Document text
lAteldon 11%
Ranolore
Tarrint Co. DilA
,Oan J. Aleon, 80* living at 1808 Unman
Fort orth,Texe, was burn on a farm in
Apia Go.,Zy., Jan. 21101088. Hip gather, George
“iloon, was turning in icy. at the eonmenoement
of -the civil Air. He joined the Confederate
:xely and served during the entire period of the
war. Due to Union Sentiment in Alsonts neigh-
borhoods considerable animosity exiated against
411nonln Confederate alynpathy. Because of this
feeling, Urs. Course AiIsen-piseed a familes
offeete into a sovered mom and neved to Zan.,
in 1864. Alte hired a man -to drive tho toum and
asaiot in meeting the hardships encountered on
the ways At ate olose of the 4ar, Ucorge tIaon
returned to hia family in Tenn. He purchased
truot-uf land in FeneheoL eo. an6 dueaCed in
ffirming for IA livelihood, Lan J. alson ean*
to Texas, with his wife and clue oaiId, in 168C,
and located in Clay eo az secured work on the
flan operated by '.om !Lorna who was then develop-
ing one of the tow farna in the oounty. an took
part in a fenoe war. an 71.Ub on lino aide of the
small ranchero and _settlers. After terminating
his emploplent Iiith To Horn, he iorked on the
';.right ranch, located in Slay eo. -Ue later ne-
6ntiatud for u tract of lard and enguaed in
farming for his livelihood. Ala story:
y father, George .1.1.aon, was a t..rmer and farmed a treat of
land boated in ,tlyno 00. ,1'., and there in vhero I wan born, Jan.
21, l858.
Vathor jelned the Confederate Army when the Civil ar started.
Because the pentinent in the particular aeotion where we lived ran
strongly in favor of the Union orweep my folks were subjected to
some ridica:x. The situation caused mother to become very dieza...
tidied with that neetion of Ay. us a hens. Therefore, ebe deeided
to neve and 14480 'Zona. as the place to live.
"other sold evcrything we owned except our personal effects*
whieh she loaded into a covered wagon, f4th a geed team of =les
Gauthier, aheldon Y.
anngelore
Tarrant Co.,Disteil
At
Path i2
PLC
hitehed to the wagon, we started, for Tens. Mother hired a fl .to
go with us' and help maks the !Nip,
*chat was Galled a road lu tilza 4.ays woo anything with wheel
tracks.. Juat a few streams oentsined a bridge over tibleh to oross
on. Fording Oceans wee the method of crossing at most of the
streams. Aen a heavy rain had taken pleas, ,We were oompelled to
wait till the water rceeded,,snd at times several deys of tialting
me neves:vary. A few of the larger streamts *rossines Oa& ferries
operriting to transport travelers from bank to bank. e traveled
over hills,. throw* river aottoms, over rooks and in ruts.
"It wso a sloW4tellous trip but we finally -arrived .41 Fenehess
oo.,Tenn., and there looeted. ho* the war ended, ftJaier cam..
us. Ke negotiated for a tract of land, which ue farmed.
'I mmained with mr. folks until I was 0 yours old. &urine this
period of wy life I wisted tether in oporaliing the farm. I
married ut Ale ago of 21 and at the time I was a my family con.
slated of a wife and Child. I. then deoided to oast my lot w;..th the
Ante of ,Texam.
Actoording17. I moved to Texas in 1086, locating in Clay co.
I oecured work on a. tars being d0v0k0p54 by lus horn. ADQUA this
time, farms began to appear ilktaly unty, scattered far between.
Tom Horni,:a kwituMalan, vase to Clay oonnty and ilmght 60Q sores of
land, uhich he fenced with wire.
rmv wages were A.00 per. day. In addition to this wage, he
furnished ne a nhaa to house my family, alas fuel for Soaking and
heating. 4th the. J.000 per day received 1 provided food and
clothes for my wife and oae
Gauthier, lineldun F•
iihneelore
Tarrant 444,14ist,.,14
Pogo f
"At the tine I began working for Horn, e zja G Boras of
Land under %titivation, piantud in c.rn and cotton. 4 -en wv
were net busy with the orops, we cleared ano broke land.
