Document text
eit
4teldun F.
AL.no,lore
Tarrant Co.,Diut.• 7
em Hurst, 714 living at Hurat. Tax., wau
burn in Clalborn oo.,Tenn.,Uar.6,1066, at whioh
tie his father, L.H4rot, operated a whiskey
atill..-.Hurat emigrated to Takaa in 1877 and
settled on a tract of land in Tarrant co., lo-
oated adjacent to bear Creek, two miles N. of
uleue,.j:04. He farmed tne land for four yeara,
then moved to Bedford, Tax., 1 miles of Fort
_urth. Thore he bought a 70 acre tract of land
fur tne um of c„70.00 and one yoke of amen. 7.em,
Hurut was roared to -Manhood at the Bedford set-
tloment. At the age of 18, he began his rsInge
career on a horse ranch owned by the lautAlter
brothers. His next place uf employlvat wau in
Yon county un the Hoffman brothers' ranoh.
.Aftmr torminating his servios with the Herrmann'
ranch, he went z,u the recos River rango section
of Texas and worked at a 'Lamy oowcamp, owned
by the A.aughter brothers. He remained with the
/;74asy ;11 ranch fur two years and tnen returned to
tho bedfoLd aettlement, where ho farmed and hau
alum reriained. His stow:
"I'll be 73 yearu old if 1 utsy with thlu aame kif lire for a
tudder year, twit is for the must part of it. (Alicit thur will tie
liar.b,1939.. I saw the light of day fur the firut iiio buck wonder
in Laairborn oo.,;:enn. ,e lived in the uplands and my puppy.
.Hurut wu hiu name, raised Qom and made whiskey. Thum tnur days
"twain not Icainat the law•tu run a utill without a permit und ouch.
-t Lho way wfather.run his, it ws °ailed a 0.1doat utill.
,ton thinca cot u.rt of uettled aftt.x the Civil .ar, we piled
uur -utuff in u ouvorod wacen, hitohed to mules to It and utartod
a drag fur Texan. That wit; in 1077. It took mu six weeks to make
that tnar (126'43. hit eookii, mud, hillo, nand, otreamj. and rivora
on the way. Thar whar times wrien we oould ford to otreams and
uvie of 'am we had to float lier. But, we cot here and landed in
Gauthier, ,heidon
Rangelure
arrant Gu.„Diut.0
Tarrant oounty. Pappy found a plume of land on Bear k;reek, two
dlei fl.. of isUleou uf *durum, ALleuu warnt thar then, the land
belonged to ,idder Daniels then. That thar land pappy rented and
thar we settled and
we farmed four years on that. thar place..
"At ,tie end of four years work farming on the Adder 4.anielse
plaoe, rappy aad made eno4gh to buy a pleoe of land by throwing in.
an ox team with what he had. lie bought n 70-aore piece in the
ford nettlenent for ;:.70.30 und one .good yoke of oxen and t a
clear title to titID land, and ftwarnt bad land eithort
"Lio:Jt of the hounes then whar buiA of logs, -nut our farm-
house an better than that, Owause °Vale ;milt of weatheruoard
and rookoned au a rijht pert hous• them days.
"The Hurat elan it have liked the Badford district, ueoause
;tau been Hurst folks living thar every since.
spell uf time aftor we settled at trio Bedford aett4oment
a postoffioe was put in and the burg of bodford was started. lux
noon wau a blaoksmIth shop, store, and a benoh r_r the loafers to
sit and do thar whittling. After all theoe years the burg is
about the same, except it has lout the pcutoffiee.
''Bobo was the firat poutmaster, A:elk:amp waa the blaokamith;
Bobo aim) uold the groceries and dry 000ds and frniahed the
whittling bench. 4 brother, 2.:HUrst„ fetohed the mail from
Dallas to bedford and rode a hussy thar and back, carrying the
mail sack.
