Document text
aauthier, sheidon
Rangslore
Tarrant Co.,Diat.#7
Fred baletaker, 70, living at £20
Bluff St., Fort %orth,Tes... sss bora ss
f*themqtfamiik6 located cilsoent to Pine ;111):
RUt Texel Jan. 4,1848. His fotherb
Alined and raised a few Oattle for it
liveliheed. Fred learned to rite during hie
ohildhood. He went to 8111 oounty, at the age øf
150 and worked for Moore and Bonner en their horse
and tattle ram*, which was located °lose to Mbunt
(Ala. He worked for Meese and Bonner three years,
then wrangled horses for individual owners during
the following 11 years. She* he terminated his
wrangling (waver, he engaged in /Using fora live-
lihood until 1930, at which tine he retina from
active life. His story:
Page 11
"I was born and reared in the piney woods at East Texas, Jan.
4,1868. Howard Aketaxer was my father's name. He owned a farm
and ran a few (tattle, as everybody did in those days.
oattle were left to take oar* of themselves. gave
no attention to the critters,'exoept when we needed a beef, or
when a buyer or trader oame tilrough and we did some trading. Then
the vurious ownera woulo go into the woods and roundup the cattle
wanted. Por instanoe„ assume the buyer wanted 100 head of steers,
several owners would round up the number and kind of cattle wanted.
Then each owner would out out his respeotive brand and *cunt his
oritters. .;;aoh was paid a000rding to the number of critters one
had in the herd.
"In the Pine Hill section, we held no general roundup. i.aoh
farmer -rancher would roundup the luta* in his territory follawlng
the calf crop in the Spring. The calves running with the cows
carrying his brand would be branded. raots are, in the section
cattle were a by-product, so to speak, and tne settlers took out
Gauthier, 3holdon F.
Rangelore
Tarrant Ge.,Dist47
Page a
P •C
of the Gatti, that which came their way.
"There was no one in or emotion who made drives of herds
to market. The cattle diiposed of were sold to buyers end traders
who oame through the country regularly. Asa traders came often
and traded howls for cattle, so did buyers who gathered birds. tor
the market.
"The farmers never paid out any cash for their houses in
these days, and the settlers alWays had ea ample supply of -saddle
and work bosses. The houses wore the Texas broaches ind were a
trifle small for farm work, but the critter wile the toughest animal
for its size of any breed of bosses and obtained.at smell oast.
Therefore, the settler oould afford to own and work three brenohos
to a rig whisk Gould be handled by two ordinary work houses.
"The reason the settlers in the Pine lull &tootle* **gloated
to give greater attention to their cattle than they did was beoause
the °auditions were as they made a good living without depending on
cattle.
"hen I was small lad the oountry supplied an abundanos of
everything for people to live on. There was wild gales in the wood
which could be obtained with little effort, for the woods were full
of wild turkey, pheasants, grouse, deer, ducks and other edible
gams. A.th cattle running by the hundreds, on the unsettled land,
we had a sufficient supply of beef. uur pork was raised withou*
post, exospt the small amount of time expended to catch and butcher
the animal and excepting the trifle amount of feed given occasionally
just to keep the hogs close to home.
Gauthier, Sheldon F.
Rangelore
Tarrant Ue.,Dist.#7
Page 05
TEC
"The hogs were bred and raised la the surrounding woods and
lived on the 'mass', which kept the animals is excellent flesh. I
shall explain what the term 'mass' means, as used by the settlers.
Ahon they spoke of mass they referred to the various kinds of nuts
and ether products of the woods. In those uaystla the Pine Mill
nestles', there were many different kinds of nuts. We had the pommy
chestnut and haslenut in abundance. There was also an abundance
of herbs and grass. With this variety of food, the hogs would be
in top flesh at all times and especially so in the late fall.
"Sash farmer had a mark, whit* vas registered, and used to
mark his herd of hose. My recolleetion is that It cost about 43.00
to register the mark. The plum of marking was on tno hoes oars.
The marks were made by various shaped and number of slits.
"Tilo settlers wore unable to do more than guess at the number
of hogs carrying his mark.. So, you may understand that the set-
tlers of those dere wore well supplied with pork and at very little
cost.. Therefore, is addition to the wild game and beef, we had
a large supply of pork, all of which took care of the moat supply.
