Document text
Phipps, ...oudy,
Mange -lore
Tarrant Co.,iAst.,7
Page
.6;
Jaclob Bennett, 79, wae burn on his father's
plantation, near Bremond, Ter., Mov04,141b8. Fol-
lowing the Civil War, his father oonverted the
plantation into el stook farm. John Bennett, an
ex -slave who bore trio name of Jab's father, his
former master, taught Jacob to ride at an early
age. no was employed as a cowboy by Oarrol Powell
when he was 14. ii. quit the Powell ano when he
ems 16 and was employed on the Curry Aanoh Itil he
was 21, when he returned to his he and took the
management of hie father's stook fans, where he
still resides. His story:
-hy, I utill live right un the plea* where I first learned to
ride hulloes won punoh cows. You bet! Aight on the very pilule I was
born. You Bee, the plaoe was my dad's. iiC nad the plaoe in an
olu time pluntLtion when I bias oorn on Nov. 4. 1858, bet made a
stook farm out of it right after tne war was over and his niajere
freed. I don't reoolleet juat he many miles 'twas out from
Bremond, but very feu of our niggero quit wnen they were freed and
went into Bremund. Iblry few.
"In tot, there E.Lib one uf them, John Bennett, who waki named
for my father, stayed right 4th us 'til he (,ied a little over
turee years age, ana he was oome over 90 year:, old viten ne clod.
John was a right able ouw punoher, and eould ride hosues, wild
ones, to a fare ye well. .;iany'13 trio time I've seen him ride them
41M) and WO yards tJ. tuey pitoued plum down, lixe an old 314.414
Tney pitoued and pitched 'til taw didn't have any pitch left in
them.
John was t.h one tact taufe,tt no to ride hosoes, and ag'in
my dad's order.,, too. vad was afraid I'd get killed trying to
ride them ornery oritters we used to have to ride. You've prob-
ably heard somebody say how mean they were and all. They were
Phip2s, oody
Range lore
Tarrant Uo.,Diat 7
nothing uut old MUstangs with a little 4anish ulood in theft, and
they'd pitch every time they'd have au mush as six hours rest*
,e11„John'd get out there and manage to leave the hosu corral
after dad left. He'd then get ma and teaah me how to ride* You
know, I never did tell that, and dad never knowed just how 'twits
I learned to ride, he thought I just naturally picked it up by
getting on one and riding it off*
-,hil( the plantation wasn't changed 'til after tae war, dad
nad a lot of hosses on the place to do the plantation work,
and a felJ cowa for milkers and is es. ,113 raised enough that we
aould also kill one now ant tnen for beef when we needed of* Now
those hosses we had on the place were the ones John learnt me to
ride, and the firut hosa ever I rodeowithout any help from any -Liddy,
waa an old earriage hose, Ilhen I wau about seven I reckon.
.,'.nyvaiy, waa inUrested in riding then houses, and I started
in to deviling dad to let me Learn to ride along about when I was
eiht. he never give in itil one wily when I Gone out to where ae
was eatching a vuneh oi field tends clean out pitch, and when he
looked up I was rht at him and had rode tne hoas all the ay
from home, about a mile I reckon. he said, Ilimits it oome you're
riding one o- py houseWO Ilade tioum Wia Qi an answer, and 4e
told Mel to get for home ana he'd 'tend to me- proper hen he cot
"Instead, valen he got home, he didn't'tend to me au he said,
but tod me to nave John tegois me to ride hosaes. I said I ouid,
an.he left ma alone. :nen I got to John and telt him we sure had
a good laugh together about it all, beeause he'd already taught me
to ride. ,a311, I rode hosaea arou:ud there und ;irked (settle, 'til
Gauthier, .Jheidon
Rungmlore
'13arrant
r4
°Now lAtAY'd bcull a lanny sort of a hums. 1:18ger John' d bubted
him fur me, but had never used anything out u kid's hull on him
bcoause tne host; was meant for me, an.i ti o .on. lhi, away, John
flgured he was doing scut by me, kne ne waa Zr sure, beouo,s0 what
I'm goirv; to tell how will prove it. kci /Wu. II know Lia6 how
oolongs to my son, and I'll toll you how we will be able to identl*
it You see, iateman didn't want to give the hose up beouuse ne
wu a good one or sure. 'Now, this Wefts is gentle, but exv,ry time
a man mount him, he pitenab to beat tne band'.
