Document text
-oody
flel3re
rrrnnt 1st.
roxdy Flaell, 78, was born on his dad's
stock farm near Iledford Ind. Al old
circuit riding Physician gave him a horse
nt the age of six, and be was taught to
ride at an early age. 7is interest in
horses and his knack of handling cattle
and horses enabled him to receive employ-
ment on several Idaho,Ranabes. Tie was
employed es a stage (mush driver in two
States, then migreted to the Texas range
and was employed on several exas ranches.
70 quit the range to become a land spec-
ulator, then an oil operator until his
age force 6 him to retire in 1931. Tie now
resides in Xaty, ?emus. Eis story:
P n ge 71
"I was born on my dad's stock farm near 3edford, Indiana,
on Jerdh, the 30th, 1859. I've been asked many times about how many
critters he had but to save my life, I can't say because I can't
re3.clect. I don't guess he had over a 100 though, because me, and
r:y bud 4andled them all after I was around 10 years old.
'TT) 'til I was about six years old, T didn't do anybody any
.:ood but keep bread and butter from spoiling. I don't know whet
wall become of me if an old circuit riding doctor, who went
fro 7 place to place as regular as mail, hadn't of given me an old
broke down hosn. Tle'd bought himself a new one, and sort of took a
shine to me so he just up ard gave me the hoes. ibout all I recall
of hi7L now is, that he was a boldface and bony as the very dickens.
bud use to hold me on the hoes, and ride along on his
ho ss while I wets getting my benrings. One reel good thing about the
%031;
being so old was thrt he never bucked at any time. e was just
to) tired nnd too old, I guess. Ilyway, I lesnned to ride on him,
nnd helped !Ay bud tend to the critters on the place for two years.
.Ister that, dad bought me a new pony, and a brand new saddle. Did
1 strut my stuff then': 1 thought I was a regulation cow _poke and
7hinps, o7)dy Page
'•,ngelore
rearant A.3t,
mentioned to my dad about paying bud and me. 10 everybody's surprise,
he did. -e paid us :10.00 a month, and promised us thet hetd give us
2.0 raise every year. :he catch to it was that we were to give
our mother 5.00 a. month for board, and take the other -5.00 to buy
our clothes. I thought that was a little hard at first, and the
whole fs- ily raised a row but now, when lo)k back and review it all,
that dad gave us the very best training pos4Able in making us
accept responsibility early. That made us men before the ordinary
kic can realize what resaonsibility is. :hat early trt'ining caused
me to acquire a certain shrewdness in money matters, end both of us
boys rr de a lot of money in business after we got away from the range.
"Since our place was a stook farm, it neccesserily had to
be fenced, and that made herding easier. Dad also grew a lot of feed,
and wintered critters for several outfits. e had to handle them
withut extra pay, but we liked it. 'he more critters, the better
the cow ooke. (so we figured) Nearly every year, dad would buy up
some seers and hogs to winter. e didn't mind the steers but the
hor's n sore soot to us, :0 didn't figure a cow joke ought to
herd hors Lut dad figured different so whet could we do? *e herded
the hos.
-e never made no trail drives from the ?lace because a
fellow dy the name of, 'Ed Ogg', a buyer for some big outfit in the
:last, always bought what ever dad had to sell, and drove them away
in VI' herd he'd already gathered for his company. 3ince dad never
done no branding, I'd never even seen any brandng except what gg's
men did. verythinF. they bought fro c: any .places no matter what
brrnd it carried, was bvladed a trail brand. road brand. Since
th!A road br12nd is usually one figure but the Ogg road brand
izps,.00dy
Rangelore
:ierrent •o.,
page
was two B's, burnt on the right hip. Ihe reason for the right hip
instead of the ordinary left hip that was commonly used, he used
the right hip in order to brand all of his oritters in the same
spot. 3ome of the brands were burnt on the left side, left fore
shoulder, and al kinds of places. he most co7lon place was on
the left hip. he'138, brand would have ben awfully hard to blot,
so Tiu see, :A knew his brands.
was about 145, I left home by myself to go to work
for a bi:ger spread than my dad's. I don't -now yet what mrde me
-.vent to le,ve a glA home but T did eny way. :he only 'oember of
my fenny that I've seen since wes my bud. 7 wee so young thrt
never 7ot a. job for quite awhile. I drifteJ on North 'til I hit
the "inake Yiver 7alley 'rnge, where I was hired by the ram rod on
the "ule ;hoe outfit. :he name was their brend, a -Tile's shoe burnt
on the left hi.