"Wir principal crop was cotton, and corn ranked next. 1.0
raised corm for our meal supply and to feed work stock. Alas, we
raised vegetables for our table and cane for sorghum: The wild
honey bee supplied all the honey we could eat, thus sweets did not
oast us but very little. We had chickens which found their living
in the adjamint woods and fields and supplied us with eggs. A few
cows supplied the milk and butter for the family. About the only
articles of food bout were a few spices and coffee.
euuthier, .heedon
i=elneelure
Tarrant 0o. iat 7
uoAd above ,25. 0 were AO uetter for practioal purposes, but
;ere trimmed more stylish. eoue faney saddles sold for Mere teas
,l(Y. 0. I ooiaht u 7.bj pair of Chaps. The bast chaps uold for
about 410.00.4. bridle it b.)0. ehe prioe of bridles ran
fro. ,2.50 t .10.e0. -eather eeive me u six-e7u4 and that cempleted
rajeAtTit.
":efter i waa outfitted, lit out for some eoecamp in the
eow oountry. eent tu Ai 1 county and seoured a job workinz: for
leeure a d Louier. The runch vas located near Abunt Wan and con-
aioted
hd ojeattle and 6J0 head of hose's. The Outfit did hut deal
in the urdinary 1-ee'hura cattle or mustani! hossea. 'Their cattle
were the .Lulstein breed and the houses were the elyd,sdaie dr9.4at
anieiala. I am certein Aoure and Loaner were about the fir -t
people to brine,' nalstein ctt3 to Tets and the (14desdale hoes
evett fir -t herd of' thet breed in tne etute.
2hose cattle end hoe e 'ere tame crittera and did not re-
euire meal work atteneinie tu the herds. To br,ak the ILes for
wur aSifap e job eomparec to teachIn.. tae mustan6 working
maneelei, .'he Aeautele cattla never gave u b trouble with utomps
end eerded easily. of courea the foe to c%re of tee tendency
to drift durine u bad etorm. elherefore, tne eerd (hailed for only
ordinary ettntiun.
outfit eorked a fence rider, whoae daty it was t ride
the fenoe line and watel for defecta. Ae repaired the minor breaks
aed a repair crew ut ire.ed to all ether fence repair ,Aa.k.
-.4y duty wa to ride tne rane;e and watch for cuttle whioh
ceu rue of *aunt 1.000 sores. :Lae outfit ran about
uauthier, aheldon 2.
Rangelere
Tarrant Co.,Diet.i?
Page
F:C
beoame bogged. There .ere a good maay bog holes, espsoially
during wet weather, on the range. hami I found a critter begged,
I would put the loop around its horns asd,with the reps fastened
to tut, horn of the oaddle,my mount would pull tile critter out. I
used a hoes that woe well trained for the work. It knew how to
dig its hoofs into the ground and lay all of Ito atrength into the
pull. At times it required the hoses full pulling ability, and
I have enjoyed seeing some mighty great pulling stunts performed
by a saddle hosa pulling with tlas saddle. Ocoasionally, I would
have to oall for help and it required two hossea to handle the
Job.
41ere were six hands employed on the lloore and Benner ranch
attending to the two herds. .0 ate our meals in the Gook shack
and slept in the bunk house. .Abs outfit used no Ohuck wagon.
were well fed and served a good variety of food, out fresh yogi
tables were seams. The vegetablea aerved to us were the canned
goods.
".0 were not troubled with otampecou, bat tilere wat- one olass
of people that took the ailver lining out of our cloud. 'That was
the rustler. The outfit had i.J--maintain one rider to stay with
the herd at eights to guaxd against stcali.
"Libor* [Aid bonner wire not bothered to any extent, due to the
olaso of cattle and hosses they ranged. The Clydesdale hoes and
the iislatein cattle were too easily traced, at the time, due to
the scarcity of the breed in the ‘tate durinc this period. The
rustlero went after tete bronohos ard t,10 longhora cattle.
"At one period of time the thieves were giving the ranchers
ouuthier, 2,he_uun F.
Rungelere
Tarrant Co,,List
Page 0
PC
a grout deal of trouble. It seemed that arrests were hard to
make and oenvictiena were nearly ImposAble. ,Atnesses were
afraid to appear againut a defendant and the law enforcing of-
ficials were unable to make the arrests or were indifferent
about it.
