Document text
-A
Geuthier.Sheldo:/ P.
Ranc,elore.
rrant co.,Rist.,07
Pe #1
FC 240
John Robinson,77,1ivix et rort eorth,Texas,
uas born April 7, 1, at Waxahachie,
Ellis co., Texas. His father, Captain William
Robinson, Ilirmed a small tract c)* land and raised
cattle which craft, an tie open ranee. vAlliam
Robihson enlisted in the Confederate Army at the
cce:Imenceeent of the 6ivil War, and served as
Captain throughout the duration of the Wivil
A short oeriod after Captain Atobieeoe was muster.
ed out of tee Army, he moved to Fannin co., 10:
miles of Bonham There he ene‘Fed in ranch-
ing. Juhn Robinson worked on his father's ranch,
1-a1n.rr at the of seven years. ben Rt the age
0J: 132 he and ail older brother arov, a heed of
tLeir f%teer's cattle, to Hami.ton en., end locet.
eci a cou-cemp neer Cranfills Gap in Ilemiltoe coo.
At thio eee of 2 he entered the Leweveeleht secret
service de eraeant. He c7m.-ye veund ecars,,
received in :ell fie,hts with despereeoes. Re
coni"uet:, ie tLe service four years and then
t: ferrAlIF for R livelihnod.
_is sLor; u. e life fo_ious;
I am 77 yce,.re ole ere; ha meee lexes ey home throughout
4, life time. ot birt c:/RP at fneahachie, Ulis co.,
To>. s, eriAl 7,1861.
fther viet tinRobinson.i,Vaet rior to the Civil
er, 7te fered for liveli- Jo'. Men the '711ell .ax' started, fater
enlisted ir the ionfeler,te f,rely w.1 nerved rv' faptin for the
durittler of te e reneved n teeaLv. in h!.s left leg which
him
:reve,Aed/froe, ere:' fere- ;reek. '!-Icrefor, after the war
he chanyed ir oceepot_ae.
ever-7.ith fzlj to Fannin co.,
sh rtlz( after lic retunleC. frm serving in the Areweend establish.
a cattle r7nch.
here :•ere I ce:ted in rill :t ‘mp, a -JoeCed cowAry,
I e days ali settlers were located in a woode coumry r a
Gauthier.3heldon I. Page
Ringelore. FC 240
Tarrant co.,Dist.07
river ipttom. Folks didn't think a family could live on the rarie
land, because of in-bility to secure water.
“,hen tothei. announced that he wa gothr to Imme to Fannin co.,
r.d locate on the prairie land for the purpose of establishing a
cattle rAlch, folks .ronounced the move as foolish. Becauseles they
t.ought, he would not be able !,o Md water fr his family's eLppily.
"Father, nerer-the-less, moved and succeeded in ,utting down
a well to water and scoured a *article:A supply for all our facies
needs and for our dorostic stck. This well vas the firot well dug
in the prario Election of ranJin co., and disroved the, then 1.evail-
ing, iden that voter cc-ld Lot le otsined tiers.
"Father Nmrht 100C acres of land for the price of 7k:: per
acre, anO, again, father was said +,o have a4crcised poor judgillent by
,ayin- ouch !rice for land. On this land abundance of native :imass
f!mwt ny4- thFt -as who fr,the:' desirei fo7 cattle Er -zinc land. kis
located our home headquarters atoat six Tidier Ss of the lied
diver an,-: Erased !is cattle between our headquarters and the river.
lie used the rieer for his eottle's wat4r 81 ply.
"rather lagistered 'R' on the riSA shoulder as his brand .rid
!egan to gat er a herd. He toucht cattle, the Texas Longhorn, at the
low price ,hich pr(vailed thc first coui,le of years f llowing
the close cf ;.he tavil -ar. Of course, Vk r e war free fl
7
open,
aid there :e.v ulmuded cattle the ra:age. Th se past
the Marling age came to be refered to as bi&vericks. -any CLvericks
were found by them who hunted for the critters.
time
hen I was ueven years old, father had by thal(gathered nbout
Gouthier.Sholdon F.
Rare lore.
Tarrant co.,Dist.,07
Pege 3
FC 240
7CCO :lead b; meens of purchasing and picking up strays without
bras. He sold a 2elo occasionally, but up to this time, he was
not nxious to sell,because he fiaticiiated better prices.
