands had was
carried on our person or in our saddle bags. then the saddles were not in use,
they would he laid around the camp or chuck wagon. Ida never feared that anyone
ould molest our money.
"Uy first job on a cow outfit was with the 'MI', owned by an 'astern *or-
poretion called the Arscatine Cattle Company. The a was one of the large outfits
ranging in the Mo..Man's..land and its brand was carried by 60,000 or more cattle.
Lverything abou the camp was kept in excellent shape. There vas no slip -shod
methods about the work or operation of the ranch. The headquartefe had u well
kept renchem house, chuck wagons with the bout of cooks. The remuda was stocked
with the best of cow -work trained horsee that could be obtained.
',Alen I started work I was in range language a greener. ,y starting 'Irv* were
.$25, per month.for the first year. Thereafter they were $J5. to 4Q. per month.
Alter the old cow/it-lids had their fun with me du butt of their jokes they took me
in hand and did all they could to help me le urn they work. So far as riding a
horse was conce.ned, I could do it ftirly well, because during the days of my
youth the horse was the chief me ne of travel. tf course ridinb the range and do-
ing cow work required sowewht.t diff rent riding than the ordinary riding for travel.
To liwrm this difference did ‘ot take na long. The pert of the work I Ltkd to lfmrn
ootletely was handlin6 the lariat. Ms it did redily because I had excellent
teachers. During the irst couple months I spent moot of my time pmeticik throwing
and handling the lariat. I was successiul and at the end of my first year's work I
could place the looi, where I desired quite accurately. I was a proficient as the
average waddy and when I terminated my career, I could throw the rope with the beet
:aluthier, Sheldon F. lege 6
Rangelors FEC 240
Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
"John Roberts, a Texan, was top -screw. This term was applied to indicate the
ranch boss. Roberte was a proficient boss and a genuine man in every way. He Amsted
me off riding the line. This job is holding the herd together in a bunch. Almost
all the time the outfit had more or less cattle cut out and being held for e drive
to the market., and these were held aeparete from the other cattle. This required
several riders worming night and day. This line riding was not unplesant work dura,
ing fair weather but in inclement weather at times the cattle decided to run and
then the cowhand had his hands full.
'11,11 the cattle on the ZH ranch were the wild longhorn breed and ready to run
at any moment. It seemad, at times, they would run for the fun and exercise This
section was subject to severe electric storms and *hen one of these -toms struck
us we wore sure of a job with a running herd. Mast of the times we would be success-
ful in ading the herd together and get the animals to milling. Occasionally, we
would fail to do so and when the animals got away from us, it then required work
and time to lactate and bunch all the cattle. any times we would fail to find all
the Lnimals, however, these would be located in the general roundup.
ao not suppose there is an old coWhand who cannot, mantally and vividly,
hear the Eallapping hoofs, clashing horns and the drumaimL of the animals feet hitting
the ground, which came to their ears while a herd stampeded. During the darkness and
a stem raging, the noise had an ominous pound. One could sense the danger ahead,
because at these timea it was necessary to ride at ths best speed a horn could give,
and do it over rough ground. cowhand was playing with Lady Luck every minute of the
run. If the horse hit a hole or stumbled over a rock, them)), going doing the rider
could not see what there was to avoid, and perhaps be thrown onto a rock or under
the feel of crazed and running animals. On two occasions 'ZH' raddiea were killed
by a fall from a stumbling horse. Broken bones were a arequont occurrence.
Oautl4er, 3heldon F. Pogo 7
Rangelore FEC 240
Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
"Next to a stampede our most dreaded event was the coming of a severe
nurther. The cattle would sense the approaching weather and started drifting two
or more days ahe d •.f its arrival. The cattle drifted to hunt for shelter. If we
did not hold the animals back they would scatter in the lee of 11 hill or to a
cluster of trees, but in a little wiiie they w,uld Love on trusting to find better
salter. Then -fore ther was more or lesc a constratt movement of the cattle. These
n rther-_: were not e frequent occurrence and luckly for the ranchers it was not often.
becAL alter one it reoaired several weeks work hunting strays.
"The general roundups were held each year in the ,pring Lnd F iL. The efi'ars
wore called a geneml roundul and all sowcz,rops in the range territory would join into
one outfit, o)..aretin un er one roundup boss. During this roundup the country would
thorou,hly combed for cattle, one section at a time. The animals drilled into the
rcundul. he:du- rtefs an there cut out acc_rdinL to brands, the yearlings branded end
the 7als- c.:cterated. It recpiirsd thre, 1,..tths to accomplish thi- work nd durin
this time we lived è a auck won life. e slept the open rolled in our bknket-.
uur loci -zti! cocked over s cup iire and coniteu of canned vabet,ble, dried fruit,
beef ani eoe cf:otiory. e had some tfcon and to vary the meat died occfAlionally soma
of us woulJ kill some 6ame. BuftEloL were still existin6 in rather large numbers Jzflci
wa A,e a lot cm• eloice cut. of buffal_ flAset.
"I have mentioned our dreed of stampedes and urifts but I must not tail to tell
about the worst of all conditiona which we were in constant fear, end this we the
pr irie fire. ..very waddy was instructed to keep conetnt watch for fires and vilion
ks was seen to dmi, what one was doing, regardless oi how important it was, and
ride to the smoke. s all followed this rule strictly bcw4usis it we necessary to
a lire before it h a chence to sprevd.