"Ts meet the menace the ranchers organised a vigilance
committee. This committee dealt with the Ev.tuation directly.
,ilen a party u a, suspected of stealing, the oummitten woUlt
to get positive proof against the arty. After obtaining tine
necessary ev dance, a number of the committee would visit the
accused. They would takc tho Arty to some spot where suitable
tree was located and there a trial would bc held*
a An
aak tre stha staida in the Trinity alvQr bottom north-
east of Grandview, which was the soigne of many trials and during
olio two-year period 11 mom were nagged from its limbs and many
trials held. Aome one of tn* committee aoted as judge. The
aeaused would be allowed to mtate his case and submit evidence.
Evidence supporting the charge against the rustler would be sub-
mitted. After all the evidence was presented, them arguments
would be hnard. stch member would be allowed to staA his position
and when all the arguments were completed the vote would be taken.
T441 verdict would be renuor: according to the majority vote.
"If the accused Was fe, d guilty and ihanging was the verdict,
execution took place imAediately.
"The hanging was performed by sitting the cefendant on a hess
with a loop around his neck and the repo tied to the limb of a
tree. Ahen the ties were all made the hoes was driven out fres
Gauthier, 3fteldon F.
Rangelore
Tarrant Ce.,Dist.Ai
Page
under the man and ne would be left hanging.
"Sine of the defendants would be given a °haunt Zr their
life by beina allowed to leave the oeuatry. Tie activities of
the oommittees had the desired offset in all oeunty and the
rustlers ceased stealing to a great extent.
"The schemes used by tiLe rustlere to ehange brands were many.
The prinoipal method used to change the reading of the brand was
by adding to or ()hanging the letter in brand. To illustratetwe
will, assume a bland contained the letter TV. This letter could
be Changed 'hi an 11'.:;", bi adding a line to the lower part o f tne
"Fl. About the amoothost method whieh ever came to my *otiose was
the use of wnat tLey called therterrapin"brand. The brand was
made in the share of a terrapin. using this brand, it would blot
out the original bria4 and leave Lk its place a blot the shape of
a terrapin, und all other fii;ures would be covered.
"Visin the terrapin brand on cattle worked ;()mething like tie
rogues brand did on hoas. It removed all evidence of former marl=
and was hard to Change.
00
A schema was formulated to meet .ne hous atealing, which
worked very well. A company was organized and re4stered a vCi
bread on the left jaw. Anyone owning hosses could become a moMber
by payini7 a smell fee and use the C bread. 7:;ach hoes was dc...
sorbed and the description was recorded with the ausoolatien.
In the event the critter was lost the organization made an effort
to lomat* the aaiel. Alen a lost eaimal was found, the party
who had possession would be compelled to prove from whom he ob-
tained the hems, end by that method the stealing could be traced
to the thief,.
Gauthier, 4holdon F.
aaneelore
Tarr utzt Ce.,Dist.i7
PC
Page #9
"The organization had a standing reward for boating any
c brand critter. The Bohm. worked so well that anyone buying a
hose with a C on the left jaw was very oareful to see a proper
bill of sale and know the seller. Also, because* of the cliff'.
aulty rustlers enoountered in selling a C brand hogs, they passed
up the brand.
41 worked fur the Moore and bonnor outfit three years and then
took up hoes wrangling for private people mg a humbugs.
"I went to lUistland °county and worked all over 'that section
of Texas, also in at TOXiiii+ I spent 11 years traveling from
one town to another and made a 'nod living doing nothing else but
war ing. I oharged ;:j5.00 a head and turned the hosa over to the
owners properly broke to the saddle..
"The mustang oould be bought broken or unbreken, uf course,
if it was unbroken the prioe would be less. In the majority of
oases tho buyer had to spend tie to break the suppege Lroj:en.
hogs. The ranohors sold a hugs fora broken animal if it had been
ridden t,o or three times, and tut.. ridin may have taken plaoe
severkl weeks prior to the sale. In 111; condition the ..,ritter
would be about as tough us one whioh had never been ridden.
"It was nut long after I started my wrencling oareer till I
had a reputation us a top wrangler and was kept busy as I wished
to be. I would work in a section till I had fintshed all the
jobs offered and would then move to the next town.
