Document text
.1004!
lanp;atiore,
!arrant 1^
rage 11
rin
r
(1111) -'0•bbs, 0.)was born on_his
Ito. n 4nnin oo.,Tex.,"Jun•
21,18/. n Bill Me tire, years oil, his
father move )iis stook an' family from Tannin
Go., to 4_,.."-te:1.4,Mi,..etit'llex, where he !onto' a
partnership with 3_11's two uneles Georg* an'
l eery Slack, miners of the fanious italeshoe
:tanoh. 1111- 7r1i, up on ths Vuleft°. RaiYoh, was
taught to rioe horses at four any helps' work
with the oartie at five years of agar. fie works'
In the rounluos before he was 11, air was employe.,
as a eowhoy on the J aandh in Thar' so., when
be was 14. le elm employe." on the xrr Ranch in-'
the "eras "anhaele when he was 15, but retu.rne4
to the 'uleshoil Ranch the follow tug year, "Mere
he was employe! as a cowboy until he retSre! in
1.955. HiP etory:
you ley, "1.4 I ever ri4e a will' one' 'Thy, son*
I've roa* 'am in my time that none of these 4u-oes hare at the
roileo oval* touch with a 1.0 foot sapling e, I've ro4e
-:hy, 'elan t vas Just a young fellow, we all ha' to go out an4
oateh 'em wil4, riPht *ere they groove, an* taw 'em on the
spot. I praotieelly spent my life in the sa441.e, an' out on the
open range Where it takes a roan to stay on the cayroll. You bit!
I wasn't born on the ranqe, thou*. I re,e born June 21,1871), on
my xak4's stook farm in r'annin county, but was raise* on the famous
Muleshoe outfit in ""tephees county, my -084 movih everythin we
•'\-1 he' out thaw. when I was three 'ears 014.
4That's the reason t can't tell, you about rennin county, an4
where Inas born, but Icon tell you a -plenty about the ''uleshoes
where I WAS rise'. 1?1:1r one thing, I ro4e bosses when I wan too
little even to olimb up by the stirrups, but he to have sone
cowpoke to give me a boost no's I caul* get into the seals. \11.
-ooAy
.,angelore,
Tarrant flo.,-tst.'7
age :2
the 'eowpokes were right anxious to learn me to rile, so
ot
teaching, e-llenty, an' by the bet rilters in the business them
1a3s, b,cause the 'txleshoe haa too many cattle to just have a
few /greenhorns messing areun4. My Uncle, lenry neck, run over
2,)O0 hes' in the 'lipid*. 'own ttor.ftrshoe', malte like this: In
4.0
"&o. John 'sobbs, ran over 1,000 in the 'licht fYitieways
shoe', ma"e 1ie t'lis:. My Uncle, tleorge 13lack, rrin erouns
-re
1,500 in the"Left rt" sways :qui *shoe mee like this: C. *aytio.
later on, there were other Muleshoe braes, ss others in th:
family got a few heap. Ch, there was a whole mess of them. or a-
_ 4•10
while there. "`y a4 410 about 30 years ago, an" lay mother
marrie" stmos i,tkins, who ran the maae like this:
owne" about 30,000 acres in his '71ail sprea in"ent county.
!e3 still owns th t place, but t never "i* know just how Many .telag
of cattle he ran on it. 7.e finally lease all of the :4418011os
outfit, an' runs it to'ay. T worke" for him myself up 'til 1935,
ror
when T quit to take it easy. Wet that t coulyn't take it, Cnit
rtve save" my money, marrie" a AToom woman, an we Just Viten', to
take it easy for awhtles,
und.
'Tow, ..,et back to myself. Thy, t sal" t'' learns.* to
rt e bf_lr D -re T cou 1 ev ns el imb up on a br oom-t ail. 1,11, so'Ie-.
tinie before T Watt4 even five years ol!, T" .2!o out with ol" r.'4orp,s1
stmeon, the an boss, when he went out to the her" *ere the
boys were wor:', in T" ri" e aroun" here an" there, nen, whit*
the boys were eatin•s: their *inner or supper, r,* riele her' on
the cattle. Yep, ro"e bar" when t wasn't but nye years ol*.
?hippo, ":oe'y
Rangelore
Tarrant lo.,
Pivile -4
1711
"row, t can't -tve you an exact line-up on Just "hen
I rope" my first calf any so on; but between five an" 12, 'I. was
taught to work with eattle just like the rest of tie wa"ies on
the place. ma ;Irian t was /2 I thouTht I knows" a heap tors
than they" ever learn it they star,* in the business 'til they
ha 4 ohin whiskers to their knees. An', for a fast, I coal" r
i.
an* rope with the r3ost of them, because I stays at it as lon,1913
coal" see. Main reason for that, Isuppose, was beeause T
lovea ri" e a hoss an' work cattle. t was really in my ,--1.ory
if a hoes aitche" with me, or if r ha" sone trouble with a lolift.
