Document text
-hiops, clady
-axigelore
'arrant io., ist. '7
Page 411
Eddie :loGregor, 7d, was born on his father's
stock farm near Lewisvi7le, l'ex. "is dmi_i
.traiht him to ride orses at an early age,
which enabled him to do Cowboy work by the
time he was oven Yrs old. -e remained on
the'stook farm until he was 21, at which time
he left home to work elsewhere ,for the exper-.
lence. Later, he returned home and persuaded
his father to ftnanne hiin an Edwards Co.
ranching ventulte. ye leased the. XX Bar ranch,
then bought 1,bpc head of stocker oattle to
raise. Prnkruptcy ended this venture in 11397,
when he entered the 3eymour exas Rodeo. After
winning a riding prize, he entered the employ
of the Algf7,oner ranch in C1'1' Co. Yollowing
his father's demise in L04, he invested his
inheritanoe in 1,000 head of atecrs. 17e
leased gr zing land in Love Co., flkle, then
sold the cattle in 1,J08. e then left the
range to become a farmer, buying a farm near
i7a8let, ''.'exas, where he still resides and
operates hisfarm. "is story:
"I reckon you figured I used to be a cow poke became° my
legs are so bowed you could use them Dar barrel hoops. lhe truth
is, T ranged-cattle'When every man thnt had red bl od in him,
worked cow critters some how or another. If he didn't own a spread
hiself, he worked for the other men. .von then, if he had much
more sense then the o itters he wau hazing around, and didn't get
'too rambunctious with his savings, he usually ended up ranAing,his
own spre,-d anyway.
Yes, time was, when even the place you and me are stand-
ing on was ranged with oatle. housands of caltle. Different
from the kind you'll see over yonder in the exhibit pens, too.
Thy, them critters right over yonder pre so different they're not
even something alike. he crizers thnt used to rim this -country
were usually big old longhorn oritLers. You never saw nothing else
'til the fine stook bean to come into the country.
Now, to begin with, 1 was born .on my dad's stock far*
Phios,
Ilangelre
7aprr'nt co., ipf.
so rr 1.4
nigh to Lewisville, -2exna, one of the oldest towns in -exas, and a
cattle town to .begin with. Contrary to corn on opinion, it wasn't
the 9 Le771sville, 7:and and Cattle Co., but thesnenton Land nd
Cattle Co.'thet was located at Lewisville. hey owned ranches
everywhere, and were the people that owned the Soab 8 that
Burk 9urnett bought when he oeme to this country from the Terr.
dad run tour or 000 head of stockers on his plaoe•
in the M iron. 9randed them hip, side, and shoolder. he way
the land shaped up in that -part of the country, there was a perfect
valley where dad farmed, iun-ing cattle in the other part of the
oountry. 'here wcre about 45 acres I reckon, in his farming spot,
eirld he as more interested in that than he oas in rumling his
cattle..
?age 1,2
;hen 1 ma just a tike, he learnt me to ride hosses.
Now, I oan't for the life of pa, tell you just how Ad T was when
began riding hoaves. A can tell you, though, that I wasn't
day over Vour yents old when i could ride them b: myself. flumb
up a many a one :while it s cei at the hitch rail while some
nWhbor chinne my dad inside the house., 7'd climb on them, then
ride around.' Of course, s 'feral pitched me bff coon's I hit the
hull, but th,t didn't learn le 'nothing. 1 just left alone and
pdt the n )Yt•one thpt come ong.
