Document text
gauthier, sheldon F.,
'angel ore,
7arrant (4.,Dist.#7
page gi
4,0.Prese, 70, living et Baird, Tex.,
R.r.D.J2, was born :an. 5, 1888, at Jackson,
Miss. The Price family immigrated to Texas in
1878, and settled in Callahan Sc. The family's
means of tranapertation was a covered wagon pulled
by an ox team. After arriving in Texas, 4.M.Prece
started his renge eareer. He secured a job working
for LI.Ssiimitsen, who mined a large number of eat tie,
and ba4 his geweemp leeeted on the Combo Rtver, 75
miles west of 3an Angelo,Tex. After working es a
oewbey fir several years, Prose made several settle
drives to the north. His story:
"I mas born in Miss., nenr Jackson, on a plantatien, Jan.
5,1368. The Mvil 3ar left my femi/y in bad silapO, and my folks
decided to go lest, to the frontier of Texas, and try to make a
new stort.
wde stnrted to Texas i871.67 .I wan 10 years old et the this.
The fnmily 1Alded our belongings in a covored.wagon and hitched;
old Dave and Buck, our two oxen, to the rig end headed Went. le
crossed the 3tate of 1,u1Olani, find, continued Westward after
crossing the border of this state, until we arrived in Callahan
county
"'While making the trip, we had plenty of time to get a good
look at the country we traveled through, because we traveled only
about 20 miles a day. That we called roads those days were trails.
In fact, ',lost f the people rnferred to the highway as "the trail".
"There were not many bridges. If a stream could be forded,
during its normal stcp, no built was built to cross en. Then, if
one arrived 1urin a rise, well you lust vetted till the water
lowered. If theatres:a was toe deep for fording, then, in meet
places, a ferry operated to carry traffic aeress•
ro.
qauthier, 7.
Rangelvre
7nrrent 3e). ,r, -3t .;47
PROD
?EC
"Duria; the course of our trip to Texas, several ties we
were compelled to wait a few days for the stream to lower, before
we could areas it. During such days we would camp, of °aurae, by
the stream and spend our time foraging 'par wild gene to suvlement
our food supply. Also, do repair work on the w ogee or ether parts
of our equipment.
"we had ta contend with wet weather at times, and then the roads;
in places, were boy. This eendition eaused treubps and delay.
.7e b-ceFtrao stuck couple times as bad t it required nearly a whole
day to pull out.
"rather was headed for the frontier, and he surely suaoeeded in
findirc one. The place he settled was truly a frontier at that tin.
It was in the Conch. River bottoms, west of San ngele. Ale built a
had
log, shack on a tract of land which we/negotiated for ale) eleart
a patch of land to cultivate and plant to foodstuffs.. This patch
we fenced with a split rail tome, to keep out the deer, buffete
and t!er destructive wild beasts, .113 well as the a attle wh 1 eh
grazed on the free and open range of the territory.
"All the country of the district was a free ranee. There
were just a few patches of cultivated land, here and there, that
were fended,: The little herne places were occupied by an with
"It wes very evident to everyone in the Conchs River Distrist
that tho ovw business was abelt the only thing 3ne 'mould raske.s
livinet.
Gauthier, sheldon
Rangelere
Tarrant Co.,Dist.#7
page
FRC
3
"I was not able to ride a hoes at the time of our arrival
in Texas, because my father worked axon bac* in Miss. I could
ride an ex, but they were useless for sow work. Se, I was anx-
ious' to learn hew to ride a hoes and be a sowhand. 'My rather need-
ed work to earn money for the ear* el his family, and be equipped
himself flor a 'lowland. He bought a **tapas of saddle hisses and
I began to learn riding.
"After my father bought the hoses', it did not fake Me long
to learn to ride. It same to me sort if natural. In six months
time I was quite pert at riding. I else practiced handling a
lasso, during the period I was learning to ride.
"After six menthe of getting myself ready, I set out to rind
a job with a eowcamp. I wes givens job by M.S.Smiteen.t He bed
his headquartere eamp 75 miles west of sen Lngels, lok'Inte4; in
the middle Conch° River, and ramged around 30,000 bead of cattle.