Just anythirv.7 t:Aat coul." happen was_apalie pie for me beam -Joe r
always wante" to show what I caul" 'go, if not to the °thorn, to
t2le aritters themselves anyway.. 'ror'. *Tat they say, I reckoll
r
pretty hr a on the stock, but -et a lotta work vo'ie.
firt stay away from home iris! w:len I was about 12. or
400
maybe a little less. 7 staye" out on the re.-7ular rounaup for
thrle months. Yr,a. know, *ere there's a lot of cattle on a ranch,
the critters "rift. T'e" have, t., into four an* f iv e
counties to r unaup the ;,'_uleshoe stolk, ll rouna the rands ae4
on ot'her ranahes, n that rourt"up, lept just like the 7, oilar
hanA 7sei my saaale for a pillow an' 71.!,r sa)"le blanket for a
mattress. However, I ha* a be" roll to .;.:o over that sa"111,
blanket. A,ny ruin t' -,at there was anYthinsP.: to
always ha" him a
F700." be" roll. _he reimlar way we slept out like that won].' be
to tine a small rise an* threw the flop ri;-ht on top of it. 'Nen
we" take a stir* or something, our boots if neeessary, an' 'rag
little "itehes town away front our be, eo's if it rains' the
"hips, roo4Y
7 art rtel ore
Tarrant
water'e!, wash away from us an' not get us all wet. f cows*, we
threat." a tarp over the be" after we eot it ma"e, an' that was
Just like sleepitv: in a tent.
""1111.e vain still just a young fellow, tae plains ha' a lot
of buffalo chips aroun", art" whan we ooul"n't fin.* stickq to baila
411V
vi•O
a fix -a, we" use them chips. Wciva4ays, the chuck wagon totes a
asoline atove. an' the cooky can set ua an' have a aktaal in tae
SWIG time as M wo-lan can where they have natural gag.,
"I always wante" to ae aroun" the gang *len mealtime came,
because taey" get to talking about al* times, an' telltrv; tales
41110
on one another. Lot of ki' tng went on, too, an' t always
like' that. "any a time /Ye hear" my uncles talk about -7nilart
rat's when they finat came to 'tannin county, an" oVvar tales
about rustlers, an' so on, au.t hay* to akip t'lat because I
lon't remembar tha important things aaout them. rill Just
that the oimtimers ha' an awful har' time when they nret set
tie' here, an* ha' to put up with ttircu you an' me AID u.14n't
put up with a -tall.
One of tate things taat has Oharii;;to alooe they first came
out there is the hose bulinass. 7-!e use" to, *len 17 was a
out
go out an trap wit' hosses i.Lghtifon the range. There wazn't
any fences then, .tnywhere, an' the !v-sses ran wil" everywhere.
rag am/
;-A.4 Mustangs that never tame' "own like the hones of to 'ay. Youl4
have to break thw; all over every morning when you caught them up.
1Thile they weren't as wil' as they were wham they were firat
4.0
caught, they were rascals. .attyl" pitch an' snort aroun" for 10
or U minutes every morning. an" 131'1 be a small ro"eo to be
'hip, 'roe/
:tanzelore
Tarrant 0o.,-ftiot
Page
711
Gatti* because tnere were about 50 MO heal in our *.vision,
-or
alone. Yes, 50,000; an* there were eight *ivisionso. I was at
the sprea* a whole year, an* seen new etowpunohers right along
that he* worke* there for a long time. I know for a fact thcit
never seen tinything like a thir* of the cowpunohars on that
.10
spree*.
was baok at the 7.Tulaelhos for the next pring ronn4up,
after ray year an the (rte. La to get biaak,, too, became' they
put me on the payroll. That Wag the reason I left in the first
plea*, beaau.se I wasn't 'riming money, an* r was 4ein4 the work
40.
the top han4s *one. t 'on't recollect the salary t *rare* when
I Game back, but ail in ail, salary being gauge' by the blot
prices, I've *rawe* from A.0.30 a month to ;1.60.01 a month.
Yoa see, t,lere'a been times, an' reeently too, that the prism
of beef wasn't as rnuhas it oost to ship it somewhere to stall
it. -7:r ()aurae, wtlen the cattlemen lost money Just on shi2pirig
beef, Viey naturally li'n't ship it, an' when they Illn't ha Vet
any stoney oozing in, t.Ley trie4 not to let too maoh of it go
out at a time.