"W system of wrangling hosses was 1,ine one followed those
slays. I would snub the hoes and tie up the lift fors log. That
wouid prevent the animal from rearing. .ith its leg tied up, I
Gauthier, 4heidon F.
Rangeiore
Tarrant Go.Diut./7
Page /10
F,Li;
would saddle und mount it. I would then have someone release
the leg and the pitching wOuld start.
-There iia oeen prualiou made in the method employed wrang.
ling hussies. The hoas iu made acquainted with its changed oon.
dition now. Amt. it iu taught to submit to being tied, ne,EKt to
oe led, then mad3 to acoept the saddle, and last to be ridden.
"In my days usU wrangler, tua system was to teach the animal
that man Witi6 its master, %tth faros and might, by riding it till
the hoaa beoame isoeuraged and oubmitted to being ridden and
handled. The early day system was hard en both the hesu and
wrangl
wero many hossou ruined by tug old system of force
Oti
and might. u1e houses wauid pitch tiil tRey were molested. I
rode two differel,t hosses that pitched until they over -strained
their heart and dropped dead.
"The hosu th4iA; p tched ti ti it became exhausted we oal'APC a
snako.bleod. .hen a wrangler mouhtu a snake -blood, he tskos an a
Peal Job to perform. rur a zood rider, it is not so mu& a matter
of keeping himself from beine, pitched out of the ooddle se it is
haviag the strength to stay with the animal until it quits pitch-
ing.
%Ith each leap the rider is put in a strain, especially his
back and legs, because it i neoessary to brads the body against
the sudden movements of the animal. Also, the jar to the body,
Wien te hoes hits the (:,--;reund, is wearing.
"I founti way t relieve the strain to some extent. This
was by pasAng a rope under the hoes and fastening each end of it
Gauthier, 3heldon F.
Randelore
Tarrant Gee,Diat.i7
Page 'AZ
named Fred HichMan. He died at Fort dorth, Tex., a few pears
ago. This °Gloved fellow could meet all the movements any hose
was able to make.
"During the ;.remrs I worked at hone wrangling, 1110PICAO ORO
3pring roundup in 2autiand county. I have foSoottik thal outfit
worked with, but Fred illokman worked with therlig00 outfit and
I watched him 'ride 'em'.
"The rawhides of the varioun outfits working in the roundup
hunted out 'very tough hons in the country for the colored follow
to rid*. The boys tried to find a critter he could not stay with
but he 'rode tom all'.
Uilking about top cowhands, the fellow uhall have
to credit with beirw the bout roper was 'Booger Rodt, who lived
Ls Fort 14orth, and took the roping championship in roping con-
tests for a numbr of years.
"I have no doubt about it being a fact that, among tile .00w.
hands of Texas, wore soma of the best ropers, 1.,un-nhets, and riders
in the eotire world.
"At !the conclusion of my wrancli career, I returned to Rusk
county and engaged in farming, in vYhich businesu I continued until
a few years ago. Sinoe cuitting the farm, I have just been
aaubing around at odd kinds of business.
RLCVA
Gauthier.bheidon Y.
RaGgelore.
Tarrant oo.,Dist..0
?aFt 441
Fred W.Abetaker,70,1iving at 220 8.Bluff 6t,
eort oorthoTexas, was born Jan 4,1868.at his
tether's farm Mitch was located adjacent to Pine
3211, tusk co.„Texas. His father,Howsr4481661010104
farmed and raised a few cattle for a livelihood.
Prod learned to ride during his childhood. HO
went to 11111 co., at the sge of 18 and wnrked
for Moore and Bonner nn their horse and cattle
ranch, which was located otos* to Mount Clam.
He worked for Moore and Bonner three years and
though' wr'Ingled horses for private persons
during the following 11 years, wham he terminat.
ed his wrangling career, he engaged in farming
for a livelihood until 1930, at which time he
retired frnm active life.
His stnry of wage life follows:
"I was born and reared in the inn', woods of Texas, Jan,
4,1868. Howard taker one my father's name. He ownid a farm and
ran a few cattle as every body did those days.