Thee was one ti a In perticulr when I fell off and could've
ended my riding days right then. Now, I'll just have to tell what
others tell me harr)ened becPuse all I recollect about this is the
perL. -7 ma said she saw me ride off from the hitch rail
and she come out to call me Vok. Just,ns she come out the door,
I fell in such a way tht my:head laid on the spot the hose was set
7)hipps, oody
741rumlore
'Llarrant Dist. 17
T'age 3
itC
to put his hoof down on next. be way she saw, me, the hons's hoof
.was about four inches in the olr, right over my nose. If he'd
-h've been of such n mind rs to gp ahead and p t his hoof down, or
Pitch es 71oet of them orner9 rascels of thet day and time done, I'd
have been killed for sure. 'Iy'brains bashed right out. instead,
this ho s remrined in just that way til T cilvAed-out from under
him, then started to mount him'again. I., woman -of this day and time
would've fainted or started to sereaminE, whiCh would have Roared
the hoes and started 1 to pitching or run ing. he diln't co that
either, but come ,Tut to me and told me to get down off the hoes and
come into the hose.
I got down, airight,tut,when I went into the case, I
expected a tanning. fnstefd, she gave me a lecture and explained
to me just what could've ha,pened.. 1 stayed off hoses then 'til
wee a little over five, except whim my dad put me on them and
stayed right with me.
never'stAe anotr:er ride 'til I was after
five, then they felt safe with me hgindling them myself.
rven then, I was too -little to spot a hull on f. hoss and
my dad done thrt 'til I was wren, at which tine I" got to where T
could put a tr e on any broom tail. lild ones -too, beoause Dill
17v01.ins thrt my dad had runnin4.his itock, trrpped wild hosses and
busted the right there on the_spreed. :hile the. wild hose stock
was already thilaied out in that section of the co ntry When T was
at that age, he still found one once in awhile, runiling loose
without P
A:4U see, in tht day, critters were the same as today.
If they -wore a brend, they belaiged to the man who had that brand
registered.
7hipps, !ood
angel;ire
7arrent
"Then the wil
trapped as
loos to be
grass, when
stopped by a
where else,
I don't thin
caught. ru1 t
was a reel
quite a few
on them If
him and my
anybody eve,
.ound, to he
brand %o put
into the
ride a blot
towards towi
be -n th t t
know, but T
they just 1.
brand hose,
/9
with old Pi
work right
hat wasn't
Page
T.)is.t. -17
hoes began to 4/tin out, some of them went out and
ny as they -could, branding them, then turning them
aught later an, bested. hat was in the day of free
man's stock ranged 'Ihereever it could without being
10t of fences. T never heard of that being done any,
nd nobody but a gsleedy it would've thought of that.
they made on it because they couldn't possibly have,
ey branded.
le -I wouldn't say anything against •J11, because he
w poke end honest as the day's long, but he (taught
ild ones -that had -e brand, end he. slapped the M iron
ey were still wild when he trapoed them. I've heard
d talk about thatmahy a tie, an.. T. don't know as
be fed out his doing it even thoug _hey were just
known about it. You see, he had to blot the other
the iron on, 1f the other iron couldn't be changed
And, if he wanted to goto town, he didn't fall to
d _brand hosn if he'd bean riding it before he started
In other vv)rds, he didn't change -iosses. !!ight've
others were afraid to brinp it to an issue. I don't.
_
o know thpt old I11 was pretty peppery and able, OD
)ked the other weywhen they saw h1 on blotted
reckon.
the ttle I .was seven years old, I was rl ht -in there
workinp: side b: side and doing regular cow Poke
ith hi. hen they lot too orney, Bill handled them.
y idea, .but his'n# -lint was the only way he'd let me
work with h but let me lellyou that whet he didn't know about
P lips, oedy
enngelore
errent O., }1st.
Page 15
whet I done when he wasn't leoking- at met would fill a mighty good
sized boA. eure would. nytime he and me got separnted, and T
had to rope or do anything else, I never erlle on
but done it myself.
Thy, I could rope nnd ride as well's anybody before I was
nine, and went on rounduns and everything, earryine out my end the
same'selny man. Of coerse, there was lots of things I had to learn
by hard down experience. For instenee, I :sn't know just how old I
Was et the time, but Bill left me to -ride herd on around 20 Steers
well° he rounded up some more he htd located not far from the herd.