'1 'mitt mean to let you think the acumen 41.4n't have the
cuts. They ha* the t:;;uts to 4c anything. .:14 limas George Bleak,
I seen him get in the way of a speekle4, blue roan bull, VIA
was MO an* trying to oateth somebo*y. r.f that bull" (might
him he" ha., e .'-:ore* him lb r goo*, an* le ft him for *ea*. Now,
anybo*y that 'a ever ha* much to *o wit :i cattle, know t that
when a critter is coming at you, if you'll fall, on the groun*
abo,
an roll tower's it, it'll Jump over you. an* you oan get slaw.
Phi?,, 'roo4y
Ln6'31.or
Tarrant Co.."-let.1 7
age
Uncle George fell at rolls* towaris the bull, but the bull
4.0
imet jump. rnstea", he starte" pawing the grounn.
the eye Gout* follow the Rove, fee jerks* his six-shooter out
os(
an* pwape" five shots in that' bull's belly before you *out" !;'“iy
'Jack tiobinson'. 2he bull sorts shook b.ie hes*, walk, to his
left for about 10 feet, then "roppe* over yew*. Many an ol*-
timber will remember this when they see it, an* I know Uncle ,ktorge
has 14)1* lots of them that "i"n't see it, because he was so well
knows that lots of them asks" him about it. It wus.a goo* 'hoe,
alright.
"That 's something about the range. There's always something
happening that puts on a show. Nleger 7a1 was a goo' a ri*er
as ever you" see, an" he was throw.* by a hoes he role every *ay
for several years. rt was this way: arly ona_morning, when all
the cowpunehers were out roping their houses an' sa"*ling them,
Nigger •3al ha* his rope.* an' e a* 41 befo re the most of then
theirs. Hie hose was a-stareing by the oorral
ranee, an' ayr-t,ter
hoes buoks" over to Lore they were. er el 'a hoes buc--:e*
right straight up, an' ;el lit on top of the t ei..ht foot corral
fens*. fter he lit, hi roll." off into the aorral where the
other hoses* were tryiqg to get away from the ropes, ana 4arri nigh
got kille" before he (soul* climb that fence an' mate his get -a -way.
'Now, I'll tell yoa one on myself. rhat same ma re, a Oki t t lag
hose awl a goo* one at that,_ha"n't been use" for a couple of
weeks before the -pring roun4up one year, an' was a little stale.
I expiate" to ha-iie to let her buck for awhile, an' was workin7 with
a*?
the sae"le when she Jumps,* aroun4 an' kicke4 me right between the
htpa, Too" y
Rangelore
Tarrant
probany
shouller row, iticoul4n't happen again in a hun4re4
?age ;fel
7'11
years, but she kicks" me in such a way t'lat r went almost straight
up an' lit in the limbs of a mesquite tree. T was scratohe4
quite a bit an' went aroun4 all humps" for a couple of weeks,
before r,7.-.ot the kinks out of me azain.
"There's one more thing, then I'm throck4i. r maie a lot2f
'rives, but never mtee 4rive like first b0,* *rive ra_44e.,
.Tust before 7 went t the In'tte, my Uncle Henry atteite4 to 4r1Ve
5.000 hea4 over into the Territory (now r.ncla.) one ipring, on
account of the grass shortage The grass was over there,
an4 we startea out. ell, rtm never neen any In4isne to seek of,
en' just after we J. t oliflr the line tiers, somewhere north •-yf
vhere Vernon is now, our her4 ran rip,ht thro igh an In4ian
any it was uansh arker's to boot. "all, the first thing I
know e4 about it was when I ro4e ri;::ht up to an In'ian tepee (you
know, tley ay..1 live' in tepees in then. 'eye) an' r saw about 15
In'iane in Vt uneh. I tintt 'zn;*/ Wleth,v to run, shoot, or
arr
jut o trai.p7'It up. They 4 len't Ray anyt;-tin, either, but Just
stare". I can't rataa you. feel. the ray- r felt then, an" I just
knw t'lat you !lave bent my hair any way because it must
have been straiglat up an' stiff as a boar". rne of the ':'!uleehoe
ol4timers, 0L4 ltlj roctor (an* he lives right here in 71art 'orth
air
he ro'le up behin4 me an* sat" something to them in In4ian.
Ad
"Pley never RITille4, but gru.ntea, an' everything memo to be aLrIght.
never 414 get over my scare, though, are WEIS reey to ri'le at
the 4rcp of a hat. rot tower's them reiskine, either.
to top it a 11 off, about Z3 In4 lane, -uanah 73erker
"hipos„
:anio;elerik
?arrest
Pato ft()
in the emery. You know, they kept the lwenson and lampbell
fences eMS for SO years out there before they eottl4 get one to
stay up, The ranchers Just 4ion't want any fence in the country,
an' fs1.$ Slot fences woo.14ruia every cattleman.
"Via just in to see the fins cattle here in the Stoek lhow
rLght sow, I 4on't live here, bat still live in the ol4 Hule4hos.
save a: stoney while tworke4, at least the last years T kit,
that's what we're living on now.