*The cattle were left to take care of themselves. we gave
no attention to the critters except when we needed a beef or when
a buyer or trader came through and we did sone trading. Then the
various owners would go into the woods and roundup the cattle
wanted. Yor instance, &sums the
100 head of steers,
several owners would mond up thn number and kind of cattle
Then each owner would ll'a t out his respective brand and count
his critter. Bach was paid according to the number dfcritters
one had in the herd.
"In the Pine Mill section we held no general
up. lash
farmer-ranoher would roundup the 'attic, in his territory follow.
tUft the calf crop in the Spring. The calves running with the cow
carrying his brand would be branded. Pacts are, in the section
Gauthier.Sheldon F.
RAgelore.
Tarrant co.,-ist.07
Page #2
FC 240
dattle were a by.productoo to speak, and the settlers took out of
the cattle that which came their way.
"There was no one in our section who made drives of herds to
in rket. The cattle desposed of were sold to buyees and traders
which came through the country regularly. Loss traders came often
and traded hosses for cattle so did buyers who gathered herds for
the rwrket.
"The farmers never paid out any cash for their hoes.e those
days, and the settlers always tv:d an abundance of saddle and work
hosses. The hosses were the Texas, broncos and were a triffle small
for farm work,but the critees were .he toughest _animal l'or its
size of any other breed of bosses, and were obtained at a very small
cost. Therefore, the settler could afford to own and work three
bronces to a rig %Joh could be handled by two ordinary work bosses.
"The reason the settlers in the Fine Hill section neglected to
give greater attention to their cattle, than they did, was because
the conditions were so th:y made a good living w:ithout depending on
cattle.
"When 1 was a smeall lad the countrreftbdance of everythiAa
for people to live on. Mere was wild game in the woods which one
could obiain with very little effort. The woods was full f wild
turkey, pheasants, ,rouse, deer, ducks and other edible game. With
cattle run;.ing by the hundreds, on tne u.LseLtled land, we had a
sufficient sypply of beef. uur pork was raised without cost, except
the small am tint of time expended to catch and butcher the animal.
Also, for a triffle amount of feed given occasionally just to keep
the hogs close to ho e.
Gauthier.6heJlion F4
Rasgelors.
Tarrant co,61Dist.,#7
Page #3
The hogs were bred and raised in the surrounding woods and
lived on the mass, which kept the animals in excellent flesh. I
shall explain what the term mass means, as used by the settlers.
When they spoke of mass they refered to the various kinds of nuts
and other product of the woods. II the Pine Hill section, those
days, therewere many different kinds of nuts. We had the pecan,
and
chestnulte hazle in abundance. Also, therewas an abundance of
herbs and grass. siiith this variety of read, the hogs would be in
to flesh at all Liaes and especially so in the late Fall.
"Each farmer had a mark, w ich was registered, and used to
mark his herd of hogs. My recollection is that it cost about 0.
to regis,cr the mark. The place of marking was on the holes ears.
The marks were made by various shaped and number of slits.
"The settle's, were unable to do more than guess at the number
of hogs carrying his mark. Lio, you may understnd that the settlers
of those days were well supplieL with pork and at very little cost.
Therefore, in tddition to the wild game and beef we had a large
supply of pork, all of which took care of the meat supply.
"Olif principal crop was cotton and corn ranked next. We raised
corn for our meal supply and to feed wo k stock. Also, we raised
vegetable f r our table and cane for sorghum. The wild honey bee
supplied all the lion** we could eat, thus sweats did not cost us
but very little. '11 had chickens which found their living in the
adj cent woods and field and supplied us with eggs. A few cows
suppled the milk and butter for the family. About the only articles
of food bought was a few spices an co_fee.
Gauthier.Sheldon F.
Rangolore.
Tarrant cos.Dists•#7
Page
FC 240
"The cotton crop brought in the money necessary f -r clothes
and incidentals. A great part of our cloti-es were home spun,
therefore, the cash utlay for clothes was small.
In the Pine LIll section we did aot have the cattle rustling
menaces bat we did have to watch our Losses. There were no hoes
herds And the stealing was confined to one or two bosses which took
place occasi nally. uur avjor menace was the hog rogue. Their method
was to “lopt the rogue's brand I shall kraie to explain the brand
and w y it was ,he means of stealing hogs.
"Breading of hogs was done by narking the ears. The rogue's
brand was made by cutting off both tars. Therefore, a person with
the rogue's braad adopted could go on the hog ravage and cut the ears
off of the other fellows hogs and there was no way to det ct or
prove that the mark had been changed.