"The °wintry vas rough, being full of hills and valleys. The
cattle grazed, for the mast part, in the valleys.
"My first job was riding over the range section keeping
my eyes span for troubled critters. These longherns were always
getting ripped by a hers, also, getting cuts from stubs of brush
nibs. These outs bad to receive attention, to prevent screw
worms from developing.
"The eutfit made a salvo out of axle grease am d turpentine,
and we daubed this eenoosetion in the outs. If worms had developed
Gauthier, 3holdin F.
Rangelere
Tarrant Os.„Dist.#7
Page #4
BIC
the conoostion would kill the vermin.
"I had to rope and beg -tie the critters, in order to doh
the cuts. To de this, I threw the loop on the animal's foot or
leg. This *etch would flop the animal on the ground quickly.
When it kit the ground, the.hess held the rope taut. While the
critter was in this position, I would loop the other leg and
then do the daubing. There were three of us young waddles work-
ing steadily, giving our attention to the injured, sick and
bogged animals.
"In the river bottoms, there were plasm, where bogs existed,
and 'were bad, especially during wet weather. Us young waddles
watched the boggy places for begged animals. When we discovered
one, we would put a loop ever its head and fasten the rope to the
nub of the meddle, then let the hese pull the critter out.
"The outfit had a crew of range riders, whose job was to
keep the herd from wandering beyond a sertain territory. They
did not herd the critters, in the full sense of the word, but
held the animals from drifting to where they might mix with semi
other cattle.
"The eattle would always return to their bedding ground at
night, at which place we kept salt lioke, if they did net drift
to where they would mix with ether steak. If they did, during
their grazing, they would often follow the other cattle to a
strange bedding ground.
"Of course, cattle which strayed off would net be lest,
because during the general roundup the animals would be legated.
Gauthier, sheldeu F. Page #5
Rangolore
Tarrant Ce.,Dist.#7 Fle
Eilleversif a rancher did net watch for drifters, in time his herd
would all be mixed with other herds in the territory.
"There were sale critters to be rat out, or being held sep-
arated almost all the time. Some of the boys wore either slatting
out or holding a herd separated, midi.* critters were being gather-
ed for a drive to market or ether places.
"The work I have so far described was work done en the rensh
between the general roundups. The general roundups were held twice
each year, in the spring, and fall. These two roundups kept the
main part Sr wur crew, of from 30 to 40 men,ausy about sit mates
of tie year.
"The matted adopted sy, all the *amps in bandlinp toe round-
ups was to first place the various crews undags one bets, rho was
known as the 'roundup boss'? In addition, there were 'reps',
that is representatives from different outfits-. At the same time
there would be 'reps' from clamps in our territexy,at roundups
taking piss* in distant territory.
"The °sash. River territory took in all the sootiest west
and north of San Angelo, to Midland and Big Springs.
"Toe entire roundup outfit was under the &trestles of the
roundup sees. uenerally, in our section, Zack Mogers,'Smitsen's
range boss, was the man appointed to have 'merge sfsthe roundups.
The boss directed all work and gaVe riding orders to the swing
crew relating to the territory to be worked each day. After the
seetion within a radius of 25 to 30 miles had been worked, the
camp would move ui, and we would so °outlaw, until the entire
range section was *Wore..
Gauthier, sholden F. Page #6
Rangelore
Tarrant Ch.,Distif? FXC
"The outfit was divided into a number of crews. One was
the swing crew, one the sittting and brandingerew„ and the line
riders. Also, the hoes wranglers, and shuck wagon crews, which
were under the direetion of the socks.
"The work of the varietal' crews was as follows:
"The swing crew were the fellows whe redo over the definite
*Wien sash day, and gathered in all the settle. The critters
gathered each day were drives to the headquarters, and there
turned ever to the crew of line riders. These line riders held the
azdmals until the herd was worked.
"After the swing stew arrived with their days gathering, they
were through for the day. They would arrive at various times in
the evening, depending en the distance and the number of settle
they found te drive in.
