Document text
leuthier, Jieldon
:iengelore
7errant ro., 1ist. 7
Walter P. orrison, 78, 110h- 7- 2nd.
7t. orth, 7ex., w -s born ay 7,
le59, in 7ineola, Woad Co., rex. ;elter's
father operated a sawmill and mei:led sev-
eral saddle horses. "alter was taught to
ride as soon as he was able to sit on a
horse. TIe wes a good horseman by 14, and
assisted in a cattle drive from Texas
to the 2ohn Collins ranch in Parker Co.,
where he was employed as a cowhand.
71s story:
"nyf.ge iS 8,nd I wee born at :'ineola, in ood "County,
Texas, on the seventh day of nay, 1359. -y father owned a sawmill
in ineola and kept several sadale bosses, so when one of* the
family wanted to drag off so..;e place, they usedee hoes. They forced
me to keep out of the way around the sawmill because Lhere was
nothing a young kid could do, so I spent a lot of tine riding while
I was not in sohool.
"Father put me straddle a hoes when I was not old enh
to sit -uo so when T wr 8
able to handle a !lose.
to be a cowhand. father
when I was 10 years old.
old enough to be trusted off al,ne, I was
rile thing that I hankered for as a kid, was
bought me a lariat for my Christmas present
began to swing the loop over everything
I could find with .that looper. 3till objects at first, then ovine
objects. -hen I was 14 years old, I could =ear oving objects
going and coming.
"Sohn ollin's hands were driving herd of cattle out of
'etst Texas when I was 14 years old. They secured a larger herd
then Tohn calculated on and needed some extra help. I fretted my
father until he allowed that I could join the outfit for the drive.
reckoned th° t I would just mek- the drive t.o :ollines ranch in
Parker '.iounty and •then .return but I made such n good hand that when
Gauthier, 3heldon Y.
angolcre
Thrrant Co., Dist.
Page
7
the drive was over, John Collins said, 'Kid, if you want to join
this outfit, .1 can use you'. ,T jumped at the-ohnnce and stayed
there four wars.
-Collins only ran around 3,000 head on his ,arker county
range and employed 10 waddles besides his sons, Tom and 9ob.
large ranch wee in Amrd County, where there were 35 wadies with
the outfit. lfte Parker County outfit was located 20 miles :eat of
Port 4orth, and on the Parker and Tarrant County lines..
-I reckoned I was a, top rider when I first joinpd the out-
fit 'out I scvm learned that I had somethine to berm about keeping
my saddle warm: Ivvs calculating a hos:; by those rather had in
his stable, and reckoned pitching according to the rearing and
sheering our hoses pulled when they fel) pert. :bout the second
day at the 'JC' outfit, 'JC' wee the Collins brand, his son Tom,
a little older than 1, said to me, 'nave you rode any nitching
hosses?' Of course, thought I had. I swelled un like a pigeon
and told him that T. had rode every boss that fatter had br-lught on
our place.
"lle'says, 'Then 1 don't have to pick a gentle for you to
ride?'
'3hucks no', I answered, 'I am no greener on a hose'. I
had been there two dnys and spent n week on the drive, and reckoned
thnt I was a rawhide.
"The next day, Tom pointed out a yeller hoes and acid, 'Use
that. critter today. I'll help you put the tree on him. Tre is a
trifle skittish with strangers 'and mey skip a little but is a good
saddle'. put the tree on him. I mounted and hit the tree, then
'1vUthier, Aeldon
7-ngelore
larrnt Ast. :7
e
went into space for a spell. :hen T hit, it .::ss the earth I hit.
"Jom was standing there, giving me the laugh. 'I thought
you could rideSt, he shot nt me.
"'I can but I wns caudht off my guard', T said. I can
ride that critter.'
"'I reckon you were beoeuse that hose just mn es a. couple
skips to get the kinks out of his fins, then is off. Ill the
hands like to ride him*, he said, without a smile.
"'I'll ride him now. I know what to expect', I,tells him.
TImounted that critter again with my conk set to stby with the
animal. It pronto showed me something Fbout pitching I'didn't
know. 2hat hoes wns n pig pen builder, mening that it had no
regular way to go but operated scording to motions, and they were
changenble. efl, I grabbed leather pronto but that did me no
gold. I hnd a dfat''. grip on the nub end at the first elevation,
my hands were the only part of me that was touching leather and
when I onme down, the !iosp was not there to catch me. I pnssed it
on the way to the ground, still with n grip on the nub but I was
trfiveling so fast the speed broke the hold. T. flattened oat like
a *addle blanket.