Jeile he wee gone, there come up a rein -rid a Norther at the same
time. lie oeftle nut their tails to the wind Prld rein, and started
to drifting away from the way the wind end rein was coeing. I
never enowed anything but keep the herd on, the snot they'd been
nut, so I started into trying tb drive them back. The more -7'd
work them,- the more they drifted end I was to the pleee where the
whole h.fr-t: we about to stempede when Pill come a -riding up. 7e
!Mowed thet didn't know the herd'd drift with the rain, and nit
try to hold them bee'e so. he had come to help me.- '4?) showed mellow
to eet in front of the ,leaders, there's elvrys leyders in eny d:Aft
or stameede, end elweys kep my hope in front of them. ?hat -way,
the herd'd be halt beck so'n it wo ldn't drift so very far before
they'd stop.
Another thing hill lenrnt me ehile I was still real
yoeng was always being in feposition to lefeve the seedle should
my hoes stueble, or start to. eitching litout me ci-lowing it was
,oinfs to. iherryou see a co* puncher riding so light it seems like
T,hipps, `old),
aric-r.elore
"Eirrtait to.., )ist.
1,age
he'.. partly. standing up in the stirrups, you're seeing a real rider
that's probably been in the stormy seat ore brono's saddle. ;hat
rider's learnt how to ride,comfortnbly and still be re.dy to leave
the saddle without .gAtting t oaucht in the stirrups end having
his hoes dr-g him to death. ;'d have becn killed a 100 times and
over of I hadn't have learnt that because mane -the- hose has
stu bled and fell, or b 'en bucking and fell, or even tried to roll
over on mfwhile I was still in the sadAe. Alen they done that
and you were in the right position, you could. leave the hull. and
be ready to get betel,: in the sadle fls your hosF come up from the
round. That's an old brdno busting trick 7111 lernt me.'
you sae, aCter the wild bosses had Ueen all °aught up and
the free rlirso was all fenced up to wher-e wild ho: en couldn't even
run ir they had been free and loose, my dad started to raising
ho ,.es to work with. liese -.oases had to be busted :lust the samels
the other'hossos they traPped on the rene, and when T was alng,
.acout 1,-! and 14, T was right in there with old "ill tusting them.
Them ornery oritters had alot of tricks they'd- pull to unseat
you, and if you weren't on to their tricks, they'd do it too. ?ill
tauf7,ht me how to stay in there with ther4 how to hold my innards
so's they wouldn't be busted out and everything. Now, I've just
said scrmLhing that might make you wonder. ;bout the innards.
:?he best way to really understand it is to really see a
wild one pitching, then Acture your innards. They're loose, you
s e, and a pitching ho9s cornea down as hard's he can hit. lien he
does that end you're not braced for it, your innards'll bust out
like somebody'd took a knife end oervez1 a place for them to fall
out. or, you could be internally ruptured so's Wou'd never live
hi a,'o)dy
Teingelore
:arrant co., 1st. ,7
p ge ./17
FC
'M. the doc could fix jou up. "by, one of the reasons ell the old
timers like me have such a iron jaw is heoatee if you aocidently
let it 1 ose while on e bronc, y)ur tongue oould be bit off, or
jour jaw broke when your'hoss pome down right hard, which they done
every
Just in ease you never saw a real bucker, just imagine
yourself in the 'saddle and every time your nag come down, it was
equal to falling not less then 10 feet to 20 fet.- Thr,q1, last as
won's you hit, the heald.take you up in and bring you back with
the. naqe force. Then, just to shay you how tiMes have changed, the
buokers of Loday rarely ever go five minutes while in the olden days
the hossee rarely ever bucked less then 30 minu es& And, maybe
theyd Oaok over nn acre or two of ground. Then the bronc buster
finishe, topping off n broom tail, he usually had raw Imes where
the skin'd been rubbed off while he was trying to clamp his leps
tight enough to help him hold on, end his noseld be bleeding like
Oomebody'd hit it with all their miht. ilsting wild bosses wasn't
a pionio ty no means, but it was considered a part of the day's
work to bust in your own mounts. I rough -part but still a part..