"I worked up a job with a few of tae aettlers, toting thar
from the Bedford offioe to the homes. Ale of the places I
fetched the mail to was o'd man Booth's cow ranoh, fa7,11nr of Hay
Gauthier, ..heldon V.
hanliplurs
Tarrant Uu.„*Jist.'7
Page
A.;
ilooth, who fame the old Avadquartern location and in a eattle
buyer and lives un tho o d place I rode a hues and learned
to ride a hunt; to perfection toting the settlers' mail. Of course,
riding a hos& ledrnod by me bunk yonder in Tenn. Bat thar is
a difference tuix sitting ono= and riding 'cm. Baok yonder in
ail our honoos whar rt,ised as sort of peta and thar whar
no ,Ild pitChing critters to handle. .11.1n we hit Tculan 'twin tire
To.xas cowpony we 4ad to otraddle; and handlin 'dm took riding,
nut cittini4
"2aon To_.an critter/3 had like nta;ing ability far beyond the
,Autcrn critters. Hearken to this, mat my, brother did one day
on a trip to dallas to foto4 the mail. o had agreed to ride a
hoes in a mato4 race for a_ fcllow at 214,14 ..ur %/war many matt%
hoos races thell days and My brother wan a top rider, aluu a light
might, uu oallod on to do riding often.
It iu 2,4; igloo from :oodfurd to unar tno puil;offloo
44u. liruther mado that drag, to Dallau ;:nd baCk, in six' hours on
pony, and t4o critter viarnt any the vurse fur tear.
u4y firot r,nch work was un tae hoed ranch bolonging to tio)
aaughtor buys. ¶thatar in 1084 Ilryti I tuuk up uith the outfit.
whar
Tao camp Wall located near/Coppell id now loanted, juut about on
the line of Tarrant tknd £2. 1)ad counties. Avo vAddion worked thar,
looking after around bOj hosaeli.
u rousted in a tent and one or the tudder of ad.waddien
mended up t4e. Chuck. _bon I say 'twat, monad up Chuck, I roan
Itwan oJre nossuod up at 1;imes. 1ur :har one or two fair -to
middling +Amok mcusern in t4e crew, but most of tae time uo
tAlithior, Aeldon 2.
Lnnoclore
1Airrant Co. ist.,
Aigo
whar too damn ornery to du the job right.
he outfit fetehed us plenty of ohack uupply, siteh as
canned vegetables, sorghamveorn meal, wicat flour and beans by
the bushel.. 2ho beef whur more or leso ail around us. If we
needed beef, and warnt too ornery to gu fetch it, all vle needed
to do ms pick out a fat yeerlincwhleh cuited us.. I worked a
spell of yours for different ou4its and I (Walt think I ever
lined mit f:ue °nee w th beef bol,:ncine to the outfit I was with.
"ALA Llo our tiu to sun oat at nii#t and oune out in the
morninc, beef, beans, sop, iloke bioeuito und bleak (Joffe() whur
dished out fur our tape worms. ,ome of *LA) tines, unen we wanted
to L';et uno fancy chuck, we'd tw,ve it menu of uon-of-a.aun stew.
Dow, tvittt thhr lo a mean fl-,,tin_for lining your flus. it hau
ail the inexediento in it which the wok, can lay hands on. line
purtiono of caeh intAsedient iu judgeO by instinct. if you 314
meeourinc stuff thc stew will sure be upoiled.
"JAyway, the etutolz muut be fittinG fur humans, bemuse we
whar a_wavib in tip-top shape for duing our work. o could utty
Idith our wotk lung no eenditions wiled for.
--hen a norther hit we'd bo called on to otay uith t -,c nerd
fr,t1 start to the finish of the utorai, bemuse the oritteru whar
bent on findint bettor unelter than whnr we had 'en.
"Hooves are nut ue tolerably bud about coAic on a stomp, but
tac erittern sure would drift fast for shelter. he utllions
‘Jeuld leah Uc mares to sum) river bottom, or riome oueh place
Ler thar 00110 timber for a wind brake. iioeueo ui ours
beak to thar home range, after a buster utopa, out it may be a apoll
Gauthier, ..,holdon JeEP gt
41t ,iint.i?
Nano:.tire
or tOree dayo buftire ti.c orittor %dou.C1 Dhow up.
5.1.ar whim certain folks tolerable 13(.,nt on picking up
stray husocs for the purpcioe the critters a hunt. Mom
kind o folu ept int:4 t,e tine aU atr was raging, •oort
of lookine to help -the critters to find i neitor. Lho witters
titcra folks found '4'd not Gee .E16111.1)4 ,A), to prevrmt tue i.ons of
433:-Itters„ stay i the witters durin,,3 a atoll& Ilisybe vIeld
be a couplo days and nts in one stretch withott any oieep.
