Document text
Phipps,- 7loody-
WJngelore
Tf-rrant Co., -Dist.
Richard C. Phillips, 630 was born on his
father's reach near Bandera, Tex. !!is
father taught ,him to ride a horse, then
died a few months before Phillips was five
Yrs of age. Ris mother's depth when he was
12, left him an orphan. He was still 12 Yrs
old when he was employed as a cowboy on the
.7estern Union Beef CO. Ran*, which owned
large no. of sections of lend, and a large
No. of Gatti.. After slat Yrs, the N.U.
Beef Co. sold their holdings to John T.
Monroy, a Peace city financier who immedi-
ately resnld the cattle to ,Segal Saunders,
a ?Cannes City Comm. CO. Segal Saunders
shipped a train load of beef to Terre Haute,
Ind., and Phillips went with the load.
Then he returned to Texas, he Ault the
range end now resides in Springtown, Texas.'
ills story:
page '#1
rc
well, now to begin with, my name's Riche:2'4 C. Phillips,
and I was born on my dad's XX Ranch near Benders, 7exes, on Dec.
17, 1804. Peckon as how that'd make me 63, wouldn't it?
vou asked
if I ever worked on the range, and I'll answer by saying that I
rode flosses when I wasn't but four years old. You see, my dad's
spread wasn't much shakes, and be couldn't hire muoh help because
he didn't have so much money, and so he started me out to learning
to ride Just as soon's he figured I was able to sit a hull.
nd, the tough part atiout it was, he died just after
learnt to ride pretty good, and could climb up by myself. After
he died, that left nobody but me and my mother,. so I had to learn
to tend to the 100 odd head of stuff we had. She'd talk to me, ands
try to make me feel my reenonsibility so's I'd go out there and do
my dead level beet to take my dad's plf,de. I'd never have made it,
though, if it hacn't have been for the good neighbors we ell had
around there. 'hey done a marvelous lot for us, and took the load
in the roundups. I went on the roundups, alright, and slept out away
7,hipps, body
Rnngelore
Tarrant o., Diet. 49
page 42
FC
from hone during them roundups. Como branding time, and I was right
in the big middle of it, tending to the irons, and everything
a stripling could shake. lne thing about it, though, and that 1168
there wasn't 8 lazy bone in my body, and I learnt ,to rope smd brand
on my own Bodo nt. reckon I could pull it all. off by the time I
was eight years old. 7hat's pretty young, but in them days, a kid
wasn't alwnys tonging out in sake toe cream parlor. Instead, he
went about his business and tried to be toms account in the world.
Another thing, people weren't always yapping baby talk at, him, but
gave him jobs to do, and if he didn't, he wanted to the next time
he was given something to do.
I was left a dogie when my mother died, and I wasn't but
12 at the time. You know, even though we had tried to get along,
we didn't .have much stuff when she diee, and I sold but for n00.00
and lit out for the lest. I wanted to get away from the place where
I'd had so much trouble.
A couple of months later, I lit in Fort Stockton, and met
4i.om Bailey. Be Wet ram rodding for the Western.Union Beef Co., and
was in town right then, a -looking for cow punchers. told him I
could ride and rope, and he gave me a chance. I was told to beat it
out to the ranch, and when he came out, he'd see. what I could do.
when he got out there, he put me through my paces, and
hired me. I got 315.00 a month and chuck. Now the restern Union
Beef outfit w a a big spread going from Fort Stockton to the mouth
of the Pecos River. It was a big outfit, and bad ranches from
below Uvalde to clean up in Montana. A couple of bankers, R.T. and
N.T. Wilson were the ones that owned the Co. They ran the Alamo
National bank in San Antonio, and that's where all our checks come
Phipps, 'goody page Y3
Tirngelore
7arrant Co., Dist. 47 FC
from.