At tLe age of seven, I was able to assist and rode the range
doing such work as I was able to perform, fl pether, Jacks then
14 yer.rs old, qr father anu three hired cowhands did the necessary
work cttenein„: t our herd. It was necessary for one hand to watch
for inured critteeslaand for bog_ed cattle in the 1-,ver bottom. This
work was assigned to no. In the river bottom,Liere were numerous
places where bo- holes of quick -sand wenelocated. Critters wo.ld
walk into these holes frequently, and become bogged If they were
not hauled out, he ani,k11woule diei Even, If I ma tust a slip of
a lad, I could attene to the bogged critters, because the hose did
the pulling. All I had to do was pace the loop awe the crit eras
bores, an with the lasso tied to the saddle's nub, the hose did the
rest.
oce ties the critter would be s, weakened, by its ettoy in
the ier, it would be unk- le to stand. In this case I woulr put ems
feed before the anim31 Lulu leave it After eating and restine,Or
a spell, tile crit,er 'would get up and return to the herdekslO, I
watched for s,res aee conditions of LAtch nature.
"he other waddles attended to the other necessary work, which
was holdini. the herd in the range section we wanted them to graze on.
The aniAnls, of t!ieir own will, would graze in the vicinity of the
water and salt lie
if the grass was sufficient. They would
alwecs return to their be. Lc ground each night, u.lese ariven off
Geuthier.Wieldon N. kage
Rangelore. FC 240
Tarrant co.ruist.07
due to some cause, such Ls lack c) grass, fear •r a storm and which
were the three conditions we had to watch for.a A btorm would caude
the a. ',Isle to ‘Irif^.; iaaLint; for shelter an they onla go many .ilea
from thidr home mitre if not held bttcke
"04r range .as ail a prairie reagion, so did not have ally she_tor
for the critters dur.nj a storm Prior to a sever storm, and during
its progress, we wera compelled to put every Nadae siding to hold
the herd from drifting in the lee via, o the storm. If any part of
the herd got oui, of control and drifted away, the animals would remain
at some place vniere tney could find water or would finelYcontact
some otner herd and iaix w_th it. Those days herds grazed in manv
sectionL o: the country, and if a herd strayed off it generally
wouli be found Lixeu w. t. some other herd. If this herd belonged
to so,le how-st r ncher the strayed ca,tie vould be turned back to
Is
tleir owner. In the event the stra ea herd mixed with a me rustler,
Mord,
/amd that* were a t of the breed, a pert, or the whole herd would
be lost.
those cattle wnici. strayed and were not located immediately,
if not in .;.1y. hands af a tnief, would be located during the following
general roundup. 'hat .e called the general roundu, was held each
Sprine and lean. Ile crews of those ranches in the imediate vicinkk
worke;:.: to7.ethe:s under an a2ointed roulldup boss. The ranchers from
distant sections sent sent one or two 'reps' (repersentattves) to
work in the roandu, ol. -Le various regions. The reps ,;ob was to
watch for his ranch, brand and drift any of the brand back to their
home ranch.
"Through the co-opel'ation of the ranchers, the cattle were
Gauthier.:Aeldon g. Page m5
Rangelore. PC 240
r_rrant co.,Dist.,07
kept accounted for and each rancher, to a grea extent, knew he
woulc L;et what, crers beicy,eing t. him. Co -Operation, ,lsol
enabled the ranchers to embat the thieves.
"Under the oonditions we raised cattle those days, it as a
proble to keep a sufficient watch to prevent rusting.
ith a herd of several thousnad the cattle wouLl be scattered over
a vast section, and th herd would be a, lit up in bunchea here and
there. The rustler could watch f.Jr a separate nch and drift the
animals away. 'then this happened the rancher would not likely
know of the steal. because of this condition, when a rancher saw
a number of cattle bell -47. driCted through his territory, he would note
the brand If ti -,e Crover as unknown to him he would ride to the
owner of the brand L.1.1d report the fact. If no sale bad been lade,
then a party of rancho s would f rm and trail the rustler.lbere were
many rustlres caA during or.e period of time, buttlabirdepreda-
tions was topped ater the ranchers took the matter oeldetling
with the thieves in their own hands.