"hat man says, 'He's your hos beduuse that's him, only you'll
nave tu viuit about three months for him booause he went on that
trai- drive. .ob's my tril boss aringb hiu in, I'il send him up
to you.
'last 6tout Aue fur muhcou to start a6ain in the Fall, why
here ()one une of Datcmans hands with',AAny, and I sure was 61ad to
see him aghin. sLe nandld been up tru tr41 and toid me thaL. ns-
oody ev(!r rude Amy, az taL6 truii bons'd sold him in Lansas oity
if he'd 111..iv thi0ht Dat;eman wouldn't nave minded.
the finish f the sehuo.. tarm the net year, dad iet iae
go ba'ok tc tut: stook furm nd I ork,d lie any oth r nand 'ti.
vis. 14. Ly itin that dud lot flu Rundle tne stook and do all
the hubs riding t 6 nooessary aruoind the plass, I uwnere
I .t,e a pretty fair eowpuneher, iind had pioked up a smati,crind of
eo,. sense aauni3 ,,ith it. liy out. sense, I raaan that I learnt to
handle ou irQt nem when anytnint; 4et wrong. th thorn. You.
see, in .at da,, ark. tin*, only to Virms Jere feneed. r•alge
55
fr,!L
fenee stampeding nerd is of sense.
Gauthier, Lel,..on r.
:Itangelore
'.:arrant Uo.vbist.,
Page kb
FZ,0
"ore you have barb wire fences, your orituers'll run
up ap7vinst ;lie wire where you have the tall grass we uued to
all
have/over the range, and out plaoeu on their Leg e and aides. At
times, they'd out a muscle and tnere out one thing you
()wale do when they did, and that was to kiil the oriter. Just
tu show you ho' i really VAil the gross used to grow in oiden times,
Wa8 about 14 hands, and ,-inen I rode him, the grasald turn
the reels on Ivy Uoots.. Alen a twitter laid don in them days,
it was 1ot from siefit and you'd have a hard time finding it 'til
you run aorust, tnr very spot it was laying.
".hom 1 ,ot to be 14, I was in town and was aiming to leave
for tome wnen I ',card ems ao,punohers saying that tArroi fo%dell
15 in town lou,;ine for eovipunohers. I ,;()G50 thinkingothen,
ttrA I'd like to work on a real ranch. You se, kowell run from
1,;)00 to 5,J00 head of stooKeru in his 'UP' iron, and run a lot
of extra houses, too. He had a pretty uig hoss ranoh along in
ounneotion with his cattle. I rode on home and asked dad about
it :-kne, inste%d of the aroinewt I expeoted, he said 'It's about
ti -e you ..vt a little (tkperienee in working for tne other MUD
bconuse this might not lust forever, lind tRun you'd be worse
off than if you nevk r had a uit of tr, thing b ()kiwi° you% nave
mthin.-' to baok on'.
'Ault fixou me up iine tno I didn't even go uaek to town,
out out aoros the oountry to the ,GPI spre2.11. I goi, tnerc
Jae/
nuout tnc tine Powell aid, and he hadn't bc-n u l to get u hand
in tusi u ae toux me right on, providing I Was kAJle to deliver
tiv! tpous. I deliveroo them, and gut me a steady jub at -14.J0
R month and oiuok. Before I was 15. he'd raised me to ,W.,00
Gauthier, „Aleiden F.
Rangelore
tiIrrant
a month and dhuck.
spread, reckuno
hossee 4c Rad
wan't supposed to
Page it')
And I wna auout es axo4.e a an he had on tue
,13 awl° anyway unything e4cept uusting the
on his hum.; ranch, and rear cowpunchers
oe able to do that. Now I eon't mean that we
sould geu awgy eloppy work. rur from that. In fuot,
didA't hire a man that wesn't a top hand, ueoause he wau
cmfui partiouiar abuut his clow critters. “nat I mean ie. I
wasn't ao.;..e to trz,in hoses o it and peg. e were furniaied
hosee trit-A, in Lots o cases, knowed more about cow w,rk that
uome of trio 1e.1OWa in tne saddle. that uounde sort of atretcued,
t xi, a.Ll 1.;e
o do vimu tu showa cutting hose n oertain Grit
r e a.itud c,t out
hoax; wotici get after
ist critter li,ce it %Alb some sort of a gums and stq with the
critter till the hutib run it plum out of tue uu. 4say ,A)
shuaed the as uhat, usvted was :4 hItting it w h u rope, uur
laeuo.
