Document text
5:_t.
Gauthier, .,;neldon f.
in(7,,lore
Tarmnt Co.,Dst., 7
'age
Janos H. Childers, 83, living at 1320
College Ave., Port imerth, ex., was born
on a vantatiom in Uhrray co.,5a., Deo. 10,
1856. His parents were Jane (Gray) Childers
and John Childers. Prior to the Civil .ar
and his death in 1867, his father was the overseer
for a largo plantation owner in Mhrray oe. After
theo Civil ,sr, in 1868, his mother, tiro. Jahn
Childers, moved. to Tennessee. James H. Childers
came to Tarrant oe.„Texas, in 1877. He bought a
tract of land nine miles tg. of Fort ',forth, on
which land he dieveleped a farm. He woe ranch
foreman of the .,J.,Boas cattle ranch for a period
of 17 years. After terminating his employment
with the .J.Bans mash, he Nought additional land
adjacent to his farm and entered the cattle bus-
iness, and has since continuad in the cattle
business. He was elected to he offioo of County
Commissioner in 1918 and served t.e terms. His
story:
'Lii plaoe and date of my birth was Hurray oo.,Ge., eo.10,
MA). 4 parents were John and Jane (Gray) Childers. Father lisa
an ovPrseer for a large plantation owner of Array county. Father
died 1867, and mother moved to Tem. in 1868, where she had
relives living. I lived with her and farmed until I 412 22, uhloh
was in 1877, and then I came to Texas. I came direct to Fort .orth
and have lived here ever sines.
"“hen I came to Vert ,orth the T. I. was its only railroad,
having built into the city tile .revious-year. At the ti,e I arrivad
I ;As oompelled to walk ovcr a mile to Ulan .4.
-This spot of ground where I am now living was part of a
cattle ranch, as was practically all the .;outh 3ide of Fort ,orthe
There wire a !ow houses and oultivated fields scattered through
the region.
Gauthier, 6heidon 2.
Rangelere
Tarrant Ooe,i)iat.7
Pace
"Tho buklinou:; establishments of the city was situated around
the eolith o'ida of the courthouse square and extended south for
about three blooke. The main residential section extended out
from the 0421U0S0 section *nut and west for a few b'eeks.
"The principal buoinees of the town was °etas dealing. The
people of Pert oorth lived on incomes derived from the ranches
whloh surrounded the town for many miles. At the time of py ar-
rival there was also a considerable buffalo hide buotness trans-
aoted here. Buffalo hides viere hauled into Fort torth by teams
from the :oast and shiped out of hero by train.
"very dmy, ono could see a hundred or more wagon loads of
dry hides pulling into the city. Almoat all the wagons had a
loaded treiler hitched to it. The block of land where the 000dfs
puilding is now boated, on ;.ancaoter Ave., was the buffalo hide
yard. Laulere arrived and unloaded hides through the day. At
eipeo the yard was eovered with hides stacked several feet highe
one would see large numbero of eowboye on the streets every-
where, dresood in their fall range attire, the 1) -gallon hat,
high heel boots, bandana aliened their nooks, cartridge belt 'and the
six-gun. Also, the buffalo hunters and hide haulers were oonspio-
uous by their numbers.
"The town was rough and ready. If one desired a little or
a large amount of trouble, he could easily find it, but if one
wished to be poseefUl and not intrude& on any one there tkere eau
little danger of being molested or harmed.
The oowboys wore best on having fun when in town, and they
were somewhat rough in their method of play. A„th 200 or 300
oauthier, Ilholdon V. alage t3
Tarrant Dit.7
couhando in :1 the size Fort oorth was in those days, it was
impuaible to handle the orowd and compel the boys to confine
their hilarity to (tc,1 .nanners.
"I have 0,zon 20 to 30 mounted cowboys leaving town in a
crowd, riding at top speed and all ehooting their guns in the air
and yellincaowild Indians. It was not 'an unumual occurrence
for a crowd of crowboys to 4hoot the bar fixtures of some saloon
fuA„ of holt', juut to onrioy seeing the patrons duok,and run for
clover, '-e, ohootinj; out the lights of oome t;stlAliahncm
15; .7iLeir favorite games.