"kor a Ulric tLL rtmehers would re ort the thievery and thief
to thesheriff, Lut c3nditions reached a i,oint where it seened the.
officals cod.d not coe i.M the si_Luationo. Either, they cold not
ca•ch the thief or if t'ile did a sufficient csee could not be made
against the defendant. In a majority of the trials the defendant
was exonerated.
"In our seotion ther live a Dyer family, in which were three
sons, and thi family, wectiallyy the three boys, cause the ranchers
Gauthier.Sheldon I.
Rnagelore.
&arrant co.,Dist.,47
Par;e #43
FC 540
a :Teat afount oZ trouble. Each of the Loys were tried for £tealing,
hOsses cattle, sevrai Limes, be -4 ,oare i.ouhd not 6uilfy each time.
Une of the boys was even acquitted on a murder charge.
"A rancher ii'i IãCLILâfl was deputized bey Lhe sheriff to
arrest 1Jyer an a cre lei' stealing catLie. 1;uchanan went to the
Wer home alone, w Jai :its an negli, :ent. net, and was ki,led while
theve. There was no eye witness of the shooting, except memLers
of the defendants family. At the trial therc was no evidence to
controvert
/testimony of the family members, which v..:,E; to the effect that the
shooting was done in self defense. Therefore, Dyer was a, quitted*
"So, after a -yriod during which the rraealres, by one mean*
or another, escei,ect :uhietiment thro4gh criminal court procedure, the
ranchers attenue to passing judgment and meting out -unistuaent.
Aler-_after, when a rutitlers were re •rteci as stealing some, cattle,
a party oi• rax,cher6 ouici trail the thieves, if the herd was retaken,
which was often the case, tne report would be, the cattle were retaken,
but the rustlecs escaped." However, a few days later some one would
report to the sherill: th.,t he discovered a o.an haaged to a tree.
Generally the pare, wo:ild state he was attracted to the spot by
eeLg tuzzards circling .2onetaritly own -s te locAdan.
"Two of the De;fer ooyswer fo,.4'4(7, 11:nging to a :,fie( at the end
a rope.
"The committee of ranchers would hold a trial and allow the
praSoner a chplehkitddefeedfigameifeheeieWstelear thereceasedotas
Aff5h4e#8110 for him to offer. If the accused had been trailed
Gauthier. Sheldon t.
11.e;ore.
Tarrant co. oast. 90
Page m?
PC 240
aid caught after he aad .A.eft the herd, when he discovered trailers
closin,,? in on him, tOlen the prisoner woold geoe ally offer a defense.
"One of tloe co Aittee eoul.: sit as juelde and couduct the hear
in. y fat..!.e3,1 Captain Aobinsoli, sot os judge in several of these
trials. I was too _ot.o.d o tLke any ozrt in toe proceedings, Lut
Looked in on the aceie _AL.bel of times. SeveAll of the scenes
which took ,lace at tItoce hearings art oti 1 v vivid picture in
mind. I shell tr, oo._ describe soue of the t:ings 1 recall.
"Toe prisoner 1/4)uid Li.:Ays stand, unarm*a and with his h• de
tied
Ael'na is o-ck. .he ,udgo void call for stztemento by them pr(-eent
su tort he oe,,i4oli.t. Generally thio4 who had their cattle
stole:.o uld relate -hot tole/ _new o_ut he stealing ana the
accused connection with it. At the coaclusion of each stateent the
risoner woola be al.L000u to question the speaker. 'When all the
co*laining witoess hol .A:Aue their stateoents, then the prisoner
would be allooed to osent Lis defense. If his statement created
any gbubt and needed _nvestic!ation to verify, the investigation
would be made imedistely1 by sore one who would ride to check on
tic statement. •1,en eery n.e who wished tothad alzde their talks
ale all hecei.4sar. ntions were cot leted, a vote would be
taker. The result of 32, rity vote would determine the Amishment.
"At times ,...ere wo le. be consideraOle arguments by the embers
relatino: to INO what the punishment should be. some times the
committee woul, vote to acquit, sooe times they would withhold
final action on condition the accused would leave the country immediate-
ly and 8024 ties the verdict would to hang the prisoner.