:oneti7-ies viten tao ouster warnt so bad, v.eld dive each
other t l.ttloSpo11 rcot„ but ,:Lon a felloti had a citance to
aet a1.7,-fliL. ho to do hi -43 aeoping fast, because
it woul,d, bo Ufl'17 for 0 coupler of hours at boat.
"Uf. -uou?...t;e„ wn tne weather was Accent,. 1,e sat pretty.
:,_k.l.rnt 14cork to do then and °Am sort of a law zion,S Job,
except Itzeinc; trio roundupo, ton whar plentcr work to do.
hLgj,taiion wra.10.int3 critters w.c ad none tou4i tiork thoh took
1:ho leaf lard off our ribi.
"7fte roundupo tar hold in the -pring and 7,A111. e worlzed
ono .banch time. liosaes of a tierd don't rano) tocother. nu"
inimals stay In.bunchos. :Itch stwl ould have around LL mares
and tiith tne buneh of nnros would be tile coit an0 tne i7;eldins„
oo tlie total f)unch•are.ne one ctlid would be Ulm 71-> and 1J0
uritttu'i he LoiOg fl1 on the i,;oppell rr4nae conerally
re eepamted into four ur iv bunches 1-,4Lich :_xased off by
tt“-a.selva•
"Me roundup Job was to brand the volts, castrato tho young
males and mit out the eritters we'd want to wrangle. Moss weld
QthLcr, L;heldun 41
itnoir,oloro
Tarrant 4o.loiati;Y
page e6
FE,0
oat out fur wrangling wowiti bo plaood in tho (solaria and after
the roundup work vlas finiohed we'd do the hustina•
had to wurk one bunch of husuou at u timi, bauauao it
kluoldn't do to throw biu uunuhes of hueuea-togethor unleav tag
atuda whop snubbed, bouause those orittere:would more tuan
G t into amixup, and livid telling you 'tin* mixup t4ien VA)
atIlione cote to fitting. une of taw thin we'd havo to watch
all the tine MU to Otop a mixup if t4 studa not.
"zue mixups gonerally otavted 0:Amuse:one of two atuds tried
to stea. a mare away from -to tuWder. talliuns wont 'low any
tuador otua to fool aruuna hit' ladles, 4ut try tu minx a
maro away from a herd. Al, if ho gets dallchod at it he's in for
a nip.
tAllions du about no no fittinc with tams' teeth nu with
thir foot, and titoy try for tne throat to *At off the wind. ith
thar tooth, tho animals uan out out huWia Of meat. lhar aro purity
cora opiIled durin a mixup.twix tuo a, uø tno cvAtteru
1111 eta rijit in ti-tur and pitoh till itsimier rum- :Wu and
uan't 1:u on.
a wrangled around lUo nuuuoa a,year. Atom urittora whar
:Cur oupl lying the out/pan/so to tho L,iaugitter OUUMILIWO uh-eh
:laughtor pouple run in different plaoos.
.16Atv'641 ul hautinc '1W) 00 waa to jaull :quilt it and no monkey
worx. Ot4UX009 ve and tem in to uul.lmaland we'd rope tflL b
leme )ut a u,ind over its won end n asidn1-1.-to badk4 e'd
lot tau' urituer otand ith U4o maddia_kin ills back for see, al
an -6 on mount it, 6wco t ind oft and 'mks tue rocking. filim
iJau.thier, :;heldUn
1Zan:;elore
liUrrant Go.,AJist.4-7
Awe 0
FA;
houses then wotti6 do to pitehing. .Jome would pitch like hell
and tmdders :Quid eoue tu thaw in just a few minutes. But, with
any oil tem, you'd have to know your riding.
"I've seen stars and moons, in ail vises and shapes, and
four ur five million at one timetwhile arguing with a critter
about letting ma stay on its hUmps I'll wiz I Whar u top wrang.
lor and mv deadly enemies gave me that kind uf a end.off, but
I've argued with some critters whit% Oufited me. Hide any of tam
.helle.thar whar some oritters whioh the only follow tia ,t eould
stay liAth 'am Mar a dead man tied un. Aay iellow„ twat whar
sumo emitters that died in thar tracks pitching. Ilvc had .two thot
did and sevora which nay us well have b on dead for all he 6lood
thoy viaar aftcr the .argument.
_efd 1-ide 'era from a half to u dozen times and tuen t e
oritters whar ready for (sow work.