'The -uleshoe outfit run about 3,000 head, which for the
Host part, stayed up in the mountains where there wan good -Tr'zin,7
in the surxer time. I ha 5eried to hit at the time for the 12.!1.1.
7arket roundup, which was the reason, I aup ose, that they hired me,
being short of hens. soon snowed them th t I'd make a top rider,
which surprised them al7. I showeo up on an old h0s3 thrt was my
own, but couldn't do so very much range work. :he 7Uleshoe outfit
eeve me six hosses for my s‘ring, '3.nd several of them were good
outtinr hosses.
make the roundup, all the ranchers banded tw,;ether rnd
went un into the mountains to drive the stuck down. e all hrd orders
to briw: in everything that wasn't under fence. dairy could hrve
Phipps, 4:.)Ay
Rangelore
Tarrant Co., Ast. 17
nny number of critters, or rather milk cows, but if we found one or
twenty loose, we drove than in regardless of the fuss raised about
it. -"ou see, they all knew cbout.the custom of gathering everything
in sight no they worked with the roundup in that they kept their
critters under i'ence while the roundup was in process. Another
reason for the roundup being held in the valley was that the ranchers
would winter their critters there instead of feeding them through the
winter When feed was so high. In the mountains, it would have ben
in-osA.ble for the critters to graze beeause the t7yPse equld all be
coveree with snow, sonetimes 15 and 20 feet deep.in drifts. The
Idaho winters are known for the extreme temperatures they have.
"These roundups would have from 30,000 to 50,000 critters
in them, and all belonging to about 30 rancher* in all. You see,
if a man had 1,000 critters, he wouldn't have to have very many cow
pokes but if he had 2,000, he'd have to have twice as :any as the
other fellow and that way, the work was divided proportionately.
:hey d dn't just hive their riders though, they'd have every member
col' their family in the roundup that could make a cow hand. ilhere
were several old men that were too old to ride, so they'd tend to the
chuck wagon work. 'veld have from ope to three chuck wagons at work
when the cattle were on r wide range but as the range was narrowed
down, a chuck ,lagon would be cut off.
-Then the herd. was finally gathered, there would be literally
a sea or cattle. Just as far as you could see, almost, you'd see
the herd. A sea of tossing horns, bawling cattle, and here and there,
a critter mounting another for a better look around him. It was a
picture I'll car: -y to my grave. The work was over quicker than you'd
Phipps, Yfoody
Pangelore
:arrant ,;o., Dist 17
,age
beonuee every an would work like beavers. They'd all oiteh in
without a boss, and vu'd see from 20 to 30 branding fires going
all around the herd. It was really simple because the 3pring and
7111' roundups had calves to brand, and e calf was branded with the
same iron it's mother carried. A calf was the only thing you had
to brand anyway, because the mothers all carried a brand unless it
hnd grown up and esoaped the roundups held before someway. You see,
a calf stays with it's mother in all kinds of trouble, or anything
that oan hapnen to it. 7ven when the mother is ao'.;idently killed
in some wayor other, or if a varmint id killed it, the calf would
stay as close as it could to it's mother. If a varmint had kil ad
her, the calf would run off but come right back when it thou€!ht the
varmint had gone away. I've found lots of dead calves around the
carcass of a mother cow.When a varmint or a beef hustler had kil-ed
her.
-Now, back to the branding. 211 the outfits furnieLed
nlenty of irons so each branding crew Gould have an iron for each
outfit. ta a cow poke aut a critter out, another would take it and
give the punoher another lasso, he'd return, out out another, end so
on. :he work was a pleasure because everybody realized how necessary
it was to work tolether and nut it out 'til the work was el' done.
cutting low nokes only took a cow that had a mother with it, and
only roped the mother because the calf would follow the mother out
of the herd, somebody lasroed the calf, then they branded it 'til
the herd was worked clean of calves that could be identified b; it's
mothers.