Now, when dad was needed to work with the cattle,' it was
nevrly always at round up time end he worked like an ordinary cow
poke. In fact, 1 .ld outride him before I was even 12 years old,
but that was beoauSe I sort of stuck with the cattle instead of
taking to the elle. nd, thet suited him which tickled me to death.
alw,ys took me on his oattle buying trips, which he done about
once e year' to add to the stuff he intended to send to market. Tn
these trips, we visited 6 lot of oter spreads there in Denton 0o.
but I can 'or the life o: me recall their names. T recall the
Phips, oody
lqingelore
reranL o., .4st.
Page 8
'Alaggoner/s beenuse I later worked on tirt spread before it got so
bi it covered about six counties like it does today.
I recall that .om:Waggoner.had the finest steeldust
hosses .in the country tlen we went over there.- Another thing I
recall is when f: bunch of Indiana were trying to load some cow
oitters in some cars. D!A and me had gone to the loadine7 noint,
looking for -the foreman. T/e Wasn't there lidt we stoye to watch
the n inns work- beoeuse T'd never seen many of them, and they
weee fnscination to me.
Them old Tndinns wor,ed and Ilety sweated. .7roery worked
they ::weetedu '?ine7ly, they got their 30 critters in one car,
that's-the...way they loaded -thiwi then, you know. 30 to car.
After they loaded them, they all went to some shade to rest. Jell,
you know they were so trifling thnt they'd Zorget to shut the door
and them ald longhorns just, poured out of therc as soon's they
discovevA The door open. ;'hen the Indians had all their work to
do over again. :hey were _to) lazy to get anywhere working cattle.
If it hadn't have been, that there was so!re kind of an agreement or
a law to use Indians while passing cattle through the 7err., they
couldn't have got n job anywhere.
Of course, handling wild cattle like that wasn't as easy.
as it s grids. -hey/d gore you if they got n chance. nr, they'd
gore your hoes -if' they were that mean. sorie of them were. They
didn't alwa:75 get to gore the hoos but they'd make a try at it say
way. 7n fact, T never saw but one man in my life th!.t wouldn't run
from a wild cow if caught an the ground, and that Was a nigger.
Joe oxen was his name, but I oe'led him Zoe,' no every
body else done. Give rill:: a five or a slx foot stick and he'd go into
hio s, -o,dy
7engelore
?arrant 'eo., Dist. _7
a penful of the with just thet s.ick_and nothing else to defend
hisself with. is trick was to hit. them oe,the nose when they
nimed for hie. It was a goocItrick but I never- tried it. Ateger
*Toe eored for me years after I left dad's npreed.
The way that was, I decided to go out on my own for
exner!,ence after my !Jet birthday. My moth r'd already be n dead
for n nixeber of years, and dad wan in favor of me seeing some
ooantry before
-ettled down* My first job was with pia Oep
7einer when he had his renoh in Flylor o. The 'ainer ranch aint
there now but has be, n moved to etonew 11 3c)4, Not recent, but
along et -11,t the tie when 7 left the Thiner Thrrnh after three years
over there.
'Awe: in the ;umer of my third year there, they decided
to ship n trein load of cetle to 7ouston. eince T wanted to -see
the country, 1 seed -for ,the. chenee to go along end help cure for
the uf wile it wes on the Lrip. 7he forenan told vie heve
to decid thet hisself, e3 to who's teoing aleng. I eropositionee
Cen and he said T cold gO* e drove about 4,30 heed of his best
•cyir year old st-er stuff over to the rail eoint, the we llided•
them -into the oars. 30 to a ear, and lb cars. o the trein*. he
env nokes thet didn't go with the train drove the others back to
the ranch, and we went ahead* es the trein covered the country
we orodded the one up thet had laid down, or feA, to keep the.
oters from to nime them.
hen we eot to "ousten, the eo':.lesion firm that was to
handle the beef had r men meet the train, take a telly, then let
us eo. 7e decided to have SOMO fun.eefore we left, and that away,
tn ydwards•Co.
