Document text
Irot. k. F r:::RAN
'f)
lautlier.lhelloa
,weiore.
r ;ant 1 o. nist
Page !f' 1
14,0 240
A.1.14m A Imith,71,1iving at 116.71they
lt,"Tort -orthsTexasoule born Illy 28th,1866,
on. a plantation near Ihweveport, Louisiana.
Rio family moved to the Red liver section of
TeXas, and looatd on a farm near the town of
Clarksville ia :Tied iver ounty,when he was
15 years old. 741 was desirous of beooming a
cowboy and at -Cie awe of 18 secured employment
oa the Ye tU Ranch where he worked 10 years,
Ret returned to farming in1894 and follow-
ed tlat vooatiot until 1888, at wirich time he
retired.
ff. married Aose Goode in 1903. There
were nine children born to the poulio. 'le
came to Avrt worth in 1983, and has since made
the city his home.
"is story of range life follows;
r have had ten years explrienoe on a oow-raaoh.
did everything that an alkli is °aided upon to do. T began
as a tenderfoot of tie purest type and ended up as a seasoned
rawhide, that is what the boys called an old timer.
T was born near Shreve,ort ;oiisiana, July 28th,
1866. My folks moved to the Aed liver seotion of Tersest°
fm. I was bent on beooming a oowhandoso started out to
fini some ()Ant that would t ke me on. I was not long,
aboUt the second day 7 stopped at the McGill ranch and was
vim a nest,
T was 18 years old and a husky stripling for my
fift* The only thing I oould/Vs a ranch then t'as ride a
heilie'tolerably well looatld the ramrod and hit him;ifor
J00,of coarse the first question he shot at me was," are
you :a greener or a ra whtle" r told him T had newer worked
on 0 ranoh,but could ride a hose. aised me up for a spell
1
and,
VISA set;
Gauthier.Sheidon Pegs .402
Rangelore. 10 240
Tarrant
T)o, you know what it takes to be a Cowhand?"
liard work"; answoredewand would like te learn how
to do it".
Well,hard work in a part of it.but there is more than
that. It takes a hose and a man with guts, Rim you rooks
in your *saw?. He inquired.
'tiro I have and lots of said*
Tilia answer satisfied him and T was hired at the sum
of 48. a month until I showed him r was not a knothead and
had the requirements. If I shaped up to his satisfaotion, I
was Seltaaeiws---$20, the following month. If r failed t was to
Irst my walking ordsrs.
Ie called the rangeboss anti ordered him to take me Li
charge. The top -sore, sea to mo,"oeme greener,V11 show you
where the dog house is, where we do ou* flopping and point
out your orum inoubator low, r was fresh off the farm and
the term greener was fitting for me. That was my first time
to mmetup with a oow outfit. Whe n he see," I'll show you where
the dog house is and point out the crum inoubator", that caused
se to turn over in my mind whsth-r or not t wanted PCIPOiday
sleep with a bunch of dogs. When we reached the bunkhouse T
was rolieved to learn what he meat by the dog house and tile
the arum incubator was my kink.
The boys all boom' very chummy and told ma that it
was best to start out with a gentle hose and gradually work
up to handling the Busk's. The top-scrow sea that it was aiga
duty to start ths tenderfoots off wit' a gents' hose and thit
rlaut-lier.71heldon
*an,:elore.
Tarrant lo,.3ist,. f7
7)age fi 3
1f1 2L0
he had one in the remade made to order for a grsener40.66.2_
bein',,,entelt could do everything on the rave ,but throw the
rope. X11 the friendly talk made me feel ,good and t was at
hone right off and among friends.
The next mornin oberor dayli.;;ht,the boys started to
,et up and t honed ont of luid,beitv anxius to ;!et started.
:he, the beily-cheater hollered," oome for y ur Aorning's hell",
t was ready and to get the chuck chewIng.over with,so t
weat,:"
mount Ay hose opl get started with ly first day of work as a
cowhand.
were
1 '7e all,soon! done with swallowing our '-iot caes,saddle
blankets the cowhands called those, our hot blak coffee, brA.led
delf steak and gravy,which was called sop. Tt was well cooked
and I enjoyed the meal. letting t"At ohewin:, over with,we all
sauntered out to the errral.
There stood a hoes, all•saddied and snubed to a lost.
The top -screw sez," there is your Aount kid"and don't drive hi:1
hard%
T had hoes ex3erienoe aid had been taught to always
)ull the critter's head over to it's side white lountiag a bucker,
or a strani.:e hose that you were not acquainted with, so It could
wt elevate until after the mount was made. If there was to be
any show T. wanted to 'le seated,but was not expecting any action,
or funny btsiness. t got seated and turned that critters head
l-ose. ”Tell, when I did,therc was an expLoision. ihat critter
vvant up high and w“::-Ied 1.)A from under me,f!%ster than a hell
liver .oes under water. le llft me in the air with aotAing to
sit on,o I came bank to the earth suddenly and T sure hit hard
Cauthier.3heldon
Rangelore.