Gauthier.eneldon F.
.zee;elore•
Tarrant co•pist0,e?
:ege 48
PC 240
"hen the verdict called for the man to be hanged, the
execution wes done on Ur. seot. The ,lane where these trials wee
alwys held was iA 63 e wooed la d. The Led aiver bottom was the
elece ehere the trinle in our section %Jere ucually held.
"The execution wes eerfermed _le:ine tLe coedemed person
on a hoes wite haels tied beh Al '1.6 'Alck• With a noose around
,is neck and ,,he other end of the rope 1 oped over a limb of a tree,
tht hose was drivee eft' /Lee this sct woule lenve the an sue -ended
in the air. Alen the cundemed person left the hose, he eould drop
a foot or so ane meet a jrek with the tauting of the rope. Tr_s
sudden jerk eoule re -der the party send or wholly eeconscious,
ut there wo-ld follow struggling and writhieg of the body, then
the vi. lent effort eo la cease eradually till a quiver and a jerk
elided the eoveeele, and linteness settled over the body. This scene
woula last about rive elutes. After the body ung limp, the members
woelc ride away.
"The attitude or tie condemed man varied greatly. eome of them
oleadec for their lives and prayed. iiorm cussed and cursed every one
and everything for the st rt to the fieish• ehile others went
lige ant, ht- to Lc eerried eed seetee on tee% hoes, and sot* ctood
with a defiant stolid countenance, and woule nst utter a word. Ce
of the Dyer beys presented a defiant attitude, and one of them cursed
till the jerk of the rope stoeped his s eakiee.
"After it was reeorte that the two Dyer boys were found hanged
to a limb, the rustlers shyed away from our territory.
Gauthier..;heldon r. Page W
ita:zolore. IC 240
tarrant co.piet.,07
"Some f the rak:here in the Fannin co., territory ,;:ere
troubled with India= moicotink; their erds 'L secure beef. The
woad starpode a need by driving into it suddenly and thus
sc rine; the held* r wiject was to tLer the streys for ineut
su ply. were ilot noieoted, however, because fatfer and us boys
treated 10amand Om Indians with kindness* -le di o not allow our ctions
to ineicate thnt Ifer(- allme thorn, rATV! had supPrior rights. Also,
we would occasion ,!:.ve a beef to t!lem. 1);., IrollowirtUs etem
in delin _th tLey becal,e our fr_ends. Anyone of
us c .uld obtain n:i.y f vor frou then it 1-,ns poseible for tileLi to grant.
.en I was Li yers of gely -,rt•er, then 27) and I took
3500 head of cattle to Hamilton cp., am?. etellished e cow..capp the e.
-4(9 bovht additiowl s't„ock an6i r-nge0 b00 lead.
locnte ou: cer'17-) near Cranfillhigap which is located int
the Crinfill distrfct. Our cnnr wcs 2b A.les from 'One
Arms Reeds ranch Also, the Pancake ranch was our neighbor.
The railroads -erc enteniing int Eans., and father reckoned
nick u..; in cattle ..ricas and dnand anJ hi a calctlatioils were „wilotot•
"Assictirk: us
per .onth, ad wt
"Tlp ralze
.,ere we hired fur 4.126.
hT.4 ;:;s.:..eral roundups.
r1,-: free)
ad z-tu:;,,-ettle cr,ned 1w 5. A
rev zlttlern vor 1c t1 711 the tcr:Atcmr) b:t were in scattered
colanunities and their fields were fenced with rail fences. Al]. the
settlers ranged more or less cattle. Mice herds nuoliired from a few
hl.6rpd to a few thousand. the CiantbditAtedivtrtidtteedls ratiches
were the digr,est outf:Lts
Gauthier •Sheldon F Page #10
Rangelore. FC 240
warrant co.,Dist.,#7
',We used a tent for our shelter, and between it and the chucks
wagon we had our home. We had no regular cook. The soaking was
done by the one who reached the 'camp first. my rother coOkod the
breakfast generally, while the rest of us paddled the bosses. 411112
or diet Consisted .of beef mainly, with beans next on the Ronne 9
then came the sourdough bread and canned vegetables. We would have
wild game occasionally, which was plentiful in those days.
owe had 'the rustlers trodbIers nnd fights betimes' the thieves
and the ranchers in the Hamilton co., dl,Arict the Anse as we had
in Fannin co., and it as handled jr the name ware i,At were conlifeAdd
to be on_,1:ntch co!'lets_tly -1:.o prevent IceaL: cattle.