T met Cele)) eleughter* knowed of e.ranoh/to buy cheap, so -we
Thips oody
lengelore
Tarrant 0., st.
age •10
to)k the trPin rigt- then for Tsewisville.
I naturally expected my dad to put u an awful holler
about me wentin enolwh money to handle e *hole ranch, but to my
surorise, den said, on. I give you credit for having a level
herd on your .shoulders f7nd after you've -gene down there,. if you•
still think it'll pay, let know and we'll try to raiae enough
money somewhere to handle this.'
51.ughter and me tore out down there, riding the train
'til it got as ol 41e.as it run, than buying a c upic of hoses and
ridinp, over there. c had a big al%ock. when we ot thetm; though,
beeaust the ranch wao n whole lot bier t1r7n C:aleh thought, and
tok a whole 1 t more money. T wrote dad a letter, ex.Aaining the
whole thin to 11-,. e wrote- right back that if I could lease the
sprePd he could raise enoJrth money to stock it and thenj caad run
it. Y tried lesin I and it was a go.
It was poe4 *breed, and had benn ruming-ri9ht up
the year before, when the owner of it had been sa,ibushed• by axle
buskwhackera that were trying to take, the wholeunty over.
'elly was the man who'd been shot, and the one T,leesed it fro- was
his daughter, leatriee, better known around that part of the country
as Bea'. She'd gone of' and married a wady that had got her
dad's murdereta.
:he spread was the old Louble L-ar x, and they'd branded
their. critters like this: kX. the way, I branded the 1,50p. heed
of stockers bought with the sa.Ae brand. :he way a7l this hanbened,
I heard fra.:i a nur:tber of people at different times, and every ti- e
it was right about the some way so I reckon this is the way it was.
Now, cow pokoa in that day and time, were prone to meander
711inns, Hody
'llngeiore
Thrrant Co., :Ast. 17
',1Pge 11
around over the country, This was eesy to do beeause every ranch
holse, c.»k•shack, and Chuck wagon had it's latch string on the
ouLside end a in was welcome to stop and stny as 1 _Ws he waited
to, providing he done the right thing. --hat is, if. he stayed a
eople of days, why,
do something to,help the bell al.ng. hen
they didn't teke a job, they were called 3rd die nuns,' of which
there were Aenty o1 the:. lien they made n 1.)cality to) Ltany
though, they we 'c told to get after they'd zot a meal.
at the little old supply Use of Hardrock, just
about half way between the heedwaterspf the LT, no and the -7rio
rivers in the hills.there in-Fdwards Co., this weddy l'ea• married,
his !lane was Jeff ters, come ridinl„t, alng. bout mile out of
town, he hears nome shots up sherd so he hustles his hw.7A up there
to see whet h d ha eerie just curioua, you know.
en, sir. you know thtt when he got to the spot where
he fi,ured the ahootin come froh,-be found an old ray haired an
dewd with a shot in the side, an two throuE:h the head, fired at
such a close range there was blsc!:: powder on his, orehead. he back
of his hed wns litterelly torn out by the sheUs.
2here were some fresh hook-) tvTc,swhere the porbable ki ler
had helt his boss while be fired the two he'd shots, then rode off.
hen .'off trailed the Ii 88, the trr,cs went right into town. :All,
he didn't w ate Any tt's but went right back to the body and pave
it n burial there, figuring the killer'd.probably hang the murder
on him because he was a now coler to the country and sported two
tied -down six guns. 1is ri_le was one or the best 1)nn: rPnge rivles
thnt money could buy,, too, end thnt'd stood -gainst him if finfbody
got hot heeded.
'411p --)s, ;oody
Rangelore
-frrant jo., Dist. 47
Page 112
?C
Jeff listened around, drinking up u lot of hard likker,
but pouring more of it out than anybody thought. He just used his
head like an old timer, and there he was no a day over 22 hisself.
