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Sample Topics: Smoking
just seemed to go along with cowboy life, Barbed wire telephones, Screen door
was faithful fixture, Bugs provided hours of entertainment, Quilting was hub of
family, social life... more
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Texas
Ranches, Ranching, Cowboys & Cattle Drives: |
On
your mark, go ... Big day was all important by Delbert Trew
11-10-09
Few events were as important to
my mother as when the neighbors came over to help with branding or shipping of
our cattle... Hughes'
Stock Book by Mike Cox 10-8-09
Labeled
“Horse Record – Hughes Bros.” the book contains hand written records of horses
sold and traded by two brothers who owned a 76-acre spread in the vicinity of
Liberty Hill on the Travis-Williamson County line. Trip
to the Old West as child vivid as ever by Delbert Trew
10-6-09
Among
my cherished memories as a 12-year-old boy is a trip taken with my father, his
cattle partner and his grandson, another boy my age, to New Mexico to receive
cattle purchased... Coyote
Lake - Watering spot for cattle 10-3-09Captain
J. D. Reed - The Story of a Cowboy by Linda Kirkpatrick
9-2-09
James
Duff Reed, the Cattle King of the WestTexas'
First Cattle King by Archie P. McDonald, PhD
James Taylor White, East
Texas' first cattle baron. Taylor's JTW brand became widely known, as was his
reputation for innovation in ranching practices.
Early
Cattlemen saved Texas from financial ruin by Murray Montgomery
7-10-09
After the Civil War, Texas and
the rest of the South were in a bad economic situation. The war had drained the
resources of the defeated states and when the soldiers returned home, they found
it extremely hard to make a living. But Texas had an untapped resource roaming
wild on the open range – longhorn cattle provided an industry that grew to become
the largest in the state. Texas
Fever by C. F. Eckhardt 7-5-09
From the late 1860s into the 1870s, Texas was, in effect, divided into two armed
camps. The battlers were south Texas cattlemen who needed to drive their cattle
north to the railheads in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri—and north Texas cattlemen,
joined by cattle raisers in the Indian Nations, Kansas, and Nebraska, who stood
ready, with rifles if necessary, to stop the drives.Don't
count out us old folks by Delbert Trew 5-12-09
The
years of 1951 and 1952 went down in ranching history as the worst screw worm infestation
ever... Black
Cowboys by Murray Montgomery 2-3-08
The black cowboy has been part of the ranching industry in Texas for a long time.
They were born into slavery in the beginning but after the Civil War they continued
to work on the ranches as free men... Barbed
wire called 'Devil's Rope' for a reason by Delbert Trew 12-30-08
Most Panhandle historians agree that Brinkerhoff ribbon was the most famous barbed
wire in Panhandle history as the XIT Ranch used some 6,000 miles of the invention
to fence their vast grasslands...
Scales revolutionized
ranching by Delbert Trew 10-21-08
I
once asked my father what he thought was the greatest innovation or improvement
made to the ranching industry during his time. I was thinking in terms of four-wheeled
vehicles, stock trailers, livestock auctions and long-distance livestock hauling.
His answer came as a surprise...Horse
Troughs by Mike Cox 10-16-08
Water
troughs, better known in Texas as horse troughs, were intended for the hydration
of livestock. But Texas ranchers and their families found far more use for these
open containers of water than merely affording Old Dobbin a place to drink...Stetson
led way for modern cowboy hats by Delbert Trew 8-19-08
In
about 1860 the "perfect headpiece" was invented by John B. Stetson. He was the
son of a Philadelphia hat-making family and suffered from tuberculosis, an occupational
disease of hat-makers. Forced to travel west for his health he was on a Pike's
Peak camping expedition when the need for a hat arose. Technology
replacing old ranching ways by Delbert Trew 7-10-08
Many changes have occurred in the ranching business over the years. Some are good,
a few are sad and occasionally one is somewhat ironic or funny. No
journey too far for determined cattlemen by Delbert Trew 4-17-08
From the stockman of biblical times to the modern day rancher, he has always been
out in front of civilization looking for fresh graze for his livestock. His trials
were many, often more than his share as he challenged the vast prairies, unpredictable
weather, one disease after another and the continually changing financial world...