"me rogue's bra d was finally prohibited.
"I grew to manhood amoft hosses, cattle an. hogs. I learned to
ride at an early age. At the age f 15 years I could ride well as
any 1 d of that age and bet er than most of them. I was like most
boys of those days and my greatest ambition of all other desires was
to be a cowboy. aimilar to the boy's ambition of to day of wanting
to own an a tow° ile, we wanted to own a saddle hoes, saddle, bridles
chaps and a six-gun. ,40An we wfre able to be so equipted, we con-
sidered that we had reached man's estate.
At the age of 15 I realized my ambition. I owned a addle hoes
which father gave to me. I had earned a saddle which coat $2a. It
but one with which I could ride
was not the best, nor the cheapest,
Giuthier.6heldon F.
Wngelore.
TerraLt
fegue
any hoes and do any kind of rage work. Saddles which sold above
$26. were no better for practical purpose, but were trimed more
stylish. Some fancy saddles sold for more than $100. I bought a
$7.b0 pair of chaps. The best chaps sold for about $10. y bridle
cost i5. The price of bridles run from $2.50 to $106 Father gave
me a six-gun and that completed my outfit.
"After I were Aitfitted, I lit out for some cow outfit in the
cow country. I went to Hill co., and secured a job working for Moore
and Bonner. The ranch was I,cated near Mount Clam and coasisted of
a fenced range with around 1000 acers. he outfit run a. out 700
head of cattle ark'. 300 head of h sees. The outfit did not deal in
the ordinary longhorn cattle or mustang hosses. Their cattle were
the Holstein breed and the hosses are the Clydesdale draft animals.
I am certain ore and Bonner Awe about the first people to bring
jolstein cattle to texas and the: Clydesdale hose was the first herd
f at breed, in the State.
hose cattle and hoaseE; were ta,ze crittees a_ci did not require
-ush work attending to the herds. To break the hosses for work was
a simue job compLred to teaching th mustang working manners. The
Holstefn cattle never ,;elve us any trouble with stomps and herded
easily. Of course, the fence took care of the tendency to drift
during a bad storm. Therefore the herd ca..led for only ordinary
attention.
"The oatfir -worked a gence rier whose duty it was to ride
the fence line And watch for defects He reaire,: the minor
breaks anu a re),ir crew attenaed to all other fence repair work.
"4 cint;y was to ride 1,11e range and watch for cattle which be.,
Gauthier Sheldon F.
Rangelore.
Tarrant co., iJist.,d7
Page #6
FC 240
cane :ogged. rihere were a good many bog holes, especially during
wet weather, on the range. When I found a.critter *WW1 I would
put the look) arould its horns and with the rope fastened to the
horn of the sadcLe my mouht would pull the critter out. I used a
hose that was well trained fo!. talk work. It knew how to dig its
hoofs into the ground ilnd la;.0,' all of its strehght into the pull
At times it required the hose's full pulling ability, and I have
enjoyed seeing se mighty great pullftetunts perforiped by a
sa dle hose pullinf., with the saddle. Occasionally I would have to
call tor help nd :t req ired two 'losses to handle the job.
"There were six hands employed on th, fi:ore" and Bonner ranch
attendihg to Lili: t o isrds. We ate our meals in t e cook shack and
lept in the bunk house. The outfit used no chuck wagon. 40 were
fed well and were served a good variety of fod, but fresh vegetables
were a scares article. The vegetables serve- to us were the canned
gotAs.
e we not troUbld wi h sanip,7dee, but tlere wistae class
of people that took the silver lin_ng out of our cloud. 4hat was
t:e rusLler. l'he out:it had to maintain one rider t stay with the
herd .t nights to 6u rd against ,,tealthg.
"Moors and .,onner was not botheed to any extent, bee use the
class of cattle and ho see they ranged ihe Clyclesda e hose and the
itolstein cattle too easily traced, at the dur to the scarcity
c) the breed ih state at the time. The rustlers went ,,fter the
broncos and the longhorn cattle.
"At ,ne period f iiArttheethilletoevartes4v*AgetheOrtnaeriade
a great denl of trouble
Gouthier.6heldon F.
Rangelore.