"Thko swing stew started early and would hail to travel from
a few miles to around 20, before they would stert gathering
critters. Bash morning, the middies working in the swing would
saddle their mounts before breakfast. They would eat, and as leen
as ttley had finished the swing boss would yell tridett The toys
would make a run for their mounts at the sound of the order. /t
was a rase each morning: first, to be the first manumitted;
*Emend, to get into and stay in lke lead.
"Generally, the best hoopoes of each camp's remuda were
used for swing work, because each day that the hems were used,
which was about every third day, the holies had a lonchard drag.
Thus, e ash morning the swing men rode fresh homes, and the waddles
Gauthier, Jheldon F.
Rangelexe
Tarrant Co.,Dist.d7
Page 0
?BC
would enjoy an excellent rase. Those riding would enjoy the
thrill of the contest, and those matohing would enjoy the thrill
of watching their favorite win Sr the mortifio-tien of defeat.
"Usually, there were bets made en who would be the winner
each morning. Being that fresh hossee were being ridden, it
gave us waddles different hoses' on which to bet every day.
Generally, the bets were small blt occasionally there were quite
pert wagers. Those days, to have the best runner, the best our-
ting hoss, the best night rider, or the best seething else, was
the ambition of every waddy. Therefore, a waddy enjoyed a great
thrill to win a race, and was mortified if'he was the last in
the swing run. Also, the boys took great delight in 'kidding'
the last man. The rider would be ridiculed as a rider and hens
man, end the hose classed as a snail, or remarks of such nature.
"Those days, hoes riding was one of the chief sports. There
were many hoes races run between the cowhands of different camps.
Each camp took great pride out of having the fastest hose in the
territory, and the cowhand Who might own it was the envy or the
other waddles.
"Now, getting back to the roundup work. The line riders
bold the critters bunched, which were brought in by the swing
crew, until the cutting crews had out out end brands were put on
all yearlings, males castrated, and the count was made.
"Thor* were tallymen who kept account of eaoh brand. Thus,
at the close of the roundup, each owner knew hew many critters
were carrying his brand, and the kind of animals. For instaftoe,
Gauthier, Jhelden F. Page #8
Rangelere
Tarrant Co.,Dist.#7 FEC
the number of malts, females yearlings, twe's and so on.
"The branding crews were made up of branders and men who
kept the irons hot.. This crew worked in conjunction with the
cutter. The cutting crew was made up of men from each caw
working in the roundup. That is to say; each camp had men working
as brenders and cutters. These cutters would ride in among the
lit:worked herd and cut out their camp's brand, and call for their
camp's brander to bread the yearlings found running with a mother
sow carrying their brand. Lack time a brand was placed on a crit-
ter, Vie brander would call the brand to the tallyman.
"Now, this branding work was where many oritAors received
the wrong brand, beoause it was not always easy to be certain
the yearling belonged to a certain sow. Therefore, the cutters
and branders of an outfit which could work the l'astost was the
outfit which received the best calf crop. However, after all,
the system worked the same for all the outfits, and in the end
each outfit received what belonged to it.
"The system was about the only one 1.Plioh could be followed
where cattle grazed on the open range. course, the bulk of
each camp's herd was in one bunch, end with his main herd the ow-
ner received a 100 per cent °stint.
"After the jathered herd had been worked, these critters
were shifted and hold away from the rest.
"The wranglers took care of the remuda. Each cowhand had
an average of five losses for his use during the roundup, and he
would alternate hosses each day. Se, there were a large number
ef hesses to look after.
Gauthier, Sheldon Y.
Rangelre
Tarrant t.4.,Dist.#17
Page :19
FEC
"The cooks had charge of the okuek wagons. They had helpers,
to ther fuel and tete water, as well as assist in other work.
These were the boys who were up first in the morning, and aroused
the others with their yells 'all skunks roll cut' oz, 'the slop
is ready'.
"I st!Irted to work the cattle drives in 1888. first
drive wes under Jack Rogers, as trail boss, for SmItsen. No
pointed 2,000 big steers towards the Osage Nation nenr Pence, in
the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). This drive was completed without
any unusual incident. 77e d -livered the herd with not more than
one per cent less.