Horse-to-tractor
switch laborious by Delbert Trew 2-21-08
The big switch from equine horsepower to gasoline power was about over when I
became old enough to remember... Dust
Bowl was deadly by Delbert Trew 2-7-08
Until 1930, most agriculture workers, and especially the cattlemen, had retained
their independence from government help and interference. However, the Crash of
1929 ushered in the beginnings of the Great Depression. By 1931 severe drought
set in all across the Great Plains from Canada to Texas with annual rainfall averages
cut in half from normal. By 1933, areas in the Southern Plains began to experience
dust storms that eventually grew into the Dust Bowl...It's
a wonder the Panhandle was ever settled by Delbert Trew 12-11-07
From 1850 to 1900, new settlers flocking to the Panhandle and West Texas prairies
faced almost insurmountable odds in establishing a legal homestead. Most had few
resources at hand or the time to waste as they searched and settled... Hog
Drives of Frio Canyon Texas - Part I:
“Git Along Little Piggy” Late 1890’s
- Early 1900’s by Linda-Kirkpatrick 12-8-07
The Frio Canyon suffered hard times in the late 1800’s... The folks, who built
up the early ranches in the Leakey area, did what they could to just get by...
Like the cattle drives of old but just not as classy or as romantic or as written
about were the hog drives of the Frio Canyon. Old-time
improvisation in branding and jailing by Delbert Trew 10-23-07
Early
ranchers formed well-organized groups by Delbert Trew 10-16-07
Since the beginning of livestock domestication of sheep and goats in 6,000 B.C.,
problems of ownership of livestock and regulation for grazing the public domain
have occurred. As numbers of livestock increased, pastoral customs, grazing regulation
and preservation of ownership problems grew in proportion... Bull
Durham tobacco the 'cheapest luxury' by Delbert Trew 10-10-07
...The tobacco became famous after 1860 when the trademark was registered, as
almost every posed photo of a man showed the small round paper tags hanging from
a vest or shirt pocket. This product took center stage in the West just like Arbuckle
Coffee and Stetson hats... Cow
Patties by Mike Cox 9-26-07
...On
the High Plains, where trees were scarcer than sinners at a revival, finding fire
fuel took more effort. While folks traveling in a wagon might haul an emergency
supply of split wood, travelers, scouts, and cowboys soon realized that a ready
source of fuel surrounded them – buffalo chips... B.
F. (Frank) Payne, Texas Ranger by Linda-Kirkpatrick 9-5-07
...Annually they would round up the herds and brand the calves according to the
brand of their mother. Thus each rancher was able to keep up with the herd size
and the cattle belonged to him even though the cow herds ran free. This process
worked well until the Civil War. Many of the young men who had hired out to work
these cows were called to fight... Conditioning
a saddle into tiptop quality by Delbert Trew
8-7-07
venture a guess that only one in 10 readers will be familiar
with the term "Neatsfoot Oil." This oil has been a mainstay in saddle and harness
maintenance for centuries. No old-time, self-respecting rancher, farmer or cowboy
would be caught without a can sitting in his saddle or harness storage...
Sarge
Cummings Master of the Long Loop Linda-Kirkpatrick 7-1-07
Robert H. “Sarge” Cummings was known as a master of the long loop, a cowboy term
for rustler. This old coot was loved by all, except for maybe the Texas Rangers.
Children were ecstatic whenever he came to visit a spell. Some would crawl under
his chair just to spin the rowels on his spurs as he spun tales of the wild west...
Trail
drivers brought in income, coined phrases by Delbert Trew 5-6-07
Texans owe a round of applause to the old-time trail drivers who in a period of
years drove more than 5 million head of livestock to the northern markets. This
income helped the state of Texas recover from the effects of the Civil War. The
following terms were coined during the Trail Drive Era and many are still with
us today... Hungry
cowboys foil pickle plan by Delbert Trew 5-2-07
In the early days when a cowboy "sold his saddle" it meant he was down and out,
finished, disgraced or maybe doing time in jail. In short, he was no longer a
cowboy..."Vaquero"
- Cowboy statue by Luis Jimenez in Houston
Chisholm
Trail: Fording the Brazos at Kimball Bend Bosque County Texas by Angela BlairStampede
Mesa by C. F. Eckhardt
"Not many people know about Stampede Mesa
these days, but from the early 1880s until Texas cattlemen quit driving beef north,
those two words would make a cold-footed rat run up and down a cowboy's spine.
Stampede Mesa was-and may still be-one of the most thoroughly haunted places in
Texas."Withers
by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales")
Back in Texas' trail-driving days, a
cow pony could cause a man an awful lot of worry - especially a horse with idiosyncrasies...