"Une night I watohed a crowd of waddles celebrating in a
saloon. The bartender failed to servr a drink as quickly as one
of the waddles dasiret to be served and the fellow shot a hole
ir-A0 n barrel of whiskey so he could get his drink of whiakey from
tho liquor as it poured out of the hole.
"It must be seid to the credit of the waddles, that they al
lave paid for their fun. Alin the boys had shot out the lights,
shot the bor fixtures, or any ot!or damage %Illicit they did, t4ey
would retqan and pay for all, ostroyed property.
"ring thc enrly dam the stroets.of Fort Oorth were not
raved, so when there was a period of ueather the streets were
impassable in many places. It was a oemmen oocurrenot, during vet
weather. to see teams stuck in a mal hole. Between the oourthouse
and the depot there was about three blocks of plank sidewalk. Some
of those planks were loose, and one was compelled to step oaatiouely
or take the chance of being tripped.
Gauthier, 3helden
Ranceiere
larrant (o.,Dist.0
PnOt. r:44
F•iW
"Rush -A. now Commerce) was the notorious street of the
tw:a. The prilicipal busizess plaoes leoated.on ti s street were
quotas joints, coupling houses, salmis and hoaky-tenks. The wad.
dies rode into town from dist4noos as far as 100 miles to eel
°brats. Rush street was whore they went to take in the sights.
m rule, the street fA.rnishod any diversion whioh one oared to
indulge in.
firnt move after arriving here was to iodate a tract of
land. I bought a tract looated nine milem southwest of Fort ,orth
and established a farm.
"It was hooesoary to fence the oultivat d freld to keep Um'
ont,lo out, because the entire country was an open range, except
for a few scattered fenced fields.
10-1rilla 4Y fira6 soar in Fort ourth, I beoamm aoquainted with
J. Boaz, ono of tac early day ranohers, and about the year 1880
I aoeoptod the position as ranch foreman under him. Lis ranch was
looatod weat of Fort -orth, about 10 miles, where aenbreok is now
located. Boaz owued alnmot 3,000 acres of land entirely devoted to
ranging cattle. In tho are section were located Gornto, infield
.;oottts, eotents and other roaches. The ranches utilized the
Fork of the 2rinity River fur taeir cattle's water supply.
"The Boaz ranch varied grei-,tly in the number of cattle we
rungod. At tines we would have over 1,000 heat and then we wiluld
seLl till the herd number4d us low as 200.
'Boaz did not raise many of his oval cattle, but boOght and
sold oenutantly. ',ten he found a good buy he bought the cattle
fl,outhier, 'Amides F. Page
aangelore
Tarrant Go.,Dist.J7
and would rongo too animals till he °cult sell at a satisfaetea
i006
"To.o 2ir-O goor
laijed. t4o Boas row& we oneed the 24000
cores and titereafLer our =ow numbered about six hands* e used
one tioddy Ou ride the fenoe line 'constantly* ais job. was to in-
1).00t the Tome for defeats and repair all minor defeota, but if
he found a major break, suoh as a broken post, broxen or Out wires,
he wouL,4 report it, and a .?.epair crew, with the necessary material,
d mal.k the repaire.
,ocaaiona4y, we would find the wire_ out. be wire cutting
was done by otittlo thieves, co.t a gap through whioh they would
Crive the stolen atoOk. wore compelled tu keep .a clove watch
i4rAllows. Ono or two non woro uaed to ride the rungs whose
prIo:oipal job \o.As. to vat,* the thieVes.. Viso, to to ttend to injured
and bur. d oatUe,
kept salt lioko olose to headquarters snd. neor tao rivrt
whero th cattle could c t wattr, and ,..lear the licks is where the
cattle oh000 their bedding grounds. Ilhe cattle wouAd range olvr
ou.s coctions e2 the ronge during the lay and begin to drift
tooardo the:x bedding jround turds the late part of Uhe evening.
