Early, Texas - Trail Drivers of Texas : Interesting Sketches of Early Cowboys and The (part 19 of 20)

I was married February 26, 1878, to Miss Jennie C. Davenport, who has been a faithful helpmate to me during the long span of wedded years. We have one daughter. Miss Minnie Miller. My wife's father was Captain William Davenport, a well known pioneer, who lived on the Cibolo. He was captain of a ranger company which operated against the Indians in the early days. Captain Davenport died several years ago, but his widow, now eighty-five years old, still lives at the old home place on the Cibolo.

Captain A. C. Jones

Captain A. C. Jones of Beeville, Texas, was one of our most widely known and popular men in Texas. He was a self-made man like so many of the sons of Texas, having no advantages in early life. His success was due to his unaided efforts, a keen business sagacity, and a prompt and decisive way of taking hold of things. He was born in Nacogdoches county, Texas, in 1830, and reared on the very borders of civilization, his boyhood being spent among scenes of privations and dangers.

The Trail Drivers Op Texas 937

Captain Jones began as a farmer and stockraiser with a capital of $2,500.00 at the age of 22. During the 70 's and 80 's he had invested in business, lands and cattle |^t#^^;> more than $100,000.00. He f removed to Goliad county in ^ 1858 and in 1860 he was sher- | iff of that county. Pie was | later treasurer of Bee county, ^, Texas. In 1861 he enlisted ' in the Confederate Army as ] a private soldier in Company E, Waller's Battalion, in General Dick Taylor's Command. After 18 months' captain a. c. J0x\e8 to a captaincy and remained in the army until the last gun was fired. Captain Jones took the lead in all affairs pertaining to the upbuilding of the county in which he lived and in this he was backed by his entire community. Capt. Jones was never a trail driver but was a pioneer ranchman, merchant and farmer. He died several years ago, leaving a large fortune to W. W. Jones of Corpus Christi,who owns the Nueces Hotel there, several hundred thousand acres of ranch land, 13,000 head of cattle and a million dollars loaned out. W. W. Jones was the only son of Capt. C. A. Jones and is a member of the Old Trail Drivers' Association and promised to furnish a sketch of his life and his photo for this book, but, like many others, has neglected to do so. His greatest worry today is the income tax. I know he is honest, as last year he paid a forty-year-old $20.00 gambling debt which he lost when sowing his wild oats, but of course he has not gambled any since then. The party was threatening to charge compound interest on the $20.00 for forty years but Jones pleaded limitation. I have known W. W. Jones from childhood, have kept close tab on his operations through all these years and I pronounce him a wonder as a financier. He is very popular with all who know him, loyal to his country and his friends.

A. C. Jones, Jr., son of W. W. Jones, is a popular young ranchman of the Hebronville section, and is following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the latter remembering him in his will.

Captain Henry Scott

By George W. Saunders. Captain Henry Scott, who died in Corpus Christi on February 27, 1891, and was interred at Eefugio, Texas, his old home a few days later, was born in the state of New York in 1830. Two years later his parents moved to Mission, Eefugio county, Texas, where a small body of intrepid Irishmen had established a colony. Captain Scott was raised fighting Indians. At the time Ward and his men were massacred near the Mission, Captain Scott, a small boy at the time, was one of the survivors. Soon after this came the massacre of Fannin and his men at Goliad. Such times as these made a deep and fearful impression upon the mind of young Scott, who was destined himself to play an important part in the history of Texas. When ten years old he accompanied his father on an Indian expedition, and in battle with the Indians, on the ground where Brownsville now stands, his father was killed, young Scott was captured and taken 250 miles into Mex-. ico. One night, finding all the guards asleep, he mounted a pony, and after wandering through the wilderness many days and nights, living on berries and roots, he finally reached a white settlement where he found shelter and rest. Scott's account of the battle of Eefugio in 1836 as given to Col. John S. Ford is recorded in Texas History by L. E. Daniel. Scott was young at the time but those horrors were deeply impressed on the boy's mind. He spent most of his life in Eefugio, Goliad, Bee, San Patricio, Aransas and Nueces counties to protect the border against bandits from Mexico that were stealing stock and murdering our citizens. This company was in action the majority of the time and for two years the value of its service to the State could not be estimated. Mr. Scott followed one of the Swift murderers into Mexico and had him put in jail, paid .$1,000.00 out of his pocket to have his captive delivered to him in Texas and brought the Mexican to Refugio where he was hung to a tree in the yard of the Swift family where he helped to murder Mr. and Mrs. Swift, four miles from Mission, Refugio county, Texas. Few men in the state did more than Captain Scott towards the development of our great state.