"On the drive, we used about 14 waddles. Besides the cook.,
two wranglers and the trail boss, all, the waddles worked an
pointers. The term pointer is apAied to the men who ride at
either side of the herd and keep the critAirs herded in the
proper direction, and also to regulate the speed.
"hen driving a herd, the animals are allowed to graze as
they move slowly forward, but there are times when it becomes
neeessary to move the herd nrward without grazing. For instenee,
to reach a certain point by bedding time, or when traveling through
a section where the distanse was great between water holes. Under
these conditions, the herd was hustled forward.
".11en the herd was allowed to graze, the pointers would let
the herd spread. That is to say, let the animals mare or less
soatter.ith a 2,000 head herd, we \,A)uld allow the spread to be a
Gauthier, sholdon F. Page yl0
Ranelore
Tarrant Co.,Dist.77
half mile or more in width. Then each critter would have room to
graze without interference by other animals. But, when the herd
wets being moved forward without grazing, the herd would bunch to
a width of about two blocks. Or, in other words, the animals would
be bunched to where they would travel side by side.
"I an going to jump the usual end ordinary incidents of range
life and talk about a real drive of 1893, which I was with. I was
working for the MOCutehen ranch, located near Alpine, Tex., at the
time. Albert Conthrell was MoCutchen's trail boss. ae had been
holding a 'ord of 35,000 big steers during March of 1893. On the
morning of March 15th, Corekrell said: 'Point 'em towards the North
Star by the way of Midland and Amarillo.' Of course, everything was
ready and the men went into action.
"de drove through many different kinds of country and crossed
many smail and large streams. After leaving Amarillo, we pointed
towards jolorado, end crossed the Arkansas River et Bunk. From
there, we pointed towards Lusk, Wye., thence towards Cheytinne, where
we crossed the U.P.Railread 15 miles east of the town. tn From here,
we pointed towards Laramie where we crossed the South Platte River.
we pointed eastward from Laramie and crossed the North Platte River
west of Pierre, 6.Dak., thence towards Deadwood, S.rak. end de-
livered the Attie at the Franklin ranch, located on the Bell
Foushette River, 50 miles north of Deadwood S.Dak. We arrived
there and delivered the herd on the 15th day of August, 1893..
"ae were five months and five days driving this herd and drove
it 1,800 miles. Thus, you see, we avereged around 12 miles a day.
Our loss was about 10 per cent.
counted in 3,150 critters, all
t
Gauthier, Sheld-42 F.
Rangelore
Tarrant Co .,Dist .#7
Page /ill
ITC
in ;rood att.te of flesh condition. TI.s loss was caused mostly by
strays which get away during stampedes. A few critters had to be
dropped because of sore -foot trouble.
"ftar the first month of driving, we had very little trouble.
This was due to the filet that the critters becarot accustomed to
.beinc, driven, and worked more easily. The ilrther we traveled
the more the critters learned to respond to our efforts tv guide
them. Towards the latter part of the drive, these critters hit the
water 11J-.0 a fish, when we arrived at a stream.
171
-2here were two steers which developed into real oowhands.These
two animals were always in the lead at the head of the herd/ They
seemed to tav:e pride in their position and, luckily, the two ani-
mals were on the side of the waddles. They arrived at a state of
understending o: what was wanted in the way of movement. For
ins tense, if we were drifting slowly cnd then for some reason
wanted to titen u nd move fast, j.ist as soon as the riders
bec-Aa to yell lyep-yi', these two leaders would at:rt bawlirgnd
moving off at a goad pace. These steers must have said, in steer
language, 'name fellows, lets get going,. Because, so soon as the
aniraals began their bawl, the whole herd would respond quickly, F !nd
been to hit their stride.
"These steer a saved us waddles a lot of trouble. After they
joined the crew, crossing streams, swimming or fording, was done
with very little trouble for the pointers*
Gauthier, :::helcion F.