The sheriff came over to him and told him to be careful or he'd have
to look hl'i up. The bar keep didn't want to lose a good oustomer,
though, and he told the sheriff that as lJn's the Man was keeping
to hisoelf, he wesn't going to complain, and •e didn't, see as how Aly
body else could.
The second day, Jeff st-. the bnr keep, the sheriff, and
another man who'd been a stranger, in conversation with 4. man that
looked like a regulation sad le.bur. 170 heard the sheriff tell the
bu tar -t as long's he was the sheri,T, nothing'd ever herTen to the
bum. There was ulso a little sack thnt oh,nged hands from the bum
to the bar keep, who -took it right then and looked it up in his
safe. fter a little more conversation, the bunch split up and the
bum left town.
Jeff knowed just about what the set up was the next day
-:hen a cow poke fr?m a ranch near Hardrock rode in and reported
find lug r bum dead al rig the puth. The sheriff got the coroner,
end they rode out to see about it. Je f had sobered up quite a
little by.this time, and the sheriff took him along to help handle
the body. The body was that of the saddle bu-1 he'd seen alive and
talking to the sheriff, the bar keep, and the stranger who'd never
showed up ugainf.' -hey t,ok it back totown and buried it in the
1ioot Till ar rook had there.
r,bout a week elites the killing, Bea' rode into town, asking
everybody if they'd seen her dad. hey all said they'd se,7n him
leaving town, hcnded toward the renal'. het is, those that seen him
leave did.
;:oody
langelore
'arrant Co., Dist* 4?
Mile she was still there, Jeff se-:! this stranger walk up
to her and tell her thet he was ready to buy the renoh any time her
dad wanted to sell. dhe told him to Go strei.ht to hella
wont sell to you nor none of your tribe 1' :Ion she got on her hoes
and hurriedly rode out of town. The stranger ran towards -a big
white Cleveland Pay like he intended to ride fter her, then decided
o'gainst it. e then realized thet Jeff had seen the *hole thing
and went into the saloon. .To idled in hisAelf just in tine to
hear the bar keep'again hold up for him.
"hct evening, about 10 dusty, hard looking cow punchers
rode into town, the -stranger leading* Jeff stayed out of sight,
liatenine to every conversation he oould. He :oued. thet this man
he was wondering nbout was Big ?om Leahman, cat'ae buyer that
bolOit and sold ranches on tiv- side. re owned the Lazy U spread
'rid run. stook 1 the Frio Cenyon, about 50 miles or less from ;lard
rock. Fe'd been'tryine to-iYuy the :ouble Ter X for over -six 7'os.,
vnd it 1»ked like he wasn't going to get it.
Then, he overheard some more oonverwAtion,that really
interested him. 7as lenning against the backside of the saloon
when he heard voices coAme through the window. he voices were
the stranger an0 one of the cow pokes that,hed rode in. he
strnnger, or, ig 7om as they onlled him, told the cow-pce7e that
Jeff hud hoard and saw tol much so it was high time somebody fixed
him up *here he couldn't. talk. This cow poke said he'd get the
job done right wale/. s soon's th could fine their an.
Jeff decided to take the bull by the horns. Tie walked
into Vint seloJn where there were about 14 known enemies, bound to
kill hi at the first chance. The sheriff .end Tlig Tom were at the
.-111pns,
J_Ingelore
_'errant Jo. Dist. 17
!lags 1.41
'1,14
bar with a couple of others, all taking drink as he passed
thrlugh the swinging doors. It •just happened that 'tig on was
nerest to the door, which was just as _left wanted it. 76 walked'
up to the bar, ordered a drink, then Whispered to Hig om, no you
reckon old Jim l'7.elly's ghost'll over haunt you?'