By )0=inj 0 (YAtiO to bed near the hoodAuartemi, we reduced the
oi having oattle utolen Caoin„; the alht. our time of
trouble tfilth rastlers was during the day when the cattle would
soktter and 26M8 :;rissed lear the fenoo. If a thief wag watohing
for e chance to steal soots of our cattle, it wits an easy matter
for him•tJ oft t4a fence and drive the cattle away. our losses to
the thieves were small immune of the fence and the constant watch
Ait04ert 02.Q032 k.
fttn
Tarilant
Page 16
a.1';‘:
we Lointeined.
"r2he nan vho suffervi the molt from ruotlers in our section
was joen. A thief oamc Ivry near to putting Corn oat of the cattle
Irininess. 7or a period of time he VilkE losina cattle oonstantly. In
order to orete an int in ostehinc the thief, Corn offered a
reward of ,:500.0n. Corn's foreman was a follow named Mitohell and
he etu:Ive. awake!iany ntahts watching fo7, the thief, and during the
day he nut e of the waddles attending to part of the foreman's
work so tn..72t he could devote the time watt:thing for the rustler. But
he wr uneueoseful.
"Tom iio, now doputy sheriff, vas just oommencing his (tamer
ns a law enforeement officer, and one day it negro came to Torn with
sewral letters and a compaiat. The colored follow's camplaint
me that the man he had hauling some wattle for had *heated
hr fiat of swle of his pay. The neer, said he had hauled cattle
from Corn's =eft and the dispute over pay, developed the previous
day. Ue had hauled a lar3e oow into market and the weather ,dae
ceed c;ly hot, and tceause of the weether condition the °ow became
ove.:t ated and died. The ne:1;ere and hie employer took the =roans
to n revine ennt uf the City vikertl triew skinned and (JLarternd it.
7.ze rm-t oeTd t& i retala butcher named ZLTinerfatn.
'The letter drer?ed out o tfte eaployer's pookot when ho took
his ceat ff lid threw it on suah, whlIe akinsino the cow. -240
nears took the letterq to Tom snow to disclose tho nano of his
employer. The letter3 werl addreslied to :1:_ltohell, Germ's foreman.
ltehell wns a man Iv.th an gmeol)..ent reputation and had
worked hard to oat** the rustler, even to staying awake night and
jheidon 2.
Dahc:lore
alrruni,
race 7
layino out on titc. range watching, but there were the letters.
;AlloVI went to thf, ranch and arrested Mitehell, and when the prisoner
wnn oonfronted with the letters and the atom na told by the negre,
he confessed. NS use tried and cent to the penitentiary. The
atlaling atopjAid on Gorn's ranch immediately with the nmreat of
Mt:34011.
"Thin aeries of ineidents took place before the deys of tue
automobile. "ith tie eGmin of the Automobile truck, there saris
ehame in t4o methods of the cattle runner. Now, the rustler
hau:ks the Got lc off in a truck imitate_ of driving the critters
off or losidin the animal in a wazen.
"The ruatlern have improved their methods, keeping progrnao
Iv.th the timea, and now have a trailer or truck and gate arranged
to !i'et heir needs. The boys now back their vehicle up to zi fonoe
fin(1 the end gate La aowered and the top part reaches o'er the fence
and rests) on the ground. Thia arrangement forms a chute, up which
the- esttle are driven. The prosiest day tame cattle oan bo driven
a ehute very easily. -31rnii a more adequate arrangement timn the
end gate is used by come. It Jo known that some thieves use a
crone with whidh they lift the cattle out of the pasture and swing
the crit4Ars into the truck bed. By using the crane, all that is
neoessary is to drive the critter to the side of the fenee and
throw a swing -harness on the animal, and then use the crane.
"The sa:.e of atelen cattle has been greatly restricted by the
efforts of the (:attlemanwa Association. The Asseoietion maintains
inapeeters at the cattle markets and they watch for brands whit*
are reprted stolen. Howevr,r, there are buyers who buy atelen
Gouthlor, 31&3tss F. Pogo 0
Ranaoloro
Tarrant Uos,Dist.f7 PEO
oattls, but make the purchases *atoll's of the regular markolloo
"An ihoidaat which took pleas between Wooten and GorM is
brought to my mind by talking about settle rustling*
"alon I irst eame to Fort Worths there wore a few unbraaded
cattle to ba found en WI rango• Also, ossasionally, a stray brand.