Now, naturally, since the ranch was such a big one, and
even ran two brands at the same tale right on the same range,
there was a lot of cow punchers working the spread. There were
a !Amber of nigger*, too, and dont you ever believe them niggers
couldn't ride and rope to best the band. There. was old Geo. .Adams,
and he could ride and rope with the best. Then too, there was
Tom Gannlg, a younger nigger that was good. Niggers weren't
allowed a gun on that spread. I said Ganning was young„ ,well„
old Geo was en ex -slave. He'd hen a slave down near San Antoniov
on a plantation that had been in the Wilson family for years and
years. There was one more nip.ger that I recall, and his name was
Snow Ball.* That was because he was the blackest nigger anybody
ever saw. And yet, he was sure a mighty good cow hand.
About the best rider on the spread was Henry Salmon. He
was in charge of the hoes ranch, and I reekon he had charge of 500
saddle hossen at least. Besides having that many, they had to
keep busting more wild bosses in to take ,the place of those thnt
gat killed or too old to work any more. Believe,me, that's many a
hoes and a sight to see for sure.
Then, there was Button Clark, the trail boss. He was
always in charge of the trail drives, bemuse he'd been up the trail
so many times, and knowed the country like a book. He was called
Button,' because there was another top hand on the. spread whose
name was Buck Clark.
About the Gatti., well have you seen any longhorn critters?
That's what the estern Union Beef Co. run. Whole herds of them.
Why, they branded 10,000 dogleg a year when the spread was going
Phipps„ 1oody
Rangelore
Tarrant Co., Dist. '7
Page sial
great guns. Tha two irons they run ses the ED and the Double nalf
Moon. You make the 70 like this: 0 4 and the Double Half 7oon like
this :4:N Of course, the oritters carried the irons shoulder,
side and hip.
Oh, yes. Jim Tatts was the wagon boss when i first got
later
.on, but he was fired -a couple of years/forAitayilig drunk all the
the, and Doc Coleman *t.)ak his -pleas. I. don't xveall at this time.
just how long he did work as wagon boss, but Hugh Bales took his
pleoe-end stayed right on through, working for John- T molroy of
;Ilecos City, who bought the rench, lock, stook, end barrel, alIng
in "94. I hed word of the mnoh in '98, ard.T!mgh Roles still had
the wagon boss job.
Now I've told you about the men on the spread, I'll vein
a couple of yarns about sane of the work. :7hey might sound to you
like they was yarns, but when you're on the spot at one of these
things, itnint so funny. Not by a darn sights Now, you take a
stampede, and they're one of the most dangerous things ever wee,
and yet, they happen all .th, time bn cloy ranch where q bunch of
cow critters ere rounded up int) a herd. -Anything'11 cause them,
too.
There was on e when I went North with about 1, 00 head
of four -year -olds, steers they was, and we was trying to hold them
et -..nycm City. :hem ornery‘raseals'd stampede every night, and
one time they run plum to 4.marilloi Button Clark, who was in
charge of the herd. trailed them there hisself. After we rounded
the critters all up again, the tally showed 23 steers gone.
Then another night, they run to'ards Amarillo again, and
veered a little at just enough to run right meek into Joe
Phipps, :oody
R-ngelore
Tarrant Co., Dist. 47
?lige 45
PC
Nation's herd, which out the whole tit and b'iling to running.
Nov that was, the worst mess ever I got into, because after stopping
the run, we had to out the whole herd to get the two of them sep-
arated. 7ork, work, work. That's about all that trip amounted to.
The reason the 7D put that herd up there in the first
place was because there was so much dry weather, and we had to get
the critters to water. In one year, the 7ds had three herds around
rmarillo, end Joe Nation had six4
Another reason the 7de put so many cattle at Amarillo
Was bemuse Amarillo was our shipping point to the Montana manges.
7e shipped on the 7t. Worth tt Denver road to Brush ?laming, where
they were unloaded and drove to the range the Western Union Beef
o. hod in mind. 7'hat's the way they done 1346150es. Then' conditions
in 7exes were unfevorable for cattle, they tried to put their beef
into a oountry that was favorable, and they owned ranches everwheye
like I showed ym before.