Tarrant.go.i.nist,.-P7
T'age 4
110 240
T got up and looked aroand and saw sitting on the op'ra house,
that is the top rail of the corral, all the hands splitting their
1.2.ts with laughter.
Et flashed through my knot at once w4at the gang had
done. I had my dander up, not at the boys ,bat because T let
a boss throw mi, I iasisted that T could ride that hose with-
out being seiLled and demanded another chnee,but the top -screw
would have none of it. le then told me about the ho'ss. rt did
not belong to the ramrod,but Vas the property of len leveaprt,
and no one had ben able to ride him,except Ai8 owner. Tith
len it was different, th hoes hose would do ant in oalled
u on it to do.
I was thea :-rivla a 4oPs that ooull ride,in fact, seven
hosses that .Aere to be nine for use ia my work.
th:A first morning on, t boys Ail everythtng
they ()WA to help le and break me in. rt was lnog Altil I was
working wit' the best of them and was a real rawhide. first
8iX months of wags went for an outfit. I sleat )5. for a pair
of peewee top b ots, )10. for a hat cad 460. for a saddle. 'Then
7ot those bo-ts on my hyofs and that conk over slo;,hed on my
head t was in dau er o h itiu a ut ith pride.
TTy first work mu-, gathering stray cattle. My instruc-
tions were to pick ue everything with the 'IA G' brand on and
every critter witaout a br.nd thpt was not with a mother cow.
-on lewon?ort was my partupr. Te carried a brPading iroa and
when we found an anbranled orItter we would give it the heat.
.4tuthier.lheldon
Aangelore.
Tarrant 0o,.7)ist..,
Page 5
PC 240
"e) would start out La the morning with a hunk of jerk:tried
beef, a flask of water in our saddle bag and be out all day
thromth the breaks. That we ate was whittled off of
the hunk of jerk with a knife. These that we found we would
buseh duriwr th lay an Attie it to thl main herd at the end
of our day. +he hoss t rodeknew the work,in feet, he did about
all t.1, work. Tf a critter would make a )reak th hose would
t.f) out a ter it and turn it back. Tf the critter showed the
Least bit of o)jeotions the hoes woull bite it a cou2le times
fL,..nk, and that ,•neraLly causel the critter to take a
!ifferent view of th land.
7rom huntin4 prays, T went to ni-ht ridieg. Now, that
ic2 a job whIn a nothher hits,or a real bustin5- -t rm makes a visit.
"ang, cattle 610-n1 to waite for some pretext of an excuse to
OA a stameede. -"het a storm is brewiaL7 the most triffiling noise
will dut them to stirri,g. t have se.,n th-) herd go because a
whiffy eat made it's adeearanoe. 7h worst Itl-ipede 7 ever
witnessed was while we were o, a drive Litf- New exioo, "or a
sped '0%11 sold a sTeat Blount of his clttLe to New "exieo
folks. They wer,1 Irwlishmen, that came to the eattle country
v_ith the idea of ruking lots of money raising T-boae steak.
One night we 'lad Just crossed 1..(C:o the state and the
herd was .!Etttig read- to bed. To lid not expect it to ramine
bailed long,beause R were si,-7ns that a spoil of 7:eat:le was
brewLi. luddealy, from around a butt calla about 5 Indians on
hosses art fdOVint thr) herd aid out be:br we could r,,et turned
around and got a p.00d shot at them. "'ur few shot,, were wasted
-authier.§hellon
Irngelore.
warrant '0.. nist,s17
"age1 6
70 240
the Indians had left as ,uiok as they had came and the cattle
w're going at a terrific clip Or we had to forget the Tndianr,
a d mind the critters.
T was fluCting with Nivenhort. course we knew that
the hands in the lead v!ould try and turn t e herd to ,et it
milling ,that is traveling in a circle job,with the ot4r-
b ys rilin7 the flank,*Vto kee.) the hn'd bunehed,but the -1
Indian hal put the fear of hell in those wattle and right off
tgey were going in aLl dir-Jetions. Ile were ridimg our best andd
riding hard in the lar'r, and rain it.was a hopeless task because
they became seattered,b.it we were trying.
%Mealy navnlort's hose went down, as he will attyvtilia,
/turn a bunch back t tle main herd. here were about 110 of
them and we were ahead of the buneh when -'evenport spelled. T
sez to myself, 'ea will get the eternal braid sure. Tie hoss hit
a hole and broke a front Leg. let ti' oattL o and waited
to pick up len awl fetch him to the °amp. -hen those critters
had passe, went to th, at and there layel the Ilss and 3en
standing up with his gua drawn ready to shoot the hose.
"That save Aen,was a deep narrow de)relslon that the
oottle were junpiag,nen landed la it.
7Te shot hs hoss anl drov. hn back to cahp where Na
,c)t another mount and started out to find the herd. 'lien we
returned th boys had, what was left of the herd, mi ling,but
we were about 210 he d tort.
ff* those 25 head,I suppose th fnliane -ot some of
the ..attle.
That was y they stampeled the herd. Itawaaeding
Gauthier.4heLdon
aanotlore.