out Ufte orituer out oi tue &lore, usit nen yuu make
your east 1 th yo41-
when to sit down to -Iteep uhe oriVer from dri,,gging the hose, and,
if 141e hu.ss sat do :.n toe soon, there'd be so much elack in tine rope
IFOSSO, thut boss 'mowed just tie right seoond
critt-rld huve levera6e to pull with. 2hen,
the hoso sut
litClx late, itle be juut in the mot of doing down tatid'd
nav6 tue least resistance it'd have at uny time. You bac, tni.1's
the rouuon the oupunchers 1,ved tneir hueseo w much wften tney
had one tht was a .!,eue. one. ,hen he nada ood hose, hie or.41
co mu -n easier that it just made ell the differonoe in the wurld,
"I never twee i-uny to work with, uut just rode him wen I
tvent to town, home, or calling it around. You new, they dune that
.;c,hier, oheldon F.
itaneelore
Larantuo. ist.7
Page i7
Fa;
ih the olden days, too, even i there wasn't half enough wsmen
to around.
"I saw my firat real stampede on tne Tr upread. Aid rounded
up a Nerd uf three -year -olds, and intended driving them into head.
quarters for milling for feed lots Jilen a ruin come up. I reckon
'twat; along aiJout dark when this happened. Anywa;i„ there come up
or Of the rel Olaok oloude Texas is oapable of, and min GOMO
duAl in sleets, a regular oloudourst. The herd got awful akittish
and til.,13 moving ;,round, wLen all of a sudden here come a (slap of
thunder tnat tried our ear drums. rollowing tb olap come a number
of thunder ()laps, sort of like rolling a Niel, hum. You know, like
a snare drunker can roil his drum. eU., that herd hit out fur the
taii and unout 1Li(e a ballet from a gun. They run like the very
oevil hisself wi,s prodding them along.
"Insted of tryini; ta 4.)rk the nerd, we fellows were really
telviiig to keep uurselveb dry when that nuppened and we should have
been on our toes. f ,.iurse, it goes tilout saying tat i;arrol
••eowell never :iernt 1, weld oune. -e juA told hiN tile nerd
et-mpeded, it prvoatly would have on arcway, beoause
tiier,s nu stoppine a herd %inen it makes up its mind to run.
U &ht -4as Mirk tha4 one of us nad to walk to trail
tue •A, c t-rn aount trailin 'tL1 morning, and e were
dug -tire. then, but tiad to du it to find out where tne oat leld
thu tie we i...Not to where the herd stopped running, tney'd
u scattrua wii ovr oration, and we spent thre4; days rounding
it 412. ,e orked 'til high noon before men from headquarters
re:,•cohed us food. ihe only thing we'd had waa aaffee, whiob any
Wkathier, rLCidufl
Ranglore
Tarrvflt fjo.
Page
zany 0;rries in hia saddlepuckets. t;offee and jerk, that's
et.mds4rd fur anybody thaL ever rude tae range, i there's any
r&neemrerience tu them. Jerk is dried beef, vcnison, op any
gip('f iettt that's bven dried good and hard. Yea can take it
iArici boil 1.
th t little seavoning and make a pretty good soup,
out ,ne 14audies in our -art of the oountry just auewed it vinten
•thr got hunc,y. It gave u fair flavor that away, too.