"I nentod L...th the Jlaughter outfit four years and then
joined up with a cow outfit. I want *;;,u Youni-; county with a herd
of oritters fur Hal:Coin brothers. Ilhe outfit whar drifting through
Zarrunt county to the Young county range seotiOn and needed a halt,
so I joined up.
driftc tne 4erti of about 1,000 to a oathp south of
ley and turned 'em louse on tae open ranges
Vtar .‘nar sever 1 camps tar then. .uving had a °amp ta4r
at iO time and wail about, the biggest outfit in the section
"%Char is whar I L;ot some 4nowledge of pert rautling twix
to ranoimrs. Both men whar hipped to tne thOdor fallow picking
brand was 11J1
critters and .,,,uricing the brand over. one fellows
G fhler, .Jheidun P. Page 0
Lalk;elure
Tarrant Co.,Diut 7 J
a
una the tuddertu urand WWI liGlo It warnt mueh of a trick to
change a C to G or a G to a C. -o, to borvi, Lae cans, one fellow
caun6vd 'lo' brand to rr:ad 'ICU'. But, the ohunge didn't work,
because tat; tudder chane:ed hiu brand to road •ICU21. he
laut I heard u;i: that mass the tlio fellov.u.agreed to wipe the alate
()lean and otart from scratch. lio/fman had a fuir camp far the
waddles to roost in and %,(11 mar dished up about tuo we kiild of
chuck the Uauohter hues outfit it out, only had u belly
()neater which u:;LJ pretty fair ad the Chuck warnt so hard to take.
"That tura, 7ounG county seetion about all a cattle vino,
at that tar 'MA) ono all 'twvs to oe soon wags waddloo and oritters.
-hilo lain; *41rough a nerd you'd seo many hiffrent brfinda mixed
in frum tudder horde). if eourufl, at Lae roundups all the outfits
would work under one head and the %-ifferant oritteru Iihar- cut out
and tae calveu branded witil the lrun mecordini3 to its mother's
brand.
rEhile with .the abilMun outfit 4 uaw a (tattle drift.
Ilgaa in February and a real sleet buster hit in and the crit-
ters drifted from Mare than a 100 miles from the N. of us.
Critteru in our section went taut far i. -e juat quit trying to
hold the erittem because Itwarnt any use.
"Thar ‘har tnuusands of oritters driftinc past that had
OM= away from Udder runehes n. ug ua and just auopt pact oar
camp. the firLIt nht ut the storm I layod awake all nicht,
Ia.:Amine to the horns of tit() driffinc; critters clashing.
"The orittora utartod moving tit() day oofore the buster hit
Etna the ()A rawhides ealeulated k hard .upell of weather wag)
6authler, Sheldon n
liangelore
Tarrant Go.,Dista7
Page 00
17;,.0
behind the movement, and so vtwass 'Twee sleet. Maw, ran and
uitter cold slung ,Ith the rest. Luta of_eritters whar lost,
being too weak to stand the chill.
"'Thor whar a drift fence running from about 80 miles 3. of
Olney to the'Aroher county lino, but the critters went around it
and what didn't uhar pilei up at the fence, and filar utter bien40048
found deed at the fenoe.
"X reckon -I stayed with the Hoffman Outfit about two
than Jiggled out to the Prams eountry„ S. of 17-4002 WAV0 TOmr
nested with a Zlaughter cow outfit. 'Twee culled the 'Lary 31
ranch, bemuse thar S !olta made laying doWn for thar brand.
"A fellow named ‘;hnners whar the top-acrew at that wigwam
and he worked from 15 to 80 rawhides. The names of the rashidos
who worked tear I can't reeePombez because input of them vibes* called
by thar nickname. Ylke the 1e1) eater, he was called 00ookyl
or 'Punk'. If I'unk had a tudder.make„ it whar tethered Out some.
whar and of use.
"40 did lotu of ridine on the •Lagy 30 beau* the critters
held fairly well sunaked. mlo ateyed with the nerL until tie
animals whar bedded down and then Just two riders kept an eye on
'am through the night...The night ridera Changed shifts every two
hours. The -main thing sight riders had to keep thar eyes peeled
for was the rustlers. 010 ruatlfes would wateh for MOWS to
scat for a herd and then pick up the etr404
":nen I worked for the UAW S the law had rustlers fail*,
well under cover, but once in a.while thar akar a:steal.
