Document text
'17
r 4•,./
2hipps, -oody
nLelore
rrant st. 7
know
e
Cagnpai-173, was born in
kr aflelphiai—firk., on July, 30, 1964.
Her father moved the family to Jewell,
fltetland Co., fez., on Sept. 15, 1084,
where he established a 180 acre stock
farm. 3he married M.F. Cannon when
15i Yrs. old, and they moved to Crosby
Co., 'ex., where they established a 220
-ore stook farm. They reared two boys
who developed into cowboys, and girl
who married T.J. lallace, who's father
operated a ranch at Cisco, Tex. "er
husband died in 31a ton Texas, in 1.18,
and she now resides at the "asonio Tome
for the aged boated of
t.'orth, Tex. '!er story:
yes, T. was raised in 4est T'exas when it as considered.
the sure enouch wild and wooly eat. Tf T. could ra—imber all the
things thnt hapoened to me, You'd be able to writ e big book on it
all. s It is though, my memory sort of fails e right when I want
it to work but I'll tell you all I can recall. lie most af what I
tell you will be about the good times we hod because that's about all
ever thought about When I was growing up and while I wcs young.
"First, I was born on July the 60th, 1J!54, in ,x•Icadelphia,
Lrkansas. Just as soon's I was able to be carried good end my ma
was able to take a long trip, my (PA set out for 'exas on 3eptember
the 15, 1964. 7.1Ald's name was '1..iridge Nix and he settled on what- was
known as the 'Nix Place'. It was right outside Jewell Texas, in
Eastland county, and had about 160 sores in it. I suppose you'd call
tbe niece a stock for' because he formed on a small scale but he
really worked cattle. That was his aim, to work up a cattle ranoll.
I don't recall whether he had a brand or not. I sulmose he did have
but I didn't Ty: any ra%ention to that.
Arw, the reata-m T didn't pay any rt ention to anything in
Phip- s, :oody
nangelore
Tarrant 3o., Dist,. :7
Page
143
the way of business was beoause I was pure -de spoils when I was a kid.
mother died right after we got to Jewell, and fay two sisters had
the raising of me %rid all the household work too. They'd let me run
loose after T got big enough to get away fro-: the leash. Ybu-ee,
while I was too small to be depended on not to run off, they'd made
a sort of harness that went around my shoulders nnd kept me tied to
a wooden stake while they were in the dugout working.
"'hen we first came to that country, there werl, no houses
and everybody lived in dugouts that were made by digging a square
hole about 10 by 10, then about seven feet deep and running a long
pile aoross the middle, about two feet higher thah the ground level,
then slanting the tarpaulin down so to let the water run off when it
rainea.
"After we'd bean.there for about 18 Inonths, dad had got together
enough logs to have a house raising. Now, that's where the fun starts.
I was too young to have any fun at this one but you can bet I didn't
Ini3 many of them after I got big enough to dance and talk up for my-
self. rverytime they'd have a house raising after that, T'd be there.
You ser,, the women folks would cook enough stuff to last a good sized
crowd of men for a coupl of days, then they'd tell everybody that
there was to be a house relaing at so nnd so's place at so and so a
time. 1:verybody knew they'd have a little dancing and eating thrown
in with the work oonnecte with raising the house, or rattier, building
the house so they'd be on hand to help. 3ometimea there'd be as many
as 50 men there with their families and they',; make short work of
putting up the house. They figured the quicker they got the house up,
the quicker they'd get to dance, drink, and eat. I didn't care much
])hipps, oody
Ranc-elore
''aran jo., 1st.
age -5
IsC
for u mnn because he just thpught he could dance. He couldn't
really dunce ns wen then es he ciuld.when he wes sober. tere were
lots of they' thst could sure enough dance, though.
-1 don't really recall just when I did learn to dance beceuse
the cowhands taught me to jig when 1 wee really small. I was dancing
with men -hen I was 6oing to sohool. I went to sohool in Jewell.
'Zothing much halened to me when I wns goin?.! to scho)1 but let me
tell you what hapened to e once. 7ad gave me a litae old Indian
pony to ride to and fro' school nnd I could really ride him. "e was
about the best pony I'd se -n around those perts and he'd kick up on
a frosty mornilw but I'd stay with lit. T.te got.in the habit of getting
loose from the rail when I'd tie him up at the school. No matter how
tight I'd tie him, he'd always get loose.
-One day, he'd gotten loose and had streyed farther eway than
usual. hy the time I'd npund him, it was getting. dark. I don't guess
was over 100 feet from him when I found him but there were six old
r,onghorn steers that found me at the same time. They'S run at
me, snort, then run beck. .:as I worried I'll say I was, but I kept
behind trees and circling until I had the pony between me and the
Seers. I'd forgot my rope and it was still tied to the rail so
t,)ok my t;o-let and out it cround his neck, then led tii heck to the
rail.