"After these were worked over, then would come the critters
that werseleft. ale ranchero daoided on e percentage system to
Phipps, goody
Rangelore
Tarrant Co., Dist. .1
peg e ;45
te.!".1
,W
give the most of the .1Libranded grown critters to the rancher with
the bip,gest herd, then so on down in a sort of a ratio way 'til the
smallest herd mould get the smalleSt number of unbranded grown
critters. Yeah brandinr. fire had a tally sheet, and one man to each
tally sheet would ke,-p the tally and herd the branded critters to
it's separate herd that would be kept away from the main herd ttil
the work vies all done. -hen the dividing had all be done, all the
tally sheets would be brought together, each brand oounted, thon
arch rancher would know just how many critters he ownw; and was in
his herd. ;fter all the dividing had been done, and the tally sheets
counted, the herds were all turned loose in the Valley to winter.
"All winter, the cow pokes rode through the valley and
hunted calves thrt were either lost from their mothers, or calves
with poor mothers. .:hen a calf wee found with a poor mother, they
were senarated and fed in the feed lots maintained all winter 'til
they were strong enough to feed on their own hook. he lost °elves
would be fed the same Aty. The worst part of the winter riding was
when a puncher had to ride the valley lines to keep the critters
from streying up into the hills, .)*(1 have to be away from his
bunk house for several days et a time, end the weather really got
cold. You'd come on e grown cow nunoher crying with the cold at
times. It seemed the cold woad penetrate to the very marrow in a
man's bones.
"When a man wps caught away from his bunkhouse at night,
he'd ,,,ether hinself quite a lot of wood, end build two fires.
First, he'd co.* his supner on on of the fires, and keep his back
to the other, then he'd move one of the firse and make his bed down
on the spot where the fire had been. his would keep him warm for
oody
Rangelore
T'qvrant 3o., A.st. :7
Page P7
several hours, then the cold would wake him UD becsuse his fires
would just about b -.out by that time, and the cold would have gotten
back into the ground under him. He'd then make hi two more fires,
and repeat what he'd done before 'til morning came, when he'd make
his breakfast and be on his way. BreakfaSt.was nothing but a beef
stek fried and a pot of blac coffee strong enough to walk, it was
so black. I use to lap th-t ooffee up like it was 7ood but I don't
believe I'd be nble to kep it down now since I started to using
cream and suar.
"None of the cattle was trail drove out of the valley. A
bigSastern firm by the name of 'Ryan Brothers', had a cattle buyer
by the name of 'Utah Slim', that bought cattle out,in C)regon, and
drove the hard aoross the plains 'til he got to 3nake River Valley.
Ilea he got there, he'd piok out what he wanted to buy, add them
to his herd and drive on. Utah was one of the cattlemen of the
old school thnt could lok nt a steer or a cow, and almost tell you
it's history, weight, heighth, and all about it.
_"?he second year was on the ",aleshoe outfit, '.itah's herd
got in in time to be in on the roundup. ,Jtah hi. -.self didn't do
muoh riling but he let the ranchers use his hands to help in the
roundup. I said, they 7ot everybody, thnt could ride and they
just used his punchers too.
"About the very best ridir I ever ssw 77-s one of his men
that he brought from the Oregon linage. is name was Drn Ogden.
He sort of showed us boys up while making up the roundup, end then
when the icutAng was being done, he out out about twioe as many as
any other one man. 7:4'd 'ride his hose into the herd, make it
understand Which critter was wanted, and that critter was brought
Philyns, 7;)ody
'P!e:ngelore
27 rrent ,7
to taw, 'llet hoes would stay riqht with the critter ttil Den's
loop was tos ed. :'is loops never felled to snare either, but the
horiv,, always put him in such good positions that he had the- best
chf.3nce everytime• to cast. "ten, he'd snake the critter out of the
herd in good time, get rid of it, then back to another. f!) just
naturally was e reel cow bend.