Tarrant co.,Dist.07
Page #7
PC 24Q
and convictions were nearly impossible to be obtained. Witness were
afraid to appear against a defendant an the law enforcing officals
were unable to make the arrest or were indifferent abott it.
"To meet the menace the ranchers organized a vigilance committee.
This committee deLt with the situation directly. When a pally was
suspected of stealing, the committee would try to get positive proof
against the party. After obtaihing the necessary evidence, a number
of the committee would visit the accused. 'Ahoy would take the party
to some spot where a suitable tree was located and there a trial
would be held.
"An oak tree still stands in the Irinity giver botta, N.E. of
Grundview, w:ich was the scene of many trials and during 3ne two
year period 11 men were hanged from its liMbs, and many trial held.
'iome one of the committee acted ew judge. the accused would be
allowed tJ state is caoe and submit evidence. Evidence supporting
the charge agains: the rustler would be submitted. After all the
evidane was presented, then arguments would be heard. ''each member
would be allowed to state his omition sad when all the arguments
were com,leted the vote would be taken. The verdict would be rendered
according to the majority vote.
"If the accused was found guilty nd hanging as the verdict,
execution took place iAmediately.
dale pr.for ed by sitting the defendant on a hoes with
a loop aroul.d Ida nech and the rope tied to a limb of a tree. When
the ties were all „lade the hoes was driven out tr,m under the man
nd he would be left hanging.
fi
Rangeloree
Tarrant co.,Dist.,d7
Page #8
IC 240
"6opse of the defendants would be given a chance for their life
by being allo,fted to leave the country. The actitities of the mom-
ittees had the desired effect in Hillco., and the rustlers ceased
stealing to a great extent.
"The schemes used by the rustlers to change brands were many.
The pri-cipal wethod used ime to change the reading 6Z the brand
was Iv adaing to or changing the letter in a bra d. To illustrate,
we will assume a t.J2-.nd contained the letter F. This letter could be
changed to -n E, by adding a line to the lower part ef the F. About
the smoothest method which ever came to my notice was the use of
what they called the terrapin brand. The brand as made in the
shape of a terr pin. Using this br ad it would blot out tie original
brand and leave in its clace a blot t c shape of a terrapin, :11d, all
other figures would be covered.
"Using the terrapin brand on c ttle worked something like the
rogues brand id on hogs. It removed all evidence of former marks
and as ;Alto cha ge.
A schene was iorinulatei to meet the nos stealing t ich worked
very well. A co-pany was organized and registered a C brand on the
lefL 01w. ;-.ny one owning bosses could become a member by paying
a small fee ,.nd use the C brand. Each hoes was described pad the
description was recorded with the ssociation. In the event the critLer
was lost t -e organizaLion made an effort to locate the animal. ,hen
a lost animal was found the party who had possession would be comepled
to prove from who. he obtained the hose, and by that meLhod the
teal ug cold be traced to the thief.
"The org-nization had a atandin,, reward for locating any C brand
GNthier.6heldon F. Page 9
aangelore.R PC 240
Tarrant co., Diste,#7
critter. .he scheme worked so well that anyone Owing a hoss
with a C on the left jaw was very earful to see a proper bill of
sale and know the seller. Also, because of the difficulty rustldes
encountered in selling a C brand hose they passed up the brand.
"I worked for the Lvore and Ionner outfit three years and then
took up hose wrangling for private people as a business.
"I went to Eastland co., and worked all over that section of
texas, sad also in L Texas. I spent 11 years traveling from one
town to another .;,1 -Ad made a good living doing nothing else but wrong"...
irJg•
"I charged $5 a head and turned the hoes over to tLe owner
properly broke to the saddle
"The musta4; could be bought broken or unbroken. Of course,
if it was unbrokkAl the price would be less. In the majority of
cr,ses the buyer had to spent time to break the supposed broken hoss.
The ranctiers sold a hose for a broken animal if it had been ridden
two or three time, and the ridding may have taken place several
weeks prior to the sale. In such condition the critter would be
about as tough as one which never had been ridden
"It was not long after I started y wrangling career till I
had a reputation a a to, wrLIngler and was kept bpsy as I wished to
be. I would wo-k in a section till I had finished all the jobs
offered .nd then would move to the next town.
"gy system of wrangltn hosses was the one followed those days.