Tarrant lop. lista.,
7
vl 240
cattle was oaa of the -ethods us al by the i• lians to lest.
Now, tc; i7et back to len,befor r start off -n s me other
subject and foret to tell of his powers on a hosS.
7ou la -Ave herd c)-' men that would ride any ho ss that could
b3 straddled. '"e11,• lei cull go beyond ridiag. I have seen
sen him o abuokjt h as and doing tricks ?qiile the critter
was att.:thing. 7ts sir, T have seen him crawl down one side,
under aal come u, oa the 01,0erite side and reseat in the
saddLe.
lea was a char1,0ter.he could tell stories all day and\
start ia the melt Iornin and do the stole thia_g over without
retelling a story. 7e claimed tn have learnel the cow basinesi
in old "exico, 7e often spell', the ni-hts tenin- to lea, and
ot'lers, tliliag stories. T will tell one that leanwoull tell
when the boys w-117 ask him to chin abut his hoes powers. Tt
folLows as well a- 7 caa rAate it:
teLliag a
I was d ia cow work in oll fex, them 7reasers pt
t
will stallion that was the lost beaJtiful piece
of hose meat naturl avlr put inside :f a hide a.! his brains
was elual to any human's. T at first tioa.-It thev were isshin,7
talk from a loco waed,but they finaily 1:)t ma to thinkirw that
thera was sometlini,7 to their chinning.
It s anded uuraoA3ab1e't, me,bat r calculated that
beinL;. that r lid aot everytAxg,that there may be something
aboat hoss life I had not )ut my lamps on.
,T I told the 71.easers that Tf they would tell sr the
way that woufl .1ad -le to the stompiags I would corral
(3autlier. Theldon
'ianchlore.
'arraat
-lage ;I 8
PI 210
t:at beauty, They sez that f ipay as well try to )ut ny foot
Li my ear as to attempt to oorra t7ant Aess, because the eost
tad 'ex hossmen hal tried and made a bust of it,but they
eeve me tee way to dra4
It WAR A siot ab ut 100 miles fron where we were and
the place Layed betwex tow mountains. In the val_ey wee a
stream and tiat hees couLl be seen amine', to the stream for
water every oreiee ju,t as tee sun put in it's a)peareace.
!I
"nth that iefrmation,E started to -;ake the dra4 ant
foune it without any trouble. I hid myself,off a ;.00cl_piece,
LI the top of a tree aed waited for ti, critter to appear ae
and how r had been told. 7iure as you are alive, when the 81141
peeped over the horizon there aepeared the animdl. rt was the
m st beautiful tii r ever laid my eyes on. 7e was as wUte
and clean as new fallen snow,aelarge eeshy tail stool out Like
a swan's neck Aril his malls looked A.ke a sliver watlr -°q1,
hell his head like a proud pea-000k sal moved with the erne, of
a ballad deneer. -ell, to Aa,e a 1.1e at ry s .ort, it we a
hose that would lake lay lover of hose flesh tor:iv() his faIlly
for.
row, hew t captere thlt critter 4.thout injurine, it,
oe even euttia a blemish on him 'els the ziestion. It was too
eretty to make a mark oa its body. lo 7 leciled -n a m7hems.
The ()11.owine norniae,be.or sunup, r submer.ed meeelf in the
water at his iria'Au. pleas. I•placed a reed ii my mouth for
breathing pureose and th're t layed.
IA due time he arrived and •s hl lowered his head to
-7a ut •Lier.rhe id on
-elore.
-arrant rdo,.nist,. '7
9
-=.10
to rink t threw ny arms aroual .i alit aril swung myself
oato his back, and what a back for ridiag.
!ell my buckaFoos, there was so'ie pitchiag. 2'11 the
backers you av eei an b roll into one and that will Ave
-ou sme idea about at was riding. '70 pitched for four
hoirs and. taea suddenly ntopped. Yee sir, le was a hoss with
rains tat he used. "S knew that he had met his master. ,1"rom
that moment on Ue novel at my command,with one Yateption. e
would. aot -tay away ."rom his range while t was not workin7 hiM,
could not stak him. To mould break for his range,but would
be back the next morniug waiting for no. That distant .,as 100
miles, so that wlil give :fAi some idea of his speed and with
all that speed t rile him was Wesittin- in a rockia7 chair.
T couLd aot stag away from the states and of
cour-e had to Leave him.'
That was one of len' many tai.s and a sam)le of wAnt
we did
in the log lo,s, at aights.
nuril;- the tat gears t worked cflill,we never had
any rustler t:-.ouble,but the Pisani blotters Taave the
pleaty of trouble est aal 7outh c.1
10.
cowmen
T-ie range ia our section WIS :,etting cut up into farms
aad cattle -len be -an to move father 'est during the SO's.
,oelled to start a fori of my own and quit the rinee it 1904
al farmed the relai.ler of ly workin- tays.
I larried ose Goode in 1903 and reared nine children.
Ifter my children were all :rowa I mov-?d to nort Worth, tit was
in 19315.