"The Leon Aver su;,,pj_ied the nter or our herd and we 1-:rovided
salt licks r_sEr.tLe iver. erefora, 1 i. croat(d the hoe mice
for the herd, and the 1.141 where the cc-tt-le would return tO. each
night tc', bod down. TzA.:.,n, re netqled °al; ozle airht rider on dut,y at
to
oae timay(kesp watch he herd. Durin7 the day two men were
assigned to stay with the hard. the rest of the outfidatteaded to
other work. There were alusys cuts to wt.:40h for and daubing of the
cuts to prefant scraw-wormitLifection. y job on the AdAltion co.,
ranch wee looking after the bogjoa critters.
'The sale of our cattle was made to drovers. as generally
sold to Jamie ?stunt. As made a business of bilOing cattle and
driving handset* Leusas City and other northern markets, after the
railroad extended J1 into Kansas. Our sales usually were made in
the Spring and tall. The,. class sold were the developed steers aria/
aged cows. When a slate was made we 'then had to gather our herd
GL.uthier.sheldou
Ra,gelore.
tarrant co.,Dist.07
Pegs XU
FC 240
and cut out the olass of critters sold. 'de would roundup a 1 our
cattle and
these ware
Either the
tion point
the cuttsrs cut out till the desired number was cut, then
held separated from the other cattle until deriwered.
drover seat a crew to drive the cattle to his concentrao.
or we would drive the herd to the place.
"Of course, we hnd the stampedes. The Texas Longhorn were
always v./7JUN; for an excuse to go on m run, especially when driving
the
a
/cattle spiv Lhcir Low range. hi1e an Iteir ho4e range, the
Longhorn *Ls lot so ixone to gc on a aVii--.pede, except during a
storm. thc ;.:.::.reas of a severe storm, the danger of P
staE,pede happeminz wf-; alw4ye present. Alen a loud crash of thuner
sounded near. to -Lie herd, or lightening struch in or near it, the
critters ere sure to et:Art running. we were doweled to be very
careful atout mpg noise. A cough ar3.de by one of the waddies,
strickinc a match, and other triffle noises, could startle the herd
and cause the ani Nla to go on a run*.
"To give an exa-,le h -w easily a herd c,:.h be started on s
stampede, I shall tell fW incident which happened while we were
driving 400 head to be delivered to Pitt.' runcentration place,
about miles from our raiz*. A storm ,O,et in and it was thundering
'he critters, as usual during a storm.were freting.-I
started teaput on qv slicker and while unrolling it a'gust of
wind flappli it in the air. Within a minute, the 400 critters were
taring their best running strid towards their hone rang44 and "there
is where they went inspite of our best efforts to hold them. We
didn't loos any, bte, had cuttig job to do wer•
4Uthier Sheldon r
Wngelorel
Tarrrnt 06•01st 00
Page s12
FC 04
"When a herd became exceedingly scared they were furious
and would fight a hos& Under such condition, it was impossible
for thc waddles to stop the run until_ the critters wore exhateted•
Ordinarily the Lonrhorn would run from a mounted man, but when
scared bedly one had to ookout for the safety of his boss.
"I remained on the Hamilton co., ranch six years and then
an opportunity was prese-ted to me to join the Secret Service
iJapartment of the Federrl uovernment, and 7 accepted the offert
I then removed the bossy stink from Jiyaelf•
"I remained in .the 7,overxrtent service four years,ami during
this :.eriod mu duties i-ilaced me in several gon tattles. I now
carry vLsible sefzre ;7rde ly bullets received during gun fights.
The worse battle I tooi: prt in easkat 1rnse lty Intel. or 1182,
when Bob Neker and ;-144 geng was subdued.