Oscar J. Fox, Composer Of Cowboy Songs

Oscar J. Fox, of San Antonio, Texas, is winning fame as a composer of cowboy songs. Mr. Fox was born in Burnet county, Texas, in 1879. lie went to Europe for his musical education, and also spent several seasons in New Vork. He has just completed arrangements with G. Schiriiier and Carl Fisher, music ])ublishers of New York, for OSCAR J. FOX the publication in concert

Prairie) and ^^Eounded Up in Glory.'' Both of these songs were taken from John A. Lomax's *^ Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads," published by The Macmillan Co. of New York.

A. W. Billingsley, Wife And Son A. W. Billingsley, A. W. Billingsley

Mr. Billingsley, Sr., was born in Bee county in 1854, and was for many years a well-known cowman of Southwest Texas. He is now engaged in the dairy business in San Antonio. The young man in uniform in this picture was first sergeant in the 344th Field Artillery, 60th Division, and saw active service in France during the World War.

John And Thomas Dewees

John 0. Dewees was born in Putman county, Indiana, December 30th, 1828. His father moved to Taswell county, 111., in 1832, located on Fox Eiver and laid off the village of Dundee, 111., engaged in farming and established the first planing mill erected in that section. At that time there were few white pioneers west of the Mis- sissippi. Sioux and other tribes of Indians were camped near the little pioneer village. The Indians were treated kindly and made good neighbors. Mr. Dewees worked on his father's farm and hauled produce to Chicago, 30 miles west of Dundee. At that time Chicago was a government post containing about 300 inhabitants. Mr. Dewee's father moved to Texas and settled near Bastrop in 1849, engaging in farming and stock raising. At the beginning of the Civil War he owned 1,600 cattle. In 1862 he joined Company B, commanded by Captain E. B. Millet, 32nd Texas Cavalry and served throughout the war and engaged in many battles and skirmishes. At the close of the war he gathered what cattle he could and started anew in the cattle business. He started a ranch in Wilson county, Texas, bought land and cattle and in a few years he owned 60,000 acres of pasture land in Wilson, Karnes and Atascosa counties. He began driving cattle over the trail in the early 70 's, formed a partnership with Col. James Ellison and this partnership lasted many years. During this time the Ellison and Dewees cattle were thick on the northern trails. For many years they sent from 20,000 to 40,000 cattle per year. A long time the firm filled Indian contracts and sold to ranch- men to be delivered at different points all over the Northwest. Mr. Dewees died several years ago, leaving a large fortune and a host of friends. His widow and grandchildren are conducting the estate profitably.

Thomas Dewees, a brother of John 0. Dewees, was a large cattle operator on ranches and on the trail. We are unable to obtain his history but it is similar to that of his brother. He was well known and very popular. He did several years ago and left considerable property.

Came To Texas In 1838

My father, William Kodney Baker, moved from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Austin, Texas, in 1838. I was then six weeks old. My brother, Nelson Baker, was the first white child born in Austin. Father moved from Austin to a place ten miles south of the village on Onion Creek. On February 1, 1842, father and my uncle, Silas Sherman, 17 years old, went out after the milk cows and never came back. Next morning they were found dead and scalped by Indians. They had cut out father's heart and badly mutilated his body. From the signs found there a desperate battle had taken place. Broken arrows were scattered about, the bark knocked off trees, and father's gun barrel was bent, showing that he had used it as a club against his foes after he had exhausted his supply of ammunition.

I am now eighty-four years old, and have lived in Texas all of my life. My husband, Hollen C. Mayes, came to Texas in 1850. He was in the Kanger service, and also served through the Civil War in the Confederate Army. He died August 5th, 1921, in his 86th year. We raised eight children, six boys and two girls.

