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Range -lore
Maverick, Texas.
RANGE -LORE
Page one
Ernest :arshall, who was born March 6, 1883 at
Buffalo Gap, Taylor County, Texas, tells the follow-
ing story:
"I learned to work and to ride then I was quite
young but I was never much of a haLd to ride brancs. I
usually let the other fellows do that. There was plenty
of 'em that could and seemed to enjoy it.
"I liked space, even when. I was a kid I liked to
work out of doors, but I didn't like going to school
and I didn't have any love for school teachers. I rem-
ember some of us boys used to mukd a target of the
school house when nobody was looking. A, delighted in
breaking our window lights and knocking brick flues
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't19e4t,-;*Lifilaawk-lore
na le Mokuitly
Maysriok, Texas.
RAM -LOBE
Pais one
Brasst Marshall, who was born March 6. 18811 at
Buffalo Gap, Taylor County, Texas, ttWithe follow-
ing story:
"I learned to work and to ride when I was quite
young but I was &star much of a hand to ride brumes. I
usually let the other fellows do that. Thor* was plenty
of 'en that could and *sexed to enjoy it.
"I liked space, oven when I was a kid I liked to
work out of doors, but I didn't like going to school
and I didn't have any love for school teachers. I ren-
amber sone of us boys used to nake a target of the
school house when nobody was looking. Is delighted in
breaking our window lights and knocking brit* flues
Page two
down. But we wouldn't have really harmed anyone, not
even a school teacher. e didn't have much of a school
in them days, I guess, just a one -teacher affair, which
lusted only three or four or maybe five months each year.
.(3'd usually quit school when fourteen of fifteen years
of age to go to work on the farm or ranch.
e continued to have our fun and play pranks
after we were nearly grown. Prayer meetings or some
kind of religious service was always held at the school
house on Sunday nights, and we would go in and keep very
Quiet 'til the service was over, then we felt free to
make all the noise we wanted to and six-shooters could'
be heard popping amid whoops and yells, to the consterna-
tion of our parents, who tried to civilize us. Folks
would be real excited to hear a hullabaloo like that at
el public eathering these days.
"At one time I worked on the Bar .5 Ranch, owned by
Rome Shields, about eighty miles west of San Angelo, near
Stiles. He owned one of the largest ranches in that part
of the state. He tried to build a town and make it a
great commercial center. He had on his ranch one of the
biggest supply houses I ever saw. I worked as an ordinary
cowhrid, never made any lone drives nor saw any stampedes.
that amounted to anything. Our biggest job was rounding
up anc cullinc or cutting the cattle for marketing or
branding. have to do acne hard riding tnen, and
there was lots of noise and excitement until that was over.
Page three
"Later, I worked on a horse ranch in New Mexico,
owned by John Converse. It was called the XSX Rauch.
he raised Polo ponies for the Philadelphia market. The
country was new to me, and pretty soon after going there,
another net hand and myself were sent a few miles away
for the mail. The boys took turns going for the mail.
ell, it was dark when we started back to the ranch and
as there were trails and roads branching off in various
directions along our route, we got lost out there on the
prairie. e knew we would never find our way to the
ranch in the dark, so we just sat down and waited for
daylight to come. V:e discovered that we were on our own
ranch and only a little ways from the ranch house. The
other boys sure got a big laugh out of that.
"Le sure had some good riders on that ranch. I
saw one fellow ride a horse plum to death. He was sure
some stayer. The boss had just received seventeen raw
ponies, young stuff, most of them, and we were going to
break some of them to use on the ranch. This boy rode
his horse until he had ridden Mn down, and the horse
died et few hours later. The rider didn't seePi to be any
the worse for his hard riding.
"Once, I stopped over in li.rdmore, Oklahoma, with
old Bill usgood, on business. Old Bill Was called the
"shouting Ziethodist", but somehow, he tied up with a
tin horn gambler and they gut into an argument about
something and the gambler jumped on Bill with a mite.
Page four
He stabbed him in the back several times before anyone
could stop him. Bil. lost plenty of blood and carried
the scars on his back to his grave. Alere were plenty
or tough humbres in the Indian Arritory.
"Row you know cowboys were considered good natured
fellows, but one time over at Maverick somebody had work-
ed up a dance and didn't invite me and some of the other
boys. ell,in those days v,heri a shendig was given in
the neighborhood it was customary to invite everybody,
and when they slighted us we decided to have some fun
anyway. They had paid a string band from San Angelo
seventeen dollars to come out and play for the dance.
Le waited until about ten o'clock when everything was
going good and we rode up and started the fun. We be-
gan shooting high at the top of the, house, the music
stopped, women screamed-, ard they put the lights out.
;:e rode off a little ways and waited to see what happen-
ed. In a few minutes the lights were turned on and
everybody left the dance in a hurry. That was the end
of that shendig, we had our fun at the dance, after all."
Range -lore
„klinie McAulay
BIi3L1OGRAPHY
Ernest Marshall, Maverick, Texas, interviewed, January,
6, 1936.