:he bull of the rnnOU was standing by me as I pulled
myself together. was John Jollins and he said, 'Kid, you have
given the boys enough opera for this time. 1)on't try thnt critter
again for a spell'. I was given another dritter and went to work.
did stY,18 praotioing on skipping hosses, as Tom called them. I
soon caught the ;:neok and before the month was over, I rode the
yeller hoss.
authier, :heldon
7Aigelore
:7arr, nt o., :1st.
:'age
"-e had no man belly chea_er on the !Ts. ;ollins
did the cooking with the help of a colored house men. The
was what the waddles clatv-ed as one hoes outfit'. If we worked
awey for a day or so, we carried the chuck on a pack hoes, rJld that
was called 'A grease pot oUtfitl. 7:e then did our own cooking,
which was nothing to br-g about. would co:: coffee, broil steak
over a c-mo fire, co )k bens, and bake biscuits. Tinkers is
good.name for the biscuits.
-Three of us mac dies hnd to night ride. e would spell
(Yoh Other every nir7ht. Three of us would ride the fore pYrt of
the night, 2nd thr,7,e the intter part. !ll hands would be on the
ride when r: bad storm or a Norther hit.
"There was only one night during the four yenrs I was with
thv 'T:;' outfit that we had the critters get nwey. 7he critters on
tat range were not as w:ld ,.nd skittish as some. s P rue, a
small herd is not so prone to stomp. This night wag late in the
.4ring, and the storni hit about midnight. I was riding the fore-
part or the night and I knew that a buster was on the way a couple
of hours before it hit. y boss had sensed it, and was quivering.
:he cattle had rnised and were milling. 'hey had sensed the
co7,ing buster and wanted to get stxae place for r shelter.
"I rode into the r,nch end raised all the hcnds.- e ell
began to circle the.criLters and sing. That is, them that could
sing did, and the others tried. Tt did not sound lie grand opera
but it drew the critter's a%ention and held them at first. All
the choirs in the 3tate of Texas could not hold them critters when
the storm hit. ''.ect is, the thunder, rein, nnd wind, mode such
JSeldon
_arrant jo., ist. 7
7" I ge
noise that it dined out everythin else. Jf course, it woe the
atmosphere that was our bL:.!est trouble. It 1ked like black
ant except when sky -fire turned on a flash, end thnt was a -plenty.
'Ilose critters would break and run. t first, we could turn the
aninls but they would break anew, nnd each time would be more
stub!;orn.
-Thet country is ro' lug and full of brush in spots, which
makes night riding hnrd, especially in p storm. e hit the hills,
hollows, and brush at top speed theh night, tryin to turn those
critters Pnd get the herd to milling. e could hear the cattle
because of the :;tomping of their feet end bumping of their horns
but cofld not see where they were except when the sky fire would
flash some liht. Then we could see the heed, else see the fire
play hop-skip-ju_ p, on the tips of the critter's horns. It was my
first time to see suoli as that, and it had me plub loco.
wnddy is celled upon to do his best riding nt times
like that. ;Aich a erpe up is why 'tie said that, 'A cowhand was
ri
n with sand in his gizzard end a hose'. Then daylight came on
and we coul6 tnke a reckoning of the mess, we found that 1,000
critters were scattered over the country end one waddy was gone.
Fub Jones wee missing. His ho:' .T was at the pen, minus it's rider.
all hit the dreg to hunt the strays and tilt) of us
set out to find rub. They found him, five miles away and draing
for cr:Tip on hoof with a broken oollnr bone. -"e sPid that his conk
quit working an did not know what hawslned. Alen his conk came
back to normal, he was 'eying in a clump of briars. e were
week getting the strays back.
T/euthier, Jheldon
;.?engelore
Tarrant Jo., 1st.
g e
':ee next experience el -doh had my giezard grinding wes one
where rrs. John llins showed up as a women with send equal to e
he-men. hob eolline end Iwere on the ranee leokine for some strays
when suddenly, we saw about 35 mounted Indi-ns mekine for us.
heeded our hoses towards the ranch pronto, and they kept coming.
hey never got 'close enough to brand either of us. It w's e pretty
clomp race for about five miles with the Indians throwing a few
shots et us. :hey were all short except one that stung my hoes on
th flank, ceusane him to turn on more stem.