".0 woad a six ox town hitoheu to a breaking plow turning: tea
sad. The plot was a long bcam impisaant with a uoulter fastened
to 1:116 beam and the plow point. The purpose of the coulter was to
cut the turf and roots. At times, the six axon were compelled to
lay all their stroagth into to pas to pu. 1 thu plow. The nan whO
hold the plow, which was my job, w. a under a ounatantistrain bnd
mmild be tosuee ri-ht and left. not only would one be compelled
to use all his ,aa. asid snouldor strength, out vAmlu nava to bo
oonstantly braeino 41wasif with one or the other of hio legs. ThiS
wan one of the tiara jobs done ow to oldtioara, who prcpared the
soil of Tama fur oultivatIonik
"Meetui the land in Ulay oomnt41 talLt time; was a cattle
range. Mawever, in the nenrietta section, moat of the ranges viers
enclosed with wire fence. ilia open rungs of.that day existed
farther west.
"In time vicinity of storage Xiam wore severla ranohes. The
Derrick ranch was north of un. Bill Aauakleis am the :right's
ranshes ware aloe la sue adjaeunt tem/tows Jai* of them) ranches
ooasisted of ..ieveral agouti of land snoloodd by a fence.
After working two year'i for Morn, I ace‘pted a Job an trio
,4•Ight ranch.
',toter. I talk, about my life while on the rano, I shall
relate an experience I had and took some part insit =6 ;ha fight
aguinet,enclosing the whole section mithii a team:
Gauthier, lineldon F.
Rtneclore
Tarrant 0o.,Diot.0
rage
"The Red River Cattle Co. leased many seotions ug land
in ;;lay minty end some in the east part of Aroher county, togs-
.pith sum in the west pzz't ug counV. This cattle
oompany intended to fence in their land. but by no doing, a number
of small ranohers and settlers mild to,onolosed, in other words,
the Red River ,aettlo t4). woulo Sumas master over all the territory.
Poets were set, a4tending tram the oast part of Arahor county to
4.,he west part of Montague oountk, running in two lines, oast and
west, no aorona the north part of Clay county an the other *moss
the south part, This ma dune in 1080.
'The wire wee lcia on the ground slant; the -line of the posts
and, in a few plow's', it was fastened to the posts,
"The small ranohere and settilzra diacassed their oituation.
It was oovteus to Z.hea that oil the raoalt fellows would be pushed
out uf th territory. They deoided, to tuko the irJoes:.ary stein; to
prevent the oat tie ooMpany from by a,4,1 the ouuntry. Putting
their ideas into notion, a volanteer oommittoo was formed and oas
oomposed of about 100 mon. This ousmittoe was are with sharp
axes and 'hey attacked the petite and wire during the dark hours,
All punts and wire were out. The posts were out off at the grOand
and the wive hooked into a worthless pile of junk. Wrequired
oevera nights tc:14pplete the job, but it waoa thuro4g4 pieoe
of work when tho commiitee quit. 1
The work proved to be sucoesafhl, booause the Red River
Cattle Co. did not attempt to rebuild the fence thereafter.
I was not such of a rawhide when I began working'on tho
'Nr cht laneh• I could ride a hops, but did not know how to
I41
Gauthier, 3heldon
:ant:olore
Tarrant Uo.,Vistfi:17
lag° 06
wrangle one. I could half*way throw the lasso,, but wolti.d miss
more critters Vmmt I ic to catch. ihile working for Horn, I
learned to handle tile rope a little %bile attending to &ruts
tame stook,.
"The crew of waddles who worked for 4right:were.mighty deoeht
and did all they could tesolAms me how to master etImeking aroma
and handle the Itimo•
litandline to lasso 18 n mutter of tlufing. The general idea
riling in thut the lasso in thrown on the Critter. But, tae
feet is, the loop.in thrown. In the way of the critter, exoept-when
a oritter.is ntesding and the anima/. twavblsjiate 1ihe loop.
l'or Instance, if on decires to eat Ch a moving critter by In, leg
with A laaao, the is thro9n so it arrives at the proper spot
at the cw,rect second far the animal to step into the loop.