"The boys al decided to have a contest after the roundup
for a little fun. *:tah was all for it too, because those contests
were lots of fun. ?he worst bucking hoes that could be found on the
range in that section wts brought to Den to see him ride it. fter
a couple of cow nokes had the hose ell ruldy to ride, end he'd got
on; we sew a reel show. i'he hoes was really e bad one thet nobody
so fer had been able to ride. Den stayed with him, then slapped
him with his conk piece to make him med when the hose slowed dom.
:le hose had bed good riders.on'him before, and when the rider stayed
with him so long, he'd try to fall on the ground end roll over.
liet was a trick thet usuelly crippled or killed a cow poke if he
I-m't fret enough to jump out of the fry, end have some rider come
between the ho ss and the rider.
"Well, we all held our breath when we sew that boss fell.
wasn't ect for wir,,t :an did because wed never heard of such a
thing. a the hose went down, he jumped clear, grabbed some dirt,
threw it into the hoss's eyes, then was beck in the addle before
the ho got back upright. Ailk about a mnd hos:74 -Ilet hose was
fit to be tied. 70 tried the rolling stunt two or threr times, then
Ueeided that he w,2; fighting a losing bottle so he quit. 2het wns
the most outstanding ride _I aver saw or heard of. You know, this
oody
? ngelore
Tr r ant 3o., Asst. 7
page 49
he! ring' businee can get to be pretty bad. 3ome of the tales I've
heard were worse than ezxild have been. If it hadn't of been that 1
ncrsonally saw this, T wouldn't have believed it when a fellow told
Cle
-This fellow wasn't sueh c goad pistol shot, though. le
had a man on our own range that was a natural born pistol shotw If
he ever aimed at a mark, nobody ever knew it. seemed that he
just lifted his at and fired before it came up as high as he put
it. he mark was never missed as far as anybody ever knew, either.
Tje'0 just be riding Plong, lots of tiles, and aw something to shoot.
"e'd get it before anybody else's gat had ()leered the leather. !lie
n!'me was, 'n 7111', and he finally got to be the sheriff of the
adjoining county.
"'he sheep ben to take the e untry in my second year, so
T to)k out for greener pastures. *'bat's the history of our country,
al!nost. 7irst, the buffalo hunters, the cattle, then the sheep came
in end aropned the grass so close that eatAe couldn't get to it,
(catle won't eat where a sheep has been for several years) thun
the friers came in end nut the land under cultivation. Yu miht
say that terming done both away.
"Lly next job was sort of grandstand job. I got ea job
on the lUI0', a big stage coach line, driving a six hose tram to my
conch. 137 run oonnected two others, starting at Old !!ountain 9ome
Idaho, and running about 50 miles 77est to a transfer station, where
another coach plaited up the passengers and carried them on.
"After 1Fi V!onths with the UIO, which stood for the, 'Utah,
Idaho, and Oregon' line, T went to work for a small individual line.
It run about 60 miles from Old !rountain 7!ome beak up into the
$447,-VOIT Tr. getAIIIP 11.MMTVIPirriM4M
'oody
",onelpre
Thant ;o.,
--ego /lc'
mountains to Pocky Bar. I didn't drive but two hoes on this run.
"I almost lost my life on it though, if I hadn't of obeyed
instructions and toll .wed my hunches too. :4 instructions to hold-
ups were, held up, don't refuse cnything because if you shot
one of them road agents, when they held you up again, they'd shoot
first and vak you to hold 'em up afterwards'.
-7 7--(1 one passenger, some mail, and some stu'f in the
Fatgo express box 8nd was on my way into Old Yountain T"ome. !fter
I'd gone through Devil's Dive canyon aid had to go up a bill to
reach -gage len/a net. On the may up, I had to pass a big bluff
flbout r0 folt high. Tn the wall of this bluff along the road, was
sever I cracks big enough to hide a man if he stood to the back of
them. I was fairly making the coach hum going up that hill, and
had begun to slow up on account of the drag when a fellow -stepped
out of is crack, and said, 'Reach for the Skyt' I don't recall
hearing the exact words because I was busy driving but the passenger
said that was what the road agent said. Anyway, I stopped the
coach and reached without'further ado. Th(n he said, 'Got a gun?'