"The Indians knew that all the hands we e off the ranch
and at different points ou the runge. I reckon that they hed given
the place en eyeing beer use they fol'owed us to the shed, then
stayed off at a disoance. :hey begansto circle the shed and first
one, then the other would dash in and pour lead at the shed. A
few had rifles and could place lead in the shed and stay out of
range of our six-gens.
rs.Col 'ins wes in the noilse. 'he house was built of
stone and had ports et different spots around the house. John
always kept severel rifles in the house, end it wes not 1)ng until
thtt artillery was in ection. The first shots hit the mark and two
red skins hit the eround. eith the thi:d shot, she winged one and
the fourn shot put him in the class of eood Indians. I!y that
time, the rest nelled out of range, stopping about 300 yards from
the house Aid going into conference.
"7e two boys broke for the house snd got hold of a rifle.
,7e then welted for the skunke. e did not have 1 ng to wait. They
circled to the front of the h use, end then slowly worked into the
Gnuthier, Jleeldon 7
.-engelore
l'errant o., st. '7
buildin. Roe end I wnnted to shoot es so )n ns they came into
r-nge but woeld not Irve eny of it. The seid, "Pou
boys harken to me or I'll box your ears. 'hose skunks ere intend
1n e to storm the house, break the door down, end overpower us.
will wait until they are close so we can't mies n shot. -I'll give
the order when to shoot. iob, you take the first one, !alt, you
take the next, and take the fdrtherest. will keep shooting
that way ere will not waste any shots.' :he indiens kept coming
up and finelly, she said, 1,=ihooti'
"7e cut loose Aul three- fell. They then rushed and three
more fell befoe they could reach the porch, and three more fell et
the porch. jien they turned and ran for their hosses.. 'hey high-
tailed it across the, r nge.
cowhand creme tnrough, 1)oking for 2.!oLenn's strays. He
heerd the ohoatine and sew at a glence what it wee. "e draged it
or '.'ort :orth pronto, and reported the fight to 3Yptein ring.
the head of e nu7-ber of r-ngers, 'Ting oame out end with.e nue-ber
of cowhelds, took after the red skins. T did not go with the trailers
because -rs. Corlinii insisted thnt I end her sons stay to help clear
the e dreg;.7ed thr Tneiens off to a sin hole end threw
thee in. alt c,en told us that they got a few at the est "ork
of the Trinity iver.
-I understand that the old :.;ollin's stone house still stands.
It was standing in 10_0. I ade e trio at that tie throughtthat
section and atop ed et the old house to lo)k through the port that
'r did my shooting them Indians.
-I quit the ollins outfit in 18 7, and joined the 7oredice
•it,ier, ei,eldon
Ineelere
eerant 00., A.se.
ouefit. ..hey were looted six miles eouth of epr:nes, where
the present town of TA.g eprings. eets their water sueely. t the
time the outfit bed their querters there, the spring hed e
A. V
iech
flee of water. -he ?oredioe outfit brend w -s the picture of four
dice. outfit ren aro.nd 15,000 heed. The reason T went there
wes beceuee my wages were 30.00 e month, w ieh wes 5..0 more then
eeellins paid :Ile.
"et wee six months fter 1.joined the outfit that 1 met
ue with ny indi n ffieeds again. One dey, there were about fO of
us wedeies outting out calves for branding. 'elek Thompson wes the
cook -e -doodle -do, and he ordered me to the rench .quarters with e
note to the re-: rod. I hed eregeed two miles when soled 14 red
skins about the time they spied me. ehey took after me pronto, and
9I turned bnok to where the weddies were. s it happened, there wes
pr-tch of brush- between the ddies end me. 1 treveled eround the
eege of the brush, keeping jest out of the shoetine range. 7 we
on 71 g.er by, one of the best bosses a man ever streddled so
wns not bothering my conk about them catchine me. I wes after
coaxing them Indiens back to where the waddles were. -ell, I did
that. 'hey follered mo -round thet brush and into th-t bunch of
wed:J(3e before they goe wised un to the sheee up.
"fter they finiehe heving their fun, the wadeies thankee
me for the 01.30 time I provided. .hen thee waddles tdrned leese
end surrounded the red skins, it we not lene until there were 14
good Indians.
The best rider I have ever seen,, worked on the oredice
outfit. -Met was 1;iok :hompson. rime end Lin, I have watched
C.lauthler, eheldon
Aengelore
-eerrent :ist.