EA *Atter would be found which had gotten away from some herd
whisk hat been drtvon through at Worth.
"Tho various remake's kept on thomatoh for strays« .Jno tay
gootose and Oern were riding over the range region togothoso and
fount throe host of tiptop oftAwrid ywArliat,.• s)toors• Wooten sago.
V'
footed that 4nra sad he flip a with for the odd steer and to drive
the nUors to their ranehe This suggootioa we. agrosablo to Corn
and tno man was flipped., w4sulting in.400ton voloval46 the mid steer.
Then Gera suggested that ibioy ac.t rot6ra the following morning
to aet tho stows, because the hour was late, and driving the
steers, as would bo n000ssary, would Asap the men out late. wooton
agrood to the ouggoatione so the two men spooled their mounts
homeward,
"Corn mot 4Poten %MI sU•wLim morning. as *groped, and rods
to got thole stows. Whom the men vs* at whore tho steers had
in sight* The two men spent
been found, the animals were no
about an hour imitating for the straysihon quit, thinking somebody
had ttikon the throe aximals•
"About a month later 44,ton ant Gomm Immo atomising the dis-
appear's.* of the throe steers* Wooten said:
"Cornto I wander who got An'.
"'Ton knows mutes, I mover 110, Gera applied. $1 just
Gauthier, shads* F.
Rangelere
Urrant Go.,Distal
Page #9
figure& them oritters weren't saft with you knowing where they
were. so, I doubled bask after 'Arlan& with you that night and
drove the steers home. I made fair time and arrived bone about
a P.1461
"Isooton aM Guru were good mom. In fact, every raneher In
the region were Good nen, and praetieally all raneherm I have
met were dependable men, but they just oeulda't resist naatehing
a pretty yearling. A tat and nagnifieent yearling wq* just tee
temptlag to *OM and they osuldn't keep tram dkviag the saims1
"ID:Arias 24, early days hero thore were hundreds of settle
herds drivolt la and threuSh Fort Uortim Maw were shipped fres
hero to the Northers markets, ASV the hireta were drftes
through hero, to be 'grazed en the Northern ranges of gans.previls
ant., and other sootions. They were dritten to the Northern
range to be fattened before 4'livery to tne markets and others
word being shifted to a lees °engem** range.
"with, the herds Gaming here and being drifted throusit, the
ranehers in this ovation discovered paw strays. Generally, the
strays were the result et a stampedes
"The worst stampede I have ever soon take plies happened
just south of *mai. A here was drifting La and a torrifie stoma
Wm in trona the north., striking the cattle in the false.
"The herd was fretful, Weans* of being in *Waage territory,
and when the stern started the herd turned and went on a stanpeies
The stern started Just before dark ant soca the darlinese Naito It
(lauthier, ohold,:n
Lancokoro
Zarmnt Jo.,Dist. 7
to weddies to see tvhere ti-Azr were Going or winere
the Settle were traveling to. This stampede cost the drover about
hand oT mottle. Of course all the strays were fottnd la ter by
the rahoh.ers in this vicinity.
r the Cattlemen's Association wt4; organise' and develop..
to t pqnitien oo it oovernd the many prublems of the ranohers,
the AaLlootf tion 1 )k'. after the strays of the drovers that \Jere
foun43 h ranohers o inie territory through whioh the hard traveled.
"After 1 had verked 17 yciaes for 141214, .1 quit to on.Vir tne
chttle bunInecs for myself. I bought additional land adjaoent to
7, farm land lor range earposea. J fenced about 300 aores and in
tae sture I rvnged about 5j0 hi:mitten an average.
"1 starteft ly 7'aneh Lt .tv7 Oottom of the 109J panic. The priose
were low nnd hoartt SOA0 f the yekar1Lleas .i loA as
per
head.