Big :al) choked on his liker, then backed away from the
-ber, coughing and spluttering. 70 said, Thy, you --.0 That's as
fer's he got. Ile clawed his six shAi.)ter out of his shoulder hOlster
nd elmost had the barrel of it even with jeft when Jeff pushed
hisself away from. the bar, jerked both guns out and put. a'nent-hole
throuqh his head. 2hen he w e or: his feet like fl oat before
the rest of the crowd hardly realized what had halpened and -covering
the. :e purposely •gave.the sheriff o chance to get his gun, then
be -t him to the shot, killing.right on the snot. The 'mat of the
including the bar keep, hoiste their hna without being
tol. undratood.
Jeff then said, file over my way, one at a tie,
and y:111' 1 pile your guns on that table. Men slowly -file
outside, 47reb.your.nags and beet it away. T -doubt if you'll be -t
the ran7ers ,t that, because they've been on the -my uere for same
tino to glean this rotten hole out.'
They done •as he said, glad of the eh ace to ;Tet away.
Jeff sai(1 thnt every ran ja.Ck left rdwards co., end have never.
been sc-n since in th t part of tha country. The r-ngers did
coma, End after an investigation, they have it listed na an,
jpenese.' illat is, unsolved. he killer was never known.
Jor then found where a' was, and they !e)t the old
5n out 'and buried hl in the family grave yard In front of the
•hips, oody
''engelore
."arrant Co.-, Dist.
Page 4.15
rench house. I've read the inscription many .a time, and it says,
Jim Kenya/date and age I've forgotten but the rest says,
A 7:711' MiLD N3T
You now, I've thouc;ht more about -that story- here la-tely
than ever d,ne before. If I wes any hand at writing, I'd write
a bo3k about it, and throw in the rest of the things Mg "cm's
men none there. -hey'd tried to run thet whole country, and nobody
knows how far he'd have got if Jeff hadn't have happened along just
like he done. was- lucky all the way around, because he married
a rAlderful girl, and they're in I;e1 'io, texas, right now..
e's interested in so e ranch ar)und there, having sold the other
efter T lost out.
By 1B97, .1.4d'run my 1,500 heed into 5000, and had a lot
of fine stuff on the Place. Not whet we can see here at the Itock
3how, but a whole 1 A finer than I started with anyway. Cleb
had died, en- I had a regular foremen and about 20 cow pokes work-
ing right al ng ?Pith me. You see, I worked right along in the
catte jnat like eny other mane Thet's'where T made because if
have left it to ot`*lers, :they might not hnve -done no well. Instead,
T kn wed el wh t was 'coing on, and done the bossirw, except
when tiway _telling or buying. :hen the foremen took over.
nether thing, I done all the ho:,, busting on my spread.
_hat's one thing I never left to anybody else unless one of the
boys just wanted to bust hi own Ws In. In that case, they had
their choice and most of them busted in one or two of their own.
T had several .iteeldust hoses, and several !Jentuoky Blacks in my
use herd to build up the 'uatangs. I either killed off the Yuotangs
atellione or rude geldings out of them. -het. I wanted, and what T
?hiops, .00
aangelore
.11rrant -.)ist. 17
age 18
final -y gotoas a mii7J1ty,good breed with all that a hose in them
days could hope to have. They had speed, sta Ina, and everything.
_ sold my hos as everywhere, getting from 2b to a 100..00 for
the in a day when honsee didn't sell it(*) they do today. I got
good prices for themo• ,rld my breed was just beconling known in that
olart of the country when- I lost everything I had. A drouth come
in that part of the country and the graz:ng got awful bad. Beoause
I hadn't put up ar:ythina against -a rainy day, I didn't have any
money to fell back on, and even my dad couldn't help me. He was
broke too.
I got nnfield ioott out of Port -orth here to buy my
stock, and after got it shippe'. here anC, raid of what I owed,
T didn't heve but a little over ,M0.00 I lnid that away in a
ben, then high tailed it to Seymour, Texas, where they were about
to hold a rodeo. Tt was along in 1897, I reckon, because it was
the 4?econd rode) they had there. I entered for riding, and won
me a saddle.