7
ege
that men bust k wild tcer and never bother about putting a nridle
or e saddle on the ceitter. e weld throw e loop on wild o:.itter
in the herd, end then leeve his mount holding a t ut line. 7Ack
would go down thet line 'til he reeched the Oritter, ierah it by the
Ilene, release the loop, then, by holding onto the menet swine on the
critter's back. There he would stay until the oeitter hed pitched
it'selS down, and then ride the hose into the ranch pen.
The beat hoes I ever_rooe wes Nigger :he one I spoke
or 6 moeent eeo. I named him Niger etby because he was,so el ok.
re WFS a wild cuss ene it took mc eight montes .to get him working
god, but when he was sheeed up, he was a vreet sadelee T never aid
eet hie, to kecp froze pituhing once it awhile. "e seed to teke
pleture out of pitchine and did it for fun but never did so while
T wes in 'ocket. It was aleays when we were nmbling -long. "e
su denly elevete few times, sheke his head, swithh his tell,
and then settle don to business.
"Itet animel finally got to where he would co -e to me es
far as he could hear me call. :he hoes would rise his heed, listen
for a second, then oome --runeine:. The closer he got, the better
he seemed to like it. nen he got so close, he w)uld neleh. 7e
learned to knew the eow work as e man en:. could work f-lene.
was the most enowine and wi-eling hoss 1 over rode. 7e w uld catch
on to whet wes wanted in just one or t trice. .hen it comes to
running, he was fest end eoeld run ell dey.•
was pert Ls e hos3 bw.:tcr ed r lile eocky out it.
Forediod h -d a blue hoss. :het is, they called it blue. -7e injured
one man end killed-rnother. I calculated that I could ride it and
e!euthier, eeeldon 2
leegelore
:arrant Co., A.st. 7 ?EC
;:-ege 1.0
told the big .:;un could do it. edvised eeeinst it but I went
to wrangle the best. 7h t critter hed n11 the tricks in pitehing
all rolled into one, was feat es lightning, end e fighter to boot.
I got a loop on him, saddled and mounted him. put me into a
spill and before I coule get out of his way, he made for me. Fe
was standine on hi 5 hind legs end cutting own at me with his fore
fet, when the big dun, who was standing by, hollered, 'Lead that
enemalt Lead that beasts' I did not need to be told to use my gun.
I was fixing to lead hira end geve him a 45 ball betwixt ho eyes to
seve myself.-
f.ter I quit the 7oredice outfit, T dregeed over to the
.3T' outfit, 1 ceted in Taylor County. The outfit was owned by 0-.3.
Taylor, and his brand was mede like th1.14,1ro I run into another
hese on the '33-7 that oeme next to ,Ligeer
stallion with a brown strip down his back,
pretty fellow but wiled and smart. Fe was
'beet the lop. There was e counterpart of
sent ex' to the TAernal nge while the
hi. Th bue eue hed let the two hoeses 81
for breeding purposes.
"jne day, I wes le)kihe for a hoia to bust and a
found in a clump of bushes located in a sherp bend of the
fhe nosees *ere et the further part of the bend' Atere the
7lehy. T0 was a yeller
brown mane and tail.
so smart that he had
hie on the range that had
fellow was trying to tust
one, wanting to save them•
eerd was
ceeek.
bank was
sheer. 'here was only one way for those c:itiers to. get azay, and
thet was for them to pass me unless they made e 20 fo)t jump down,'
that bank. The yeller criter was in that hunch and I said to myself,
"our my meet'.
eauthier, eheldon 7.
eengelore
eerrent ee., it. 7
Perre
"Ale critters mede a brek to wee tee me. s they did,
smeared the yeller baby. 7e was traveling feet rnd when he bit the
end of the rope, ey mount was well set and thet yeller led hit the
ground har. He stayed dowe long eneugh eor me to put my tendene
over his eyes for a blind. I also snubeed the hose. lien he got
to his feet, I put the tree on him and turnee him lose.
'There was an hour of steady pitching. 7e wes pitched down
it the end of tIrt time and I r de him into the pen. 1he'big sun
came to loek et the hose Pad th ught it wes the one with n notch in
it's tail. e insisted thet I leave the hese alene, srying, 'Thnt
hoe has killed one men JO eou'll be the next if you don't leave it
al'ne'. I went egeinst his request and made one of the beet workers
oe he outfit.