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The
Devilin' of Old John by C. F. Eckhardt
Old John was about the oldest man
I knew who was still working as a cowboy, and I don't know how old he was when
he died... Cowboy
Life on a Small Spread by C. F. Eckhardt
Cowboyin' ain't all it's cracked
up to be. It's not all horsebackin' and branding and Saturday night at the dance
hall. Herewith a view of some of the cowboy chores Roy and Gene never did in the
Saturday matinee... The
Chisholm Trail Rides Again by Clay Coppedge
Anyone wanting to follow the
Old Chisholm Trail through Bell County would find part of the quest relatively
easy, at least as easy as driving on IH-35...Deere
was a man farmers could really dig by Delbert Trew
" In 1838, a village
blacksmith named John Deere created a plow from a worn saw blade. Amazingly, the
new design blade sheared the soil cleanly and the moldboard laid the new soil
aside in long, neat ribbons..."Cowboys:
Stand-up comedians for the Lord by Delbert Trew
"Few occupations
experience everyday hazards quite like that of the cowboy..."Cowboy
Tree by Mike Cox
"...In a way, it’s natural enough that Pleasanton
would have such a tree, unnatural as the combination of the words “cowboy” and
“tree” seems to be. The Atascosa County community south of San Antonio has long
claimed to be the birthplace of the cowboy..." |
| | Windmills
by Clay Coppedge
"This may be a bitter pill for some Texans to swallow,
but the windmill was not invented in Texas. Neither was the Colt revolver. Ditto
barbed wire..." |
| Shortly
after World War II, the threat of invasion from Mexico was far different from
the perceived threat today. Then the menace was disease. Mexican cattle infected
with the dreaded hoof and mouth disease could easily wander (or be herded by smugglers)
across the shallow, drought-stricken Rio Grande. .... more |
Whiskey
Funeral by Mike Cox
"...A cowboy who worked on ranches along the
Concho River in the top part of McCulloch County, Whiskey was known to take a
drink or two or three. He won his nickname when he got so desperate for a drink
that he traded his horse and saddle for a gallon of whiskey..."
Spanish
Cattle by Mike Cox
"All those longhorns that revitalized Texas’ post-Civil War economy had to
come from somewhere. And where the breed came from was the interior of Mexico.
Via trail drive."Range
Wisdom by Mike Cox
Cattle roundup in the free range days, and the dispute
over branded steers."Ten
Things you should know about "Shanghai" Pierce by Brewster Hudspeth
"So You Want to be a Cattle Baron?" Life
On The Trail by Murray Montgomery
The cowboy legacy is very much alive
in Texas and it has been that way for a long time.
Bluffton
by Mike Cox
Some cowboys' overindulgence at one of those establishments led
to ...
Wild Times in Old McDade by Murray Montgomery
Again the outlaws retaliated...
Two cowboys were killed and the ranch house was burned...
Find
Two Willies and a Max In Hall of Fame, At Tracks by Bill Bradfield
Texas
ranches and stables have been closely linked with the sport of horse racing for
generations...The
Lonesome Plains: Death and Revival on an American Frontier
Cowboys rode
miles to attend dances or just to see a woman from a distance...The
Spanish America War Chronicles by John Troesser
Texas provided men and
a place to train "The Rough Riders", the group composed of cowboys, adventurers
and polo playing aristocrats from New York.
Donley
County by Lou Ann Herda
A saloon and dance hall were going to be erected
by some outsiders at one point. This didn't set well with several local cowboys,
who offered to scalp them if they didn't leave. It took legendary cattle driver
.....Metador,
Texas - The saga of the Matador RanchWaco,
Texas
Waco became a spur on the Chisholm Trail and cattlemen and their
cowboys often stopped in Waco for ...Fargo,
Texas - This is where an estimated six million Longhorn cattle crossed on
their way to the railheads in Dodge City, Kansas.
Bandera,
Texas - Cowboy Capital of Texas Tioga,
Texas - Gene Autry's hometown?Torn
Between Two Cowboys in Moulton, Texas
Being Tossed on the Horns of a Dilemma
can be as Painful as being Drawn and QuarteredThe
Cowboy Silhouette by John Troesser
You've seen him if you've driven through
the country. He's a booted and hatted cowboy, leaning up against a building or
fence post with no visible means of support other than his fence post.Watering
Trough in Sudan
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