"Our shelter whar tents inmtM Anter time and Ira 40/10 La
CalAttthiClre
,nt
Aion 410
4.;
th upon duri the nIur; tether of a :;ku-tmer. e trai t
nite.It'.)T fur tve hotwes ont of nesqulte postim twt upri,tt in
t,Lc Ir.Thlan a shade for .1 en in the $ttilireer time and
w1;-.11 brake i intr.
"ZIC rttie ru.flarotolt. r*tt itOr tt• rito
rat oi-7 vtloh iltar .rALot the averace Vtle,:013 tretra da.:ra•
Oolpartv._,tit. today,1,rczrt Una, 1,--Aices ou,t h.eapc
of fun ..hatt, i•Nt„
}vim ve 1.ckft ff,17 b1101:0 in pur pookeia, told wo'd iinve ter
aft, -.r ptq tio,'ift-r the Totality: vre/C.. el.rtz ttt tovin-vithout fell.
2124 laaddle::.:, won:14a tley net imttta to ir find-
r:enert41.1,z! t t pl.ort.TIV r foolloiwert tiv,r noodles.
"1 InIvIlt$ -•tit i-ytut,,:, of nen viho iko to ao: thar horn
lab th ttrid.td, and 'twat-, about u: their honEma
.ftyjcmc t tail 111Utiuth. In 1.11 /Mir hold lat.:, the
ru;sisjittp„ ve/(1_ not ,-s..ozold thnarrliP,forn• re.LIVT: In 11T the nic;ht
oh.in. •.one .43:r the 1114:4 InG vitt-A.r otrr.talked
•iv the eep h.f177C
tu tea Done ,poC,,I.tou,
Tit r in tf-e country, Lculdei;
11.011.1, tit° tup iLoati
PLA teller uf lawn dwin.
"Um) n:1 .,1•A h 1 T •thtes.?":3 ki 1,11C I-v.(1(1Lnc z_xt to
Artrazi, e honsea t.jf7d. rAnnri v•Ide. no uadd...7
lions th.itt ewtticl te:V. title UTI 'clitteth.
;III
podtu, do uftvr ta I111 tu -:.Le hour t antla ta tx
ont.and lt,c! th mtch Ilhar t) :Attor nott:Ld so:-: it hop
tiqo hour OQUW ii,oxrand the) hon 'iottld pt.t 10'A.th ito nosel
"That shar a pretty smart boa*, but 4 tudior waskiy somas in
sa thier, :;heldon 2e.
itonolure
tair2unt :.443.7
tii tido
"I redo a 4.444 t the .°J41$ bhlot oosild
rd the .1,410 brnd,.
-oil, 4sut hoso ',attar rotty tn., too, but .J.a.
_Jedu taken oomeoiv.wit:7, a st ris told lv orIWr he ono"
ov,00d. 40 said:
"I oonod a hu;:io a asioh never 3teJp1 n k hole or stump.
1.3 u ditOh. *.atiu h000 ut,41 o. pert juoje, TIC :4 en yield oone
or!.
>age Al
144
to a aitoWor u streum the oril,ter JOLLAv
tn.,: point, tudder Loddy ea.:..sao4 $n and ascod:
'"1:`,up )ose ttio m wsur tou ',d."..de 2o, iVe orittor:1
r m
ansuered:
ear, that very think; happoAcd u$th us onoe or twioe,
tse orItt-,r 'uas smart. .Lft!lr it 4ad ampod lb We 4'; foot
and Saw it outtldn't malos ler, tticn t4o oritter juat turned book.
It juot uouldn't be made; to utumble in tined t4e
orit..or about jumpisi; wide stream afterwo ou tit inst%td
turning *kaiak it ',Aniid Du tut, strams
"I never rode hos.- thtoui tit= bk,txter It saw uto.,r-k;-j
no (mauve to ;:inish k jump, but.I have rud$00em that *qou,-,..d
stop in u ho.LO.4'oh Susses *uhar few in nlexibor ;Aid in igiv,t ds
and w4ur a...uays oavod ior najit work, and r Un 1& night orItte
onoc in &whiie a ori• or --ould show up tiOi ho
oh oritter were soas shun tcd.
u.,sen I left; tSe 0a41111)0kt&15:x. 0. ;*nd
gurfeinE. I uv bn thar prdtty 1-4‘.oh setk-r uinoo•