I would Ellzb the hoss and tie the left fore leg. That would prevent
the antaal from rearing. with its leg tied up, I would saddle and
mount it. I tehn would h7-ve sloe one release tie leg and the piz„ching
:lauthier.Sneldon r.
Rangelore.
Ta rrant
Page •ifs0
would start.
"There has been progress made in the method employed wrangling
hosses. The hoes is made acquainted with its change condition now.
First, it is taught to submit to being tied, next to be lead, then
next to accepthr the saddle, and last to be ridden.
In my days as a wrangler, the system was to teach the animal
that man was its master, with force and might, by riding it till
thf4 Loss became discouraged and submitted to being ridden and handled.
The early day system was hard on both the hose and wrangler.
"There were many hosses ruined by the old system of force and
might. some hosses would pitch till they were soIoaed. I rode two
different hosses that pitched until they over -strained their heart
and dropped dead.
"TA hose that pitched till it bees e exhausted, we called a
snake -blood. .hen a wrangles mounts a anake-blood, he takes on a
real job to peTform. ior a good rider, it is not so much a matter
of keeping himself from being pitched out of the saddle as it is
having the strenght to stay with the aminal uLtil it quits pitching.
"With each leap the rider is puL in a strain, especially his
back and legs, because it is necessary to brace the body against the
sudden moveL'ents of the animal. Also, the jar to the body, when the
hoes hits the ground, is wearing.
"1 found a way to relieve the strain to some extent. This was
by passing a rope under the hose and fastening each end of it to
a stirrup, thus preventing them from swinging outward. By so doing
I could steady my body easier, because the tied stirrups provided a
better brace.
Gauthier.aeldon F. P410 11
lignolore. PC 240
Tarrant co.,Dis.07
Hiding a hoes 411 just a :-‘etter of keeping up with the animals
movements. ,hat I mean, is to swing your body with the movements of
the hose and be braced when a movement stops. One must learn to
discern the hose's movements ahead of the move, by feeling and seeing
the animals muscles tensing Just before the move starts. One can tell
what kind of a move the hos,E is going to make by noting the muscles
that are being tensed.
"Bosses have severdil styles of pitching, but as a rule each
hose foJ.lows one general method. The different styles were classed
by the wranglers and the principal ones were the following, The
fence rower, sun -poacher and straight jumper. Th0 fence rower jump-
ed to one side and reversed the direction of the next jump. The
sun•peecher jumped side ways, Lut made all the jumps in the same
-irection. The straight ju :per ju ped and ran straight ahead.
"Occasiowaly, a wrangler would get hold of n hoss which was
unsuai. and had a quirk to its movement while in th, air. Juch hoes
is next to impossiable to ride, because a rider can't maintain his
balance on a hose that is wiggling while in the air. The quirk is
made by the hoes at the moment it s -,,arts its descend after the
elevation.
"I haft rode some wigglers and some I failed to stay with. I was
classed as a top wrangler and could ride any pitching ho3s except a
few of the wigglers. There was qpily one rider that I ever have seen
who cou d master the wiggler. Be was a clored fellow named Fred
Hickman He died at tort Worth, a few years ago. Alio
colored fellow could meet all the movements any hose was able to
make.
Jauthier.Sheldon I'.
Page 12
elore. FC 240
ant co.vaist.07
"During the years I worked at hoes1Vra,gling, I worked one
Spring roundup in Eastland co.; have forgotten the outfit I worked
with, but Fred Hickraetn
tak
worked with the same outfit
an I watched him ride "sm0.,
"The rawhides of the vnrious outfits writing in the roundup,
hunted out every tough hose in the country for the colored fellow
to ride. The boys tried to find a critter he could nA stay A.th,
but he rode 'em' all.
"While talking about top cowhands, the fcllow I shall have to
credit with be.nE the best roper was Booger Red, who lived in kort
worth, and took the roping championship in topi:g contest for a
nu::iber of years.
"1 ha e no doubt atiout it bet,ig a fn_ct, that a,..iong the cowhands
of Texas, were some of the best roper', gun -shots, and rider, in
the entire world.
"At the conmlusion of my wrangling caeer, I returned to Ausk
co., wid engaged i farming, in which. business I continued until
a few years ago. -ince quiting the farm I have just been daubing
ar'und at odd kinds of business