"I ealcalated on holdik; Ate catLac ,or a year or to bore
nel,in3N, I antioipnte6 the mArket °aid he on the upswing,during
the fellowina oeuple yearn. tv guess was oorrect &Ind before the
t,:;o year period was upI ben to Eel_ at a fair profit.
"DuriuF tio panic of 1803, many ranahere uere compelled to
bect,use tne 7rioe of cat
ic WOrC BO
w the stook did not
bring enough money to pay the debts. 2he rnhohers with a little
money ahead were able to stay in the buLiness by narkinz tine, but
the in who owed. money on his stock fouild himeelf unable to sell
the outtle for f-;nough to pay the loan. There were some uhipments
mate which did not sell for enouah to nay fur transportation cost
tk.i the Northern market.
t4kathier, -oheldon
111,m3clore
rlarl'ent Co.,iaist• 7
Pai.;e Ill
FL.J
"I bouaht ()lose and was at very ittle wqmonse ren6Inc tit()
hera. /Ay ronao in feneod and with bn abundaneo of crass and
watcr, ail i had ue do was beet the o.cpense of one max. .acos
were low and I paid my helper 0.5.00 per munthr. W e needed td
du limo tu wallah the fenee for breaks and look uvflr the Lord eecas-
iunally for sink or injureu eattle. A.th a small here and plenty
of ranee room, one is nut troubled to any.. extent ith iek.er
injured °Little.
hom uid well and staeod in wAiel:.ent nosh. ::hercfure,
'Ali 0 tue panic) ruineC many ranohers, it enabled me to jet an ep,..
C31 ent stort Afl tuo oattle dudinead.
Jd,y the time i WWI redly to sell cattle, tore was u cood
market in fort ,orthe (440 packin6 industry had extablishod
here, wh oh took place in ;902, and it was then I was ready to do
any :;rnut amount of seilinZ,
"I was nevr o tirel: out uf the cattle. Ousiness from the
timd I utcrted in
the iness. I was elected and served two,
tiorma aa a major 44-c the Commissioner's Court of Tarrant Quunty,
urli this position teak me away from activc attention to my cattle
64biaess. 4/ servioe us a commissioner pean in 1918, and after
I termivate6 gy worvief. as a.ouanty, official, A. iave left the
turi. Vdisina oattIe to others.
"Abuut all j do pow is think of tne days when tue loilzhorn
steer an tue itliii;ICLE roamed, numberinL; thousands of herds, over
the 'Zexas range, ir anded oy their owner, the animals 'ierc turned
louse tu find tioir living. Durilk: tau days uf t -e caTen range
Gauthier, ,:lholdon Y.
Hangolore
Tarrant Co. Dist.0
rags ing
cattle rifted for many miles ant the brand at many different
ranshers could be seen grazing; with a spealtie but. Perhaps
nem* of the animals wom10 be more thus 100 miles away from tueir
'14
hone raile0.
"The general roundup was the =ilium at separating tug cattle
ant driVing the strays book home. 4he general roundnp was a pea
enfretive wort4Tertiolpated in hy the rams6ors, and very inter-
esting to work in or watZhie__ May people o* ms to visit gni watch
the work at the rounaupas
"e reunihp crew was vividoe into wallow, maita. One ere"
would rite this range and gather the °Attlee working one 'motion at
a SAms• mother Grew het the gatheryt cattle till the hert hat
been viorkek., There was the gutting crew whoa, ‘lnty was to out out
the unbrandel emitters eat separcte the various brands and, et
course, the branding mew tit the breadline.
"rash raneh had Its own bread on haat, and the branding craw
kept the branding irons heated to the proper tomporature. The
mitten woult yell out the bm_d relaired for the °rifler miming
out of the hove, and tho brand bons would repeat the, bread sailed. The
brangule Grim brangog the orittew e,Ad the Geunter reeorded it in tve
couat book. t he oonelasion of the roundup, ea* rant**, was
erten a reeort of the nuMber of mettle branded with his brand.
The most enjeyable night to wateh was the swing crew, Which
19 the $era aPP1101 t* the Othcring crow, loavisg in the morning.
Trion 10 to 20 mounted ara would start with the weld Ital, and it wag
always a rase among the ergs for the lead,