A Long, Dry Drive

The following story appeared in a booklet issued a few years ago by Joseph A. Spaugh of Hope, Indiana, telling of his experiences in Texas. Mr. Spaugh lived with the family of Silas Hastings in Wharton county, and went up the trail with one of the Hastings herds, but in his narrative he does not give the year. It is as follows :

^^One evening Dan Smith said to me, *Get your traps together for in the morning we start for Llano county to round up a herd of cattle and go North.' If I were to tell you all that happened between the time we gathered those cattle on the Gulf of Mexico and the time we delivered them to the purchaser in Abilene, Kansas, it would be more than you could bear, scribe the outfit and relate our experience,

Joseph A. Spaugh

I will only de- The crew consisted of fourteen men and boys, eleven hands, the overseer, the scout and the cook, two yoke of oxen, thirty-five saddle horses and eighteen hundred stock cattle. The scout was a Mexican called Don. It was his duty to ride ahead of the cattle and look out for grass and water, kill game and furnish the outfit with meat. At night the cattle were rounded up and two men were put on guard. One man was riding one way and one the other, while the cattle were lulled to sleep by the cowboys with a low, weird strain, a song of peculiar charm, which quieted the cows when sung by the cattlemen.

we hit the alkali country in Central Texas, we were encamped near a small chain of lakes. Don had ridden farther in advance of us than usual that day. He knew that country, having been over it before and when he rode into camp that evening he reported to Smith that he found very little water in the Brazos country. He said that ten or twelve miles out the trail forked and the prong that the cattle had used this year bore to the West. The other one, the way the cattle had gone the year before, had not been used this year and it was his opinion we would have to follow the west prong for water. Smith said, ' That is the wrong direction, and if you keep turning this outfit from its course you will land us back where we started.' Smith talked loud and I watched for the blue smoke which could be seen on such occasions. It did not come but some of the older hands said that unless he took the advice of the Mexican it would materialize a little later. And it did. We moved the cattle up to the forks of the trail and camped again for the night. Don advised the following of those who went before but Smith said he wanted to take the cattle to Kansas and did not want to keep them in Texas. Dan Smith, to his sorrow, forgot the rule of life that to cope with those who cut across, we must sometimes go around.

* * The next morning before starting out every man filled his canteen with black coffee for we could not drink the alkali water as it made us sick. It had rained just a little in the night and Smith was encouraged and said he ^ would drive those cattle over the old road or drive them to hell.' So we were off. One day out and no water. Two days out and no water. It was burning hot on the plains and oh, that terrible alkali dust. I put my red cotton handkerchief up under my hat and let it hang down over my face to keep that awful dust out of my nose. Talk about nothing to drink and a dry country, that was surely the place. Three days out and no water. The third night it took all the force we had to hold the cattle. Kange cattle possess a peculiar instinct whereby they can smell water and tell in what direction it lays. All through the long night those cattle would throw up their heads and sniff the air. I tied my broad brimmed hat down over my ears to partly shut out the sound made by those poor cattle dying for water. They could no longer bellow but continued a pitiful moan or lowing. The scout had reported that evening that there was some water twenty miles ahead so we got up and made an early start next morning, expecting to push ahead but when the sun came up it seemed to shine down on us with renewed power. With the glaring sun above us and the burning sand beneath us and no water in sight we were in a terrible strait. Now and then we would pass a cow that had dropped out of the herd and lay prostrated in the trail. That morning the cattle had been w^alking in a ^mile string.' Sometimes those eighteen hundred would be stretched out for two miles. About nine o 'clock the cattle began to drop back and finally the leaders turned back. We made an effort to get the animals in bunches in order to check the backward turning movement, but it was of no avail. Seemingly the word to retreat had been passed along the line from the leaders and every cow in that herd turned back and went in the opposite direction. We had orders to stop the cattle and in an effort to obey we rode back and forth, whipping them over the head with our quirts. Dan Smith pulled his six-shooter and fired into the herd until it was empty. The fact was soon evident that we had lost control over the animals which would blindly walk right against us. It is well known to those familiar with cattle that cows dying for water go entirely blind. All our efforts to stop those foremost in the herd only gave those in the rear time to catch up and help form a solid, impenetrable line of surging, maddened animals which kept steadily advancing in defiance of every obstacle. Seeing that their efforts availed nothing, the men withdrew to one side and formed a little group, every member of which, except the Mexican, proved to be greatly excited. He sat on his horse perfectly calm and self-possessed saying not a word. Dan Smith in his rage, was the last one to ride into the crowd. When he rode up no one spoke and taking oif his hat he threw it on the ground and began to pour forth such a torrent of profanity as was never heard before. He cursed until he was exhausted, and then, talking in a whisper, stood up in his saddle stirrups and swore if he owned Texas and hell he would sell Texas and move to hell. I realized that the cattle had a leader but we had none. Smith said every one of the cattle would die, but Don spoke up and said, *No, you will have a loss in them but they won't all die.' Smith said to Don, *You got us into this trouble and now you must get us out. What shall we do!' According to the opinion of the Mexican there was only one thing to be done and this is what was done. Eiders were put out to throw in the stragglers and gradually work the cattle back to the lakes. Ten days later we took the west fork of that trail, being on a strict count thirty-five cattle and five horses short. After following the Texas steers on the cattle trail for five months we arrived at our journey's end and the cattle were turned over to those who had purchased them.