"I receive wor th,- the .4sker crowd were In Kansaa City. I
went there 'to locEt thq7! „lane I.. took five men with me and we
knew that u.ües ve o,ld get the drop oil them, we would have to
swap out in a shootinL match* I crIled a conference at which I
informed my men that vie viere going to meet a gam/ which would not
hesitate to shoeWnd were excellent'shoWThat, if we failed to
get them covered before they were awam 01 who we were, we must
be Inepared to ribilt a ui battle. I told the boys to examine
their gui,a to lauke certain as possible thLt their guns were, in
the Lest of shooting order. Also, I'st!4ted tkht if anyone felt
the slighest desire, to not ate" on tLe JOU to make it known then
and there* Not one of them indicated a desire to evade the hunt.
Gauthier.6heIden. F6
Rage lore.
Tarrant ce.,Dist.,#7
Page t4 23
PC 240
"1 then inetrueted the boy about how to denduct themselves
in the event of a fight. I told them tht-L if shooting started to
Ohodtto kill, to be cautious, but not t hesitate or become anxious
and excited. That in tie event we had tbe gang bunched to keep
crowding in on Uem, an,1 if we were not protected from their fire
by some °Wet, to keep moving from rigi-it to left, thus preseatilg
a more difticult ...nrgete
reccir&I t'p thi beys had hideout tt tho,edge of
town. We 'met to the ..#-_-_-iir.nrAped place, starting early in the
morning.
"The gang warn houeed in a buileivc: w ich was located in
an o!:,en tract 66 land. There was no chpnce to sneak uf) on the
Poute,'end it wee to this building we st,rted intending to surround
the rouse. nut, ,jLe as we entered the open tract of land, we
espied L. number adw7mcing t-wrds town and us. I was
certain it was Bob baker and Wm of his men. they, evidently,
suspected we were cor4k-, to get them, because the moment they•
woe us they 5tos-ed an(1 wnet'into a hudelei. I spoke toTly Men end
said:
"snoy, the,:nten are a party of Biker's gang. Ast walk along
unconcerned, hut _on't tal:e your epos off of theist and listen for
an order. Under theoe orders we proceeded. X% this time the man
were about, 200 feet away from as. We had not igilked but a few feet
when we noticed each of theta put their hands on their guns which
were at their side. I said to my men in an under tones 'we are in
f r a fight. Now keep cool and wLen shooting starts 1 ppeeed out
and remeeber orders. had jur:t finiph,d talking when Bakrer saids
Gauthier.ShelUnt. Page 13
Rangelore. PC 240
Tarrant co.tmist.tW7
"'You fellows stop where r.,u are. 1 what to know who you are
and what you wanti' We stopped and I answered&
"1:4 are Federal man with a warrant for Bob Baker and his
parthe.,.s. You ten .len are under arrest.Cme forward an surrendads
"'Likt hell we will. You come and get ustt VOlo the reply.
"Baker had not yet completed his stateent.when I gave my men
orders to go into action. men spread out about 20 feet apart in
a ami.circle, and shooting started simultaneously by each party.
There wawa 10 of them, so they had the advantage of us in numbeest
but they remaimd eltsteredt while we scattered and kept up a weaving
movement.
risk
Shortly after sh iting started one of vakise4romm went down,
Allowed by another. 'then one of my men went down.. By this time
abut every oneopneaci. side had been scratched at least. Next
•-another one of my men dropped and two more of Baker's men fell to
the ground. This left three men fighting in my party and five
in Sakhess party, but Am 'of his men was severly wounded and was
rot doing much. I yelled to them Ald asked if they were willi4g to
i.lurrendert but their ..usaer was tInol' it shortly after this we
felled two .,ore of 1,1,Lr men and the remainder threw up thcir hands.
"When the firirc stopped, there were three man left of my
party, but all were wounded t to some extent. Iblethree of Baker's
men were, alsot wounded and one of them died a short time afterwards.
"1 am carrying a scar on my right wrist and forearm from two
scratch wcunds received in that battle. I ha,. -e always thought since'
Gauthier.dheldon Y. Page #I4
Haagelores FC 240
Tarrant eo.tUist.07
that I am living now because it was not my time to got -during
that gun battle.
At the conelusiol, of four years scrvice dul the 400ret Qervice
Del:Artmentt I colicilled that it would be mom healthy for we to live
0: a farm* I qutt ni returned to FarLdn co.,. and there made farming
my giffee vocation. I establiithed a farm on cv father's tract of
lend' Apd remained there uuNil I retired a few years ago.