-Since alweys had to have somebody help me onto the pony
and they were all gone, I didn't know how to get on him. 1 looked
(mound for n stump but I couldn't sec- any and it was getting darker
all the ttle. :here was an old grnveyerd by the school end there were
tombstones in it that I coule stand on to get on hin so I did it thet
way. You talk about soared. I we one scared kid until T got on his
ijhipps, oody
Banzelore
?errant o., 1st. 7
r:ge
back, then I made hi understand thet speed was what T wanted.
were going .;;ID to noth,nE when I met my dad coming rfter .me. 7'eld got
worried about me end wet; coning to scf7. whet Ives the trouble. 2he
only thing I liked about going to school wfs the spelling bees they'd
have. "e'd hvve lots of fun then.
Nom, beck to the dances. he majority of them were square
dances. fter I'd got married and wee P little older, I sew other
kinds but
stuck to the good old square dancinr.. een so lone since
7 wes to .on of them that T don't race' the words they used in calling
ther hut r goad caller always tried to make ,p ner ones so you might
say they had no set form of callinF.
'I net my lisbend at one of these dances end we got married
when 7/d only net tlim about five tines. You see, if you'd go a long
ways, you could go to a dence about once a month tut dad only took us
about once every quarter so I really knew over a year before we
got married.
"Others thet I recall netting were, :Alik Logan, n good rider
with a pretty horse but I don't know Whether ever heerd of his
ability as a cowboy. rated them accordine to how rood they danced
end "Oink could dance real czood. 'e net at all the denotes.
nother thet I recoil). wrs :an Clawson. Old nen couldn't
dance but he could trot to beet the bend. "hen, 31.7. Thornton, he we
u good dencer, and ..teve and renple 711is. 7.et me tel- you one on
'eriple•
"One time, he and his dad were roing to the brekes after wood.
Ivey were just using the running imars, you know, no wr”!on bed, and
when they got on top of r pretty steep hill, his dad told him to get
SOME) ropes and tie the wheels to the geers no they wouldn't r Ill and
Phipps, oody
Rengelore
Tarrant Co., 7ist. 7
rege
that way, the wagon wouldn't run over the tem. 'emple stays, 'Alright
dad'. He stood on the tire and held the wheel to keep it from turning,
then when they got belf way down, he stepped off end let the wheels go.
..e.11, the wagon like to )1F:ere run over the bosses and welt going like e
preirie fire when they got to the bottom of the hill but emple's dad
handled the like 8 veteran and didn't hevc no trouble. '2emple had
to run reel herd to °etch up but when the wegw wes slowed down at the
bottom, he oeucht up. ""is dad said, '7;hat haneened, -eep1W, -id the.
ropes bree
-Temple said, just wanted to sec you could ride it as
fast es it would go'.
Now, that was kind of e rough joke but that's the way the
cowboys tioked. hey lived ti rough life end joked as roughs s you ever
heard. Ary, a tender r-)ot thnt lit on e ranch would almost get kil7ed
before he got broke in to rnnoh life. The toys would lead hie to one
of their wildest horses. end tell him it was teme, then let him get on
the horse. The usual trick was to hive the horse elready saddled and
reedy to go before the peer fellow ever mew it.
"re'd cori]e out fron the chuck wagon or where ever he was hired,
ad all he'd see was horse already saddled and he'd bern told they'd
give him P. gentle one before he tried the mart ones -nd he'd just
mount it without ever a suspicion anything was up. he first time he
knew otherwise was after he getAng the stormiest ride he'd ever had
in hie youne life. he horse usually threw them after the first jump
end the boys would be on hand to rescue him from anything else heeeening
to hie.
"hen I merriee lannen, I was about 15 and e half yerrs
old. Cannon was a real men and wasn't afraid of old :1.ck himself so
hippo,-oody
74ringelore
:!!.!rrc=nt o. ist. 7
:Inge Y7
o:: into the holes. This way, the megon would be herder to turn
over or move any way. T'd slept all through this and woke up the
next norning cfter the wind h -d .none down and everything was calm
and pe'leful.
1.1
bout the third day on the trip, the wheels went to uqueaking
sonethin7 awful and I w's gating so eisc.nointed. I thought we had
been cheated o our pret4 wagon with the pretty yellow wheels and
red and green tri ings but I didn't say anything to 7.. ,bout it.
I just kept qtiet. Alen we got to a water holes -he watered the stock,
then got a bucket and poured water on the wheels. 7-f! didn't seem
satisfied with that so he dug some more toles and rolled the wagon
o':f into them, then filled the holes with water. iba the wagon
stood in the water, he hunted for a pole and s block. :11th this, he
used leverage, then had me to turn the wheels so another pert would be
in the water. 7e did this unti he had the entire wheel all wet and
mu ly. The next movnin after we started out, he explained thpt the
wheels had 7otten dry and drawn up, and that the water would swell
the wheels back out to where they wouldn't squeak any more.
",vell, it seemed like years before we ?,cot to that section of
'eXPEI known as, 'The TAands 1;Staoadol, or the staked plains. settled
in r.rosby county on a n20 acre tract and .T. branded his 50 head of
cattle with the 7/PC brand.