Then I went to the JEwgoner Panch in °lay Co., where
they were holding a big bunch of cattle r fattening before shining,.
fld they put me right on. lhey oeitainly needed me, becanse the.
critters were all half starved, end when they're that way, they're
skittish as the very devil and likely to run at the le-st little
old scare. The truth of it is that it doesn't really take a good
s9nre to start them on the run.
had a number of small etAides while I was with that
one herd before it we's shioped. I later helped move a herd of
Al,,goner out to the country where he WaFxoner 'fInch is today.
As I said befoive,- it covers a lot of territory now. whole sight
more then it did whin I first went to aork for them.
Phipps, 'oody
n el re
:errant o., st. 7
Page #17
I didn't work so steady for the eiggoners, but left from
tiè to tine to take on flyers in buying and selling ore&
string. 7y leO4, T*d runmy9.11. up to eround 1,500.00, and then
my dad died.
1
I got the wire in the middle of thenight, and was on the
train for 'Aegiselle the next mornirw. Just haeeened to be lucky
'rid mnde good con ieotions. :hen I got to the old home )1e0e, the
boys on the place had halt up the funeral til owild _get there,
then we out him away.
I inherited everythine dad had, but there _wasn't so nueh
oaeh and the elece wes about half :lortgelged. einoe I didn't want
to e tied down in theL eart of the country, I got the,morteage
holders to bo4 the rest of the place. Len teok the cash and
bought 1,0:X) heed of two year old steers to fatean. Jic lace where
1 bought this stuff was located right oloee to where the city of
Yeriette, ')kle.'now stands.
I then hired about 15 cow.nokes end moved this stuff on
ue into i.eve 0o. -here's vn awful lot of material in 7, ;Are to
write e be .k on too, and I sure wish I could do it. enything e
man could imagine, has hae3ent in Love Oo. -het is inoluding
rerrttory days too.
nven as lete es I was in geting into Love Co., they still
had Colts 74aw Tey that I mean that the be t an with a six
sho ter won his argument. The star boters in that day respected a
citizen's rights and never arrested a man unless he had the could-
wo)d on Li beceuse if he did, end the man_ got e ay, he was linble
.to return and the star toter be e candidate for oot HIP. Chose
old time sheriffs sure had to use their'heids and keep preoticed up
ody
7.11r1 t 70., List.
re
with their shoAing irons. 7!nny a sheriff was en ex -bandit turned
1-1.!E:•ht. /rid, the people in thnt.day end tine beeked h1rtn 14ecvery:
piny es lonc's he wns riht.
fcrz-tht:t's e)ncerned, 7've hired seven or eight men.in
r7 time, th,t benn trI/ the use to use c wet rope to make their
Ivi na. didn't cnre cbout tht but riffs to give the
underoz a ehnee to.77.ake r.:ood, then if he turne,1 bed again,- stomp
the very living dn7117hts out of hint or a hanaing was alright by
MC
It wes.el ng in ii.)04 when my dad died; and then along in
the 7all of 1,.)08, I had my men drive my stuff to a rail point end
-consigne':. -them to YenscS City forssale. 3 vil.de n re -1 good profit
on ttle7a, t!.•.en ny !_eed be7rJrt to take tt turn for I never
''d cver tut tut' r -the-Iss:,,,.T decided.
C or nnothe.r, to tJ•td sti.ly in one piece.
COUld bn iro o!: rid tri,7;., rsiar c feI1y PS rny
i'...; tl-,!. I, irt ir, wcnt -ir- C1-7 t) t'f 01 tl, h177,1:* C 0-.; t7 try
!.-..it. nit' -c ,••••.!...c•—.7 no rr•nt. ti !*Er7 7-.41..1 F. ri.f.--! 1,-/-.),:r•YA In 1.':".•
1 vc, vcn rlilcs o:" 121rt, 1:err in 7/1=7.-•nr.t
i
i
d fine
Ole lift.. ',lc is.
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