"e,ed 3mith wee with the 'J3T at the tie° 1 was there.
calcule'te thnt men to be the best shot T ever SPW drf)w a gun.
have seen hie hit e running rabbit at t) yerds with a 38 pistol, and
if he ever missed, no one seen hie do it. "e plugged an Indian at
150 yerds eith a 38 gun. 1. had plumb miseed the shot.
"A _bunch of Indians had stole 15 heed of cattle from the
and we trailed theri to e creek where we snw them on the other
00.!... I
bane, I fired and miseed, eed threw down on thee end made e good
1ndion out of one, then and there. The boys went on and got the
cetLle and some of the other Indiree.
"1 dreaged over to the '??L' outfit in el Pinto county
from the 'ST'. It was a hose outfit and owned by !ied ,7;ollins when
joined. They changed it over to cows the yer T was there.
eet up with severel gangs of rustlers during my stay on the
eauthier, eheldon
eneelore
2errent eo., -1st.
Pege '12
'ehree rustlers were naturalized about 30e yards above Wheee the c•rt
eorth ter Jorks is now lot:sated on the 'Jitter rork of the Z'rinity.
]'hey were eau0A- with a bunch of BFL critters. Alet heppened in
1B7d, or 77. The sheriff cleme end cut them down.
women, T forget her name, thet was 6 widowond lived 13
Milee eolith of 7ort 7orth, lost some critters to rustlers. perty
of oowle:nds took up the tre.il for her. The rustlers split up into
three bunches 'Past of Fort :orth, end ee did the seme. Three of the
bunch were osuOlt up with on the line of Denton and Terralat Counties.
ehen them rustlers left there, they were treveline feet first. The
sheriff found one of the three with 6 steer's tell sticking out of
his mouth.
"1 stayed with the 'I3L' outfit for a year, then drageed
back to the '-'ordioe outfit. eon't went to leave the ides thet
we cewhends did not heve so:ae fun liree with the tough tires. ,e
spent mest of our time on the Foresice outfit preoticing shoeting,
.roping,
riding, end heving contests that were friendly, but for
bl-od. eometimes, the contests would be betwixt the hands of
diferent outfits.
renoh and often,
two outfit;.
"Deer were plentiful end we would contest in ropine the
anieels to se who could bring in one alive. t t$t, Ialleys
cnme out loser. :he deer would alweys break it's neck on me. They
hed to be handled properly to keep the uriter from jueping in the
elr end coming down on their he d, which, would bust their kneck
every time. Tt requtred skillful menipuletion of the rove to prevent
:he old '101' outfit
vms nerq* the Ioredice
zontest would be held betwixt the hands of the
•;-al.tthiert ;hel,don Page -13
nlerc
."arrent ..7
the act. :tore were t ood number .of'- boys tint could brim:: in
the deer alive.
"The worst mes:F I ever got into while ropin:g wild animals
wc,a roping buft''alo bull. I h -d to out the ratita to get eway fro7,
1,
41+.
t Pn, 1 nn 1 did not ju,-.p into the air but et me f--nd the hose,
and en here to say tha.t animal m,a full of fipht. I have sei•n
wf-dc les brinF7, in wibld cats and all manner of animr.ls that they had
roped but no two ye ,r buf:aloes.
].'y rid in.. ick Thompson we the best man on e.
host; ever sew. I was equal to him except on bare beck. 'I oDuld
do enythin: in saddle that he coulc do but could .not do the bare
back stuff. oger ed wrs on the '101' ranch 'et the time I was on
the 'oredioe. w'' -s a to rider but the loop was his :min. stunt.
-'hyt man could 'bop any of run in critter from any position.
:re could just make a rope -tclk
".A bunch of us cow hands took part in an orw nized rodeo
in li'5g8. I reckon it was about the first of such. There were 74.ob
.s n of Zrohn, Pob .,G4rter, ooger ed, and myself that were
the top of the outfit. e sterted at .;eyniour. I took the riding
from Booger in the contest there. Carter took it from —e here
in Fort orth. flooger got the championship back in ors ice
':00cer ulwcis took the contest' in roping. e did make n 1•.)t of
jack bit had lots of fun. e were ear -nest in our efrorts and put
the pressure on e'.ch other.
"I went to rkansts after that rodeo trip and went into the
cattle buyin business there. that put an end to my range career.