"I worked with the herd just like a man. Of course, I didn't
ride a horse but I 'tended the cows that cane frnsh. I never will
forget one thing that hairmened to me while was hunting one old cow's
calf. You see, they'd hide their calves off where they figured you'd
t ver find them which wes dangerous because they never got the right
treatment and lots of thea wculd die. As11, I'd followed this old
?hippo, -oody
Rangelore
Thrrant o., Dist. '7
Page AB
"'"'C
cow around for four days but she'd been giving me the slip. I finally
let her get out of sight, then toll wed her tracks through the sand.
"ow, there were still a few dangerous outlaws and rustlers in that
country and I'd made a mountain out of e mole hill to where I 1,o)ked
for one to pop out anywhere. This condition ataye in the back of
my head all the time but I got my mind Bet on that old cow's tracks
and was going right along when I went through some bushes and bumped
right into her. 3he had her calf and was suckling it at the time but
I thought an outlaw had me so I tore out, the oow and calf went in
different directions and we all had a good scare. She didn't find her
calf 'til 'way the next day beoeuse I heard her bawling 'til she found
her calf.
"After we'd be,m on the place several years, we quit going to
Crosbyton for rations and went to tmarillo twide a year for our grub.
contrary to the general notion, we didn't buy much stuff in barrels
because a wagon would shake it to pieces. Barrels wasn't so good in
those da7s either because they had wood ties instead of iron like they
do nowadays. -ell, we'd get about a dozen 100 pound sacks of flour,
100 pound sack of coffee, halt a barrel of syrup, a barael of auger,
six sides of bacon, four boxes of dried fruit, and a 100 pound sack
of dried bens. had plenty of wild meat and grew our becf and
farmed enough garden stuff to care for us and some other plaoes too,
so yecl see, we had )14nty to eat any time we wanted it.
-713'd go to .3rosbyton for the dances though. It was about
lb to LO miles there and would pick up ell the women on the way
that wanted to go. They'd hold a barbecue and daace for two days
and nights there besides having the beet fiddler I over heard. is
name was 'Fiddler bill', and he could just make up tunes that beat
:7oody
Rangelore
Tarrant lo., 71st. '7
'age
anything these long haired guys that you pay to heer. Just a natural
born fict:ler. There were a good maxer of the cow punchers that could
wield a le!qi bow but they learnt it fror, somebody else. 7here were
guitar nlayers too, that could play right well. I don't recall any
special names of nieces they played. I don't think most of the had
a name. Of course, they played 'Arkansaw Traveler', 'Old Danll
Turkey', 'Turkey in de 3trews, end other popular pieces along with the
ones they made up.
"Now, about the cat%le roundups and such, T. went to several
of the 'all roundups before quit and went tot carpentering. T met
Zi: -illiams, who ownec the 'SR' Rench and throwed a barbecue and a
dance right after a roundup one year. It wa.,3 held in 14ank Smith's
rock house in nano° Canyon and lasted about three days and nights.
"I remember when I went there, I saw thousands of cattle in
the canyon. A litAe while after I got to the renoh house, T havened
to be lo-Aing out the window and saw r on load of girls coming up
the med. row, they had to pas over a ditch that had some goat heads
in it. "ou see, ';ank had barbecued goats 115 throwed the heads into
this ditch. fell, they failed to sec this ditch and when the wacon
jolted over it, three of they; fell over backwards into the ditch.
"The first thing they saw when they sat up was these hboody
heads sticking straight up out of the ground. Of all the screening
that atm off, P 10C oatamo,..,nts ooubdn't make that much noise. One
of the boys had fixed the hepds in that way, hopinE to 7;1111 off a
stunt bout like that.
"I met another rancher there that run tome cattle on about
one section of land. is name was llornton and he run the 'SD*
TAnoh. I recall another foreigner I met there but I can't recall
1-7)1r) 4, roody rage TIO
rngelore
Darrant :0., ist. 7
his name. Fe run the '1 Bar LI. You maze the brr,nd like this, '70.4,.
Alen, there was J.J. llace who ownec and operpted the '7riengle J'
with about 100 head. ou make his brand like this,J. I also met
several of the 3wenson lianch foremen Lut I don't recall their names.
it was one of the .big ranches owned by big rasterners who lived in
:e)w York. Zhey'd write the range boa :i to spare no expense to show
the boys el goad time after the roundup. ',e'd all get together and
it would las: two or three days.
=fra vbout to run out oft soap. I forgot to say though,
that my daughter married J.J. allaoe's boy •rid lived on the niece
which was finally located :orth of ;loco.
"One other thinG is the men 7.!.F. usually played with at the
dances. One was old liompt,rilrer, he played the violin, end -?,1
fitLerson, who also played the violin while my husband picked the banjo.
playei for the dances and goings on 'til he died with the 71u in
Slaton 7exF,s, in LAS.