Now, I've always been considered one of the beat shots in
the country, but I'm not going to tell anything about it. Instead,
T'll tell you about some of the boys on the spread there that could
really shoot as well as ever I could myself. Now, there's Bop
7?-11son. Just a cow hand, but a darn eight better then any I've
seen since I left the 7ds. Old Bob was a noted pintol shot, and
the quickest on the drew ever I seen. One day, the boys decided
toimankitim, and one of then that was a good roper, welted up a
draw for him to come to the chuck wagon that was spotter! right on
top, ell, old Bob finally come Plong in a lope, whistling some
sort of a tun, and this roped zizzed his lasso out, trying to
trip the hose. The rope made the hose's front foot alright, but
Itipps„ Woody
Hengelo?,
:arrant Co., Dist. g°7
old Bob idiot ttat lasso in two bettore any pressure could be put on
it. Fed have shot the oow hand hisself, if he'hadn't have ducked
behind it rock the minute he made -his ea.*. That sure was funny to
everytody but the zany that tried to throe old Bob, beeause tem,
hadn't have gone to hollering, Don't OhOot; Don't ahootI, I'm one
of the boysi',-old nob'd have rode up into them rocks end made a
sieve out of him.
now, I never done such hoes busting. They had men on the
hose ranch -that took cnre of the busting, but IdiddoeltOf
brow, riding because them ornery reseals vas half Spanish and
nistang, and the nisteng hose was as mean 8 oritter-as ever walked.
-hey pitched every morning When you went out and roped th one you
were to ride, :nd, they'd pitoh for fully five minutes 'til they
got what we called, warmed up'. In other words, pitched 'til
they got the laziness out of their bones.
some way or other, 1 sure wish I could make you re lize
just how hard they pitched,- Their pitched every bit as hard pnd
'fast es these critters you see now in the rodeos, so we had a
real rodeo every morning. There'd be some funny sight s take place
sometimes, too. I recall very plain how one of the nig.ers was
pitcher plum over the cor-al walls, and they were eight foot high.
7hen that nigger come down on the other side, he let out a big
grunt that could Amost be heard in Fort Stockton. "hen too, I've
seen the boys pitched into mesquite trees, and every other way you
can think of,
Mot 7'm trying to picture to you is: that in then days,
a man had to be a man every day without no layoffs. 7ver7 daY4
You take in a stampede now, and I've seen a 100 or more.
Phipps, -:oody
!,itangelore•
Tarrant Co., Dist. f7
Page
FC
The boys thrt-are out with a herd =Wit be real good riders willing
to tmke chances with their lives. ":hen a herd starts to runAng,
it goes hell -bent -for -election end will run over anything it Can
unless its too big, then the,herd'll ran 'til they run up against
something they can't run over, then they'll split and go around
but keep a -running* let's the way them ornery oritters°11 do
every time. Jell, when 'a herd gets to running, it'll run 'til it
runs down, or gets so tired it can't run anYmore. :he thing a
cowhand has to-do, id to get that herd to milling, and then they'll
run in a circle 'til they get run damn. If they're not put into a
mill, they'll run over some bank of a crick; or a out, or even a
canyon if there's one in the way. Awn there'll be a lot of beef
killed and lost, which can run up into the thousands of dollart.
Nov then, t want you to picture a herd on the stomp, and
realize that any human or hose that gets in the way, that the herd'll
run over them and stomp them into the very ground if it possibly
can. Get that picture, then realize that the only possible way to
turn a herd into a mill is to get right out in front and beat the
lead steer 'til he starts turning and trying to get away from you.
,:hat away, the rest of the herd'll folloT Mn, and the herdoll theft
go into a mill. Then you got that picture, then you'll see and
understand why men had to be he men in them days* Not now, because
these fine cattle are hard to put into a stomp, end when they are,
they'd;n't run long because they're not grown for strength, but for
fat. They didn't grow them in thold days for strength, but them
old lone horns just naturally growed like a hose, without any help
from man.