No; ths.)ro's not m,oh else I reoall about tne i.9 spread,
e.ee7t my buddy, 'Pal' o all o.iled hin rill. but his
lit name was 'Augers. ',2.fie :lain reason I buddied up with him,
reckon, becose he Wk8 UAOh acouo range hand. He could
ride, rope, and shut with the beat I ever .Aaw. ae could sure
it ail. If it hadn't have been for his drinking. I'm eure he
hal;e made a name for hisself, but re Just drunk so much
nudy'd ev i;ive 41.:a a onance.
once saw
ridinf; Lord ti..;kirn a steer, 4nd asnake
ruse up in LB path. ,,e11, hie hose went u pitching, Line tal.
stwyed Viht 4.ith It, drImed his iron uld 1it tnat snake',;
head riin off ,ithuut tring the re;it uf i oudy. I've
tou thin toefore and !)eepied say that t was an aocident, but
o.,liev,9 he ;110L tit t ',.anted to shout.
bvliev it Zleou.A ue ospuble of shovting wherevr he nada
up his mind to se.unot. I've seen him shout luny target whi1e
riding by on his hu&a nd, I've seen him ride many a wile hose,
u!.4.t Vorie-.1,1 weu1dn't let Pi=du Lurk with his wild ho ss stook
bemuse we eas aiç,a afraid he'd he up drunk one time and
gx,t Killed u one them ornery rusoals. illat's Just duut
what'd ha,elned, too.
Gauthier, :;neldon F.
Range lore
Tarrant Co.,Dist.f7
rage 110
Fr:G
under the other man's heae, which stepped in his fain and kieked
his Read half looms. That was the gruesomeet eight ever I expect%
to see the tees tney had. zmen men I stop to think about it,
it giv,43 me tad oold shudders and I have to think of something else.
*Now, during the Fall roundup tuat game year, a oowpunoker
working for the TG spread fell from his hoes and his foot eaagnt
in tue saddle. He'd have bean kicked to death if it hadn't have
been for a sany from the UT Cenneeted, who ("aught his hoes and held
its head up alone to keep it in a strain and from kieking.
"Theft wall another stampede I saw while on tne TO, and it was
sort of a freaky one. After a bard rain, the eattle'd all been
standing up and it looked like we were going to ride it out with.
out them oritters stomping, but a fellow rode up on hie hone and
got down to talk to another of the boys that had built a small fire
to make a little coffee. -ell, he had one of thim tangy saddles
with conehas all around it, and his saddle rattled. An old steer
snorted right loud, another took it up, and in lesc time the* it
takes to tell it, the whole herd was on the ',temp, running just as
hard as it Gould go with a deep draw right in front of them about
two miles away.
".ell, you know a nerd can ran for 20 mdles. Not likely to,
but they've oean known to ztin that far, and it farther. -e
knowed if the herd ever roaohed this draw, they'd plunge on over
and most of tne nerd would be °rushed to death, or ./eked to death
by those who fell in on to). There was only one thing to do, and
that was to out run the herd and mill it.
Gauthier, lAheldon F.
Range lore
Tarrant 00.,Diat.A/7
Pale ill
P.A;
"I was one of those closest t- the side of the herd that
took the lead in the stomp, and so I wus able to get in on the
play before they got so awful far. They'd run about three-
quarters of a mile, I retaken, mien me and another fellow out in
to reaoh the leaders. There were two of then, out one was gradually
drawing back cnd another taxing the lead when I reaohed hi*. This
other fellow's hosa stumbled, and they fell right in the patk of
the side steers, but the front ones side-stepped kin. That I saw,
but no more. ,,e11, there wasn't anything for as t.. do but keep an
trying to mill the herd, se I kept 014 41, hadn't gene sash nem*
than a mile and a half from the bedding ground when 1 got the lead
steer into a turn, and pretty soon got the wbele nerd to milling.
They run' and they run gtil finally one of tned bawled, another
bawled, and they soon stopped running and went to grazing. I rode
book as soon's I saw I was i-ping to get help, to see mated happend
to the zany that'd fell.
"He himself told me that his hose broke his neok in the full,
and that he'd Jumped up by the hose'a beak. The lead steers had
jumped the boss and him too, und the reet of tam all the way beak
to tne rear had follomed the jump, and he was there to tell the tide.
He lived to here about seven years ago, wnen he Lied right there in
Bremonde
"Oh, that range life's mighty exalting at times. Lopeoially in
the olden day* when we had Mhetangs to ride, and -longhorns to brand.
I'd a heap druthor live thlt life than the one I'm living right MAU
The 'Old Hooking Ghair's'got as mow. Got as, for our.. All I'm doing
now is managing the same old plump where I was barn. It belongs to
me and my sister's hairs, but I run it avaslf.