"I said, 'No'
said, 'Got a passenger?'
"I said, 'One'.
"Fe said 'Back down the hill'. I started to backing the
team but the right hose wouldn't back. !'145 was soared by the agent
and didn't want to beak. :fter I worked with him a little, the
agent said, /wait, I'll lead him back'. As he came up to the hose,
he reared and put the ooach cross -wise of the road. I thought,
get mad now, and we'll have trouble. Instead, he says,
"Got a hachet?'
Phipps, :oody
iiangelore
2vrrant Jo. Dist. 7
..it,ge 11
"I mid, 'Yes'.
'He said, 'Th'ow it but don't make no bed moves.. It might
.be your lest if you co'. I Wowed him the hachet, then gave him
the expreos box when he asked for it. Tie took the mail sack, rifled
it and got what he wanted out of it, anaehed the express box with
the hachet and took what he wente out of it, gat ered his stuff up,
then was about to leave when a voles °ailed,
-lThat's up, 7owdy?' The•voloe came from over the bill
toTora 71ontain Home and I recognised it as Jio. Donovan's4 voice.
The road agent was so soared that if I was a mind to, I could have
junped off the coach riht onto his back and bore hi' down but
thinks I, 'There's.- man on top of that bluff or he wouldn't give
oe that olen.ing
"The event told me to aril him down or he'd shoot me so
hollered out, 'Jim, c'mon down and help me becauge I'm stuck and got
the road blocked'.
"1 wish you could heve seen Jim's fece when he came around
the coach end the agent th'ow d down on him. l!e wes one more
surprised person. -Mile he was th'owing his hends up, he was saying,
the-wha-ohat, 'til the tlent told him to close his trap or he'd
open P holo all the way through. ?!ter he vira setisfied that we
wouldn't make any tr-uble for 'limo he backed u, the hill 'til he
was out of sight, then we. heard hose, hel/ca just a flying off Cown
the road. 7111 helped e'get straightened up, then he lit out for
his wagon, turned ar)und and bet it ell the lay beta to town. 7(5
sore must have gone a -flying because I went ?ret y fast myself and
7verybody along the road asked ma if !'d boon held up. Then I ot
into town, the superintendent of the mai; was waiting for no and
'oody
Rengelors
7errant
IrC
elready knew all that ‘Tim knew. I gave hie the.detFile, and he and
the sheriff lit out for the spot to see if they o,eild pick up the
trail while it was still day -light. The (*eeuty sheriff organized a
poe:7e but the sheriff had already traildd the gent to a big stretch
of leva rock, where the treil wee lost for Good. The next time I
sew the sheriff, he told me thet there were. two men, that one of them
had laid down on top of the bluff while the other held ma up. The
way V.ey figured that out was, they sew the ground scraped up like
it would he where a man had laid don, and a plaoe where he had a
rifle sighted. I euess if I'd have mode a wrong move at any time,
I'd hpve got my ticket for the hunting .irounds.
wee on that rond for seven years, then dedidr-d to make a
-novo. ry next stage driving job was from 7hite,Sulphur springs to
''ontenc. :lie was enother two hoar, coach with about a 30
mile run. 7y this tine, the coach lines had begen to have pretty good
hose flesh to pull with. In those days, you hardly ever saw it hose
thF.t weighed over 1,CCO pounds. The big hosees net we used were
bred up trot. 7ndien ponies, and were strone with l_ne wind.
course, noth:egilLs the hoes flesh you can eet nowadays, but good
eiv:ugh for,thnse days.
"After two years, I decided to go beck to the range for
while. 7 got a job with the 'SS' Tench it Ady county, Tdaho, about
5C miles south of BA.se.City. :hey run about 500 heed, rith the
Os breaded on the left hip. Alf non thet owned the spreed were
Charlie and c.orge Sayers. I.liked them so well thrA I stayed on
:or five yeers. The roundups and all were about lire the others,
excepting we tad more time for hunting, fishing, and contests together.
7his wee the only plats() I ever workec 011 Met I really liked my job
.)ody
7,engelore
arrant 'Lo., 1st.