"After guing to work on Vie '‘vright ranch, it was only a short
time till I oonld handle the rope sufilolostly to do4he work,
'Duete the That taat the range was fenoed, part of the ma&
riding work wes,unnecennery, but fenoe riding was required to
watoh for breaks, one rider did nothiLig else b4t ride the fence
line to examine the forme. It was neoessary to keep the fence in
a near perfect condition an poorible. A break through the fenoe
by the,hisrd atasing a severe storm would be dtaasteroue, because if
the atom .wan prolonged the herd would drift mahy miles and many
anima/s would be lost,Also, days of hunting would de required
gathering strva.
The Lease rider repaired all idinor defeat°, 41.1.4t;u repair
Orew repaired all major breaks,
Gauthimr,. 4neldun F.
Ran elm*.
r ent Ooe,Dint.-7
'age
"The o d time andup, utlen ell the ranches in a seetion of
oeuntry united as one outfit and riorked their herds together, was
r -t held, beesame fences helU each separated and tnua remove6.
the neeessity of a general roundup.
.chSpring the :mizhtts herd 4) .5,oW head were bunehed,
hundred or so at u time. 2he calves were brandod,and other
outtle examined and counted. In tite-.Vall the 4erd was au in
counted and examined. At other Mule o :ere kept by giving
genral attontion h a herd requires, out* as cariag fur the
sick, oriole* Anti r4u, vriving wale stoc.. to the lert
iorth market une a freqaent job.
"To &titer a saie ilerd, it vas necessary to wurk through The
entire herd, tutting oat the grade Uuntc• .ioaotime it 7,,eald be
threes, then tile two's or maybe the fouris.
livQd in a runeh house fAna, due to Lite Sena° night riding,
Ivatohing the herd wEia not neceuscry, ,:_oc.:pt Sox one iama to ii.en an
eye or the herd, our foud wao exaTAlently cooked ano the supply of
a cood,variety was abundant.
'1The job un the ranch web mol.m seticfaetury io me thin the
farm job, teesuee I received al board E.,nd ,Z(,O per month. I
housed qf family in a shaOk near the run& and %,as able to 60 at
home at niert the greater part of the time.
"I worked for '.'41ight three years and enjoyed tne runge work.
ihe waddies apent many enjoyable hours daring Moir off tive. The(
were always doing something to entertein themselves. They were
either practioing v4th the rope gun, playing cards or telling
stories. i
r:authier, ;11eld 14ge 07
ntriore
I/Arrant C.st.7 1:"
"01 tie right outfit we did not have any outstanding shot
or roper, but all the men were good at their worko I worked on
only one rem*, therefore. oannot poke comparison.
"1 can pay that v4, had some of the top story telleras I hoard
some (4 toe orniest trios told by those saddles that I have ever
hsatd an*** I have forgotten moot or the storieso.but I may get
together one whjoh Elruok me as humorous and registerod on ny i4nd.
one nicht the weddies were talking about tho uifforent kilts of
wurk they had tried. ',lie of. tae fellows who had spent about all of
hls working ;mere on a oattlo -range tod the following:.
'Llaok a numO,r of years aqo when Iwas a youhc lad, 1 dooided
to Tat the rwmt I foqnd-a job as *lark in a drygoods store,
fiso seeood wo-* 1 rk'd there a you lady, a ranoharts daughters
was elopinr with one of her father's waddles. ':;he had left home
without a proper suenly of stockings, therefore, Game into the
store to buy a pair., 6he wantod to put the stockingn on at one*,
'out we had.no oonvenient plaoe for her to make the crane°. I took
the matter up with tho boss and he Geld!
"You come out from behind the counter and let the .46ady make
the one 0 there, hut if you look discharge you'.
toy
ell, after I lout ir job I boons*, dioguntod with clorking
and returned '4,4 the range.
"After quitting the range, I negotiated /*or a tract of land
and (Uvoted the zest of my Jime to farming, until I beoame too old
to work*.