They'd hide out in the brakes, and when we were on the
'41ippe, woody
Rangelore
!'errant Co., Dint. 47
Page 13
FO
roundup, they'd come a -busting out nd try their deal level best
to kill".the cowhand. That wee the old mossy horns, of course, that
got so testy, and there were mighty few so mean, thanks be. Others
were real wild and flighty, and would run away from the cowhand as
hard as they could go. That was the expected, though, and the cow-
hand‘d rope him an then drive him to what they'd roundcd up, where
another'd stay with them and keep them eorraled. aft, a little
persuasion, most of them etitters'd stay together in a hrd.
Now, what I'm telling is what actually happened, to me,
and not something I've read. Truth of the mater is thet I can't
read nor write. Reason being because I was relied a dogie, and had
to hustle for -my bread and meet all my life. I just want to tell
about one of them stomps we had on one of the last trail drives to
Amarillo with 7ds, while it was still owned by the 'i;.'1J.B. Co. I'm
standing night herd, and its been raining pretty hard. Akenever
it goes to raining, a herd'll stand up and go to shifting around,
trying to get their tails and backs to the wind and min. :hat's
their nature, but they're also ready to run in case anything makes
the le'qlt little old -bobble. ?ell, sir. Instead of the rain
getting herder, it began to lighten, and the night itself got lighter.
-e could see a hevp bettertn when it wits raining, and all of a sudden,
we heard a shot from the camp where the rest of the boystd vim to
sleep.
The herd heard it tee, and were off like a shot, running
right towards me and the other night rider. Je'd stopped for a but
of talk and a cigarette, but was in the wrong spot at the right time.
If it hadn't have been that the night was pretty light, and we were
able to see.the leaders, we'd have been stomped right into the
Phipps, 7oody Page N
:.rrant Co., Dist. #7
Pangelore FG
-:round. Instead, we c'ould see the leaders, and he and me turned
th-t herd into a mill in less than -five minutes after it got started.
7ive minute '11 bet that'd have made some kind of a roe rd. if
records had been kept, because fiqe minutes is a wonderful time.
,e had a lot of good times, there on the 7D, what with
our contests we had every time we weren't pushed with the work and
all, but along cane the thing that spoilt it all when John T. McFlroy
of Pecos City made a deal with the 7.U. Beef Co., and bought the
ranch. T don't 'mow just what kind of a deal was made, but I do
know that the cowhands -vere given the order to roundup every head
on the ranch, and bring it to the chutes at the headquarters tore
tally. 7E111, on the day we were to have the herd there, there was
a stranger there with !*071roys Nobody peld no attention to him,
because we were all busy with the herd.
Final1y came the order to shot th,- chutes, and we
started the cattle through. Fugh Boles made the count for the 74.11.
Beef Co., and Zohn T. made his own count in the middle of the chutes
as the critters passed him b:. The strPnger made the count at the
end of the chutes as the critters all passed out Pnd into the new
herd. 28,000 head passed through the chutes in that one day, and,
this stranger was seal' Saunders, of the Kanans City Saunders Cattle
'3ommission Co. He bought every heed that came through, ant; paid
John T. !t4.00 a head for every one of them .26,000 critters. rigure-
it yourself.
Then the res1 work started. Segal Saunders gave the
order to have the critters road branded, and T myself put a seven
on 13,000 of them critters. 13,0001 You see, all I had to do was
put the iron as the other boys downed them, and there were three c-ews
Phipps,. .00dy
Rnngel re
2arrant Zo., Dist. p7
-)tee
!Pei'
0
working with me. It certainly ',Aopt us all busy. After the cattle
were all brftnded, then they were roaded to Amarillo, and shipped to
different points. I myself left with a trr=in load for
'ferr e 'relate, Ind., to be fdd out.
'Alen I returned from working with that herd, I quit the
range for good nu never went back. man could mAly save his
money and be healthy in it, but it just didn't appeal to me no
more after T got back- from that year in Inditnna, J_ quit. I'm
now living on my farm out near 3pringtown, '7exas. Just ping
nothing all 3u-ner but wait for winter, then when wInter gets her*,
wait for the gold old Summer time.