Ptge 13
so wellthat I turned dowa u better payin j)b to stay with it.
''Speking of hunting? .;narlie had an eduocted hoes for sure.
,hit hose was a cutting hod, about the best per:ger I ever saw, end
the only hunting hoes I ever saw thilt was sort of like a blood hound,
in that it semed to scent deer when it tv,iled. It would stay
right on deer's trsil, and when she got close to the deer, she
didn't ulake a noise but wo,ld wiggle her ears. fhe;.'wes a sign tht
der was 01 )se ana about to in sight. :';herlie being suon a good
rile shot, the two made a pair that couldn't be beat by,nobody.
"Jhy, one time the mare 1d ,Charlie run into a herd of 13
der, and ;harlie got 15 on them almost beforer:they coul- get away.
!.7e brought 15 of,them home, ervway. hen he w,nt hunting on that
are, he'd get two or three, pack thefl on her back, and she'd go to
the ranch, somebody'd unload her, and she'd come beck to where 3herley
s so he could ride her book home. Tharlie used a 4dienry for yaers
'til he got himself a 4inchester.
"Jherlie and ;eorge finally sold out to go est, and I
decided to go Le :exas. I'd worked for theA for five yearsond was
sorry to see them give it up but 1 guoss it was all for the best
beeouse I did betAr in :exes then ever did up North. ;f'ter
working here and there at difrerent things, I finally landed a job
on the old Bar A Ranch at isou, Texas. Iaoi us just a sort of a
tv,ding post on the Jtar meil route from 4ymuth but is now, the
city of Dorger, -,:exas, the oil town.
"I only worked the three winter months following the 7ell
roundup. I really didn't work long enough to oome to know the
place very well. :bout ell do know about it is that is was owned
by Johnsen, Zohnson,,and CroW, end that it joined the 3666 Rafteh on
thips,'oody
•Rangelore
Tarrant Co., Dist.
Page 1.4
the North. I reckon the liar.N run about 3,&O0 he,d with.the,brand on
the left hip made like this, -N. I calculate the 5,000 from the
roundup herd'a aloe.
"I left the 1.ar N to go to the big oitchfork outfit North
of mpa, Texas. It was owne by some Englishmen and the brand was
made just like e pitchfork. I don't recall the number they owned
nor the nu-Aaer of sections of lend they run-on. 'fter I made a
pay-day, T left Line went to the :TA 7anch, which was looted at the
lower, or 3outhern end, of the 7alo -Duro Canyon. it wasn't es big
as the 71.tchfork but I don't recall how big it was either. !fter
made a pay-day there, I drifte- on South and eas taken on by t,Le.
7pekins 2anch at 7aopa. The 7opins-Aanch wee really a stook
farm. -hey owned different nunbers of critters from .time to time.
'7,crlinr more in the winter then the suer because they'd grow lots
of heigera and When they'd moke a big crop, they'd winter critters
for ranchers besides buying up aoae on their hook.
"3y this time, throuh careful arofino of my money. I'd wved
over -'450Q.CO, and carried it I. a money t%g which I had around my
waist. It wns a little unoonfortable ot times but just got use(
to it muoh as a man or a.avomen•gets used to a cors16. man that
I'd -et and come to 7o -low fairly well in mpa, by the hame of Oy
-7111113ms, died, leeving a aidow with two li%tle kids. I felt sort
of bad about that, not Tolowine that he left property.
-tAs widow approacne me and told me that she had to sell
some property to oqy funeral expenses and aet a ticket to 3aliforkia
for herself nnd children. .he explained the locations nnd all, and
T gave her every cent I had for it. rho property was a quarter
Ville
section at taty, two lots in Fort 'Jorth, and a section out of Farmsrs
;lip a, ,oady
Rongelore
:errant ;o., _1st. 7
,"lith the property at 75rmersville, I teaded around and got
myself into the real estate business. I never did go back to the
rnnge any more fter this, because the real estate business got me
into the )1.1 business, and so on. I mtde a Ilt more money wet nursing
oil wells than I ever did punching dogies along and riding hoses.