Bangelore
Tarrant Co .,Dist .,f17
Page ;0.2
?Esc
"one trouble swimming a stream with a herd, is to keep the
aninals from floating with the current, especially if the eurrent
is a swift one.. At such times, a number of pointers would have to
swim their mounta back and forth, on the lower side of the herd, waving
slickers and yelling, to turn the swimming critters against the
current. At many points it was necess ry to keep the, critters headed,
more or loss, straight across, because of the landing place. As a
rule, the river's banks were more or less sheer, except at V -e landing.
Therefore, if t! .e critters landed below the proper place, they would
be forced to re:aain in the water too long and, of course, there was
danger of the animals becoming exhausted and drowning.
"-lose two steers seemed to sense what was necessary, and they
always took the lead. Thee was no trouble to herd these two animals
to the proper landiug, and rith their bawling they would cause the
rest or the critters to head for the same point.
"The first real swim re had to take was when we crossed the
Arictinsas-iliver Before crossing this stream, all other streams were
forded. The critters in thi3 herd had not had any swimming experiense
and they hesitated to take the deep water. The moment those critters
in the lead felt the bottom leavinc their feet they wanted to turn
back. However, the °naming herd was in their way, which forced the
lead critters on ahead and put the animals to swimming. Riders
renained on aki either side of the herd to keep the critters pointed
towards the opposite shore. Riders worked at the rear, who urged the
herd on to keep orowdinc those in front.
0
Gauthier, Liheldun F.
Rengelere
Terrant Co.,Di-t./7
page 13
FES
"It required gre,t deal of urging and orowding to force
the aniaelsvaoress during their first swim, but as one swim
f-2,11wed another the swimming of streams becaeie easier, and finally
the aninals took to the water readily.
"The route was well known, PS many herds had been driven over
the route before; but we had to vPry to some extent, because of
erezin6 conditions. However, se always made certein bedding
grounds by nieht time, end certain 'entering plaoes as the route
provided.
"As a whole the herd worked exceedingly well, except during
storms: 7eving to the herd being constantly in strange country, it
wss more prone to beco-ie frightened, end durine a storm all hands
were cennelled t e an duty to hold the critters.
"Dering n storm, it Wail impossible to -iefet the animals frwl
moving, and we did net attempt to keep them frerl doing so. Je
all.cwed the crittels'e to move, but tried tn keep the herd milling,
which menna treveline in s circle. It the eve,t the .herd stam-
peded, we just let the animals run, but tried to keep them going
in 8 circle.
were lucky thnt we were making tie drive, for the greater
part, &trine the semiler month* *en storms were net so frequent.
Durine, the entire five menthe ant five days, we experienced only
one severe storm. It wee eerinr this storm ttet we 1st most of
the 10 per cent we were short en delivery.
"'le were near the Bleak Hills of. S. flak., at the time of the
severe storm. It broke about midnight, and was an electric storm.
:flashes of thunder and flashes of lightning follDwed one after
Gauthier, Sheldon F.
Bangelere
Tarrant Ce.,Dist.#7
Page #14
FEC
another. We succeeded in keeping the ardmals milling until a
Crash of lightning hit in or near the herd. With the clash the
herd was off, and the animals scattered in many directions. There
was not enough of us to follow the many different banohes; there-
fore each rider picked a buneh, and tried to stay with it until
they quit running from exaustion. The rest of the animals were
left to co where they desired. After the storm Ceased., the rider
stayed with their respeotive bunch till daylight. Then, each waddy
drifted his respective bunch back to where he had camped for the
night. As the cattle came in, they were held by a few of the hands,
-while the rest went scouting for the strays.
"We hunted for two days, and scoured the country thoroughly,
but were unable to find all eur strays. We then started with what
we had, and, as I mentioned before, When we Counted in we were a
little ever 300 short.
"Among the ranches I worked for, which wort large outfits, was
the old 98 ranch located on the Rio Grande River, 50 miles south
of Van Horn. It was in 1890 that I worked for the 96 ranch. It was
a geed outfit to wnik for and my wages were AD.00 per month. But
I had cattle drivels in.my mind, so ta stayed only a few months.
I preferred the drives to riding the range.
"I quit the range work in 1900 and settled down to forming.
lerming has been my occupqtien since.