* ^ The Mexican killed Dan Smith at Abilene in a drunken brawl. Someone else was put in charge of the train. More mules and wagons were bought and the journey southward and was continued, but I had given them the slip and worked for a time in Kansas, then came to Indiana where I have since lived."

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 947 Chaplain J. Stewart Pearoe

Chaplain J. Stewart Pearce, First Infantry, Camp Travis, is always present at the conventions of the Old Time Trail Drivers' Association. He is the son of a cowman, and is himself a former cow-puncher, and is chaplain of the Association. On one occasion, during the annual memorial service. Chaplain. Pearce, with feeling said of the departed trail drivers :

'^ Their language may not always have been couched in terms accepted of the church. Their prayers may not have always been as dignified, or their hymns as pure in tone as they might have been, but within the breasts of the men who braved the hardships of those early days beat hearts as true as those which beat within the breasts of any of God's children. I was reared in San Antonio. I knew most of the men whose names have been read in the memorial resolution. Some of them many a time have spent the night in my father's home. And I know that the cowboy frequently was not all he should have been. Many of you have wondered why San Antonio's streets are so crooked, and that's the reason. The boys came in straight but they went out crooked. But whatever they may sometimes have seemed to be on the surface, down beneath all that they were true blue. Uncle Ab was my first boss. Uncle Ab used to let his mouth run wild sometimes, as we have all have done on occasions. But whatever Uncle Ab's language may have been, he had a heart that was pure and good and beautiful. I remember one time we came into a border town with a herd of cattle. And you know what happens when cowboys come into town after six or eight months on a ranch. But Uncle Ab came to me and said, ^If I were you, I wouldn't go across the river with the other boys tonight.' He knew I had just joined the church. ' '

Martin And Joe O'Connor

Martin and Joe O'Connor, of Victoria, Texas, are sons of the late D. M. O'Connor. They own and operate large tracts of land in Victoria, Refugio and Goliad counties on which they graze thousands of fine cattle, following in the footsteps of their illustrious grandfather, Thomas O'Connor, and are among the most worthy gentlemen of their section.

Father Received A Premium For Best Corn

My father came to San Antonio in 1854, and at the fair held there that year he received a silver cup as a premium for the best corn raised in Bexar county. The cup was made by Mr. Bell, the jeweler there. My maternal grandfather received a premium for the best yoke of oxen at the same fair. We afterward moved to Karnes county where we raised cattle and hauled freight from Powder Horn to San Antonio, Austin and other points in the state. I was on my way to Brownsville with cotton when the Civil War ended. John Western, my brother and I Avere driving my father's wagons. There were about twenty teams in our crowd, and we were turned back after four days out of San Antonio. I was very young then, being only about twelve years old. We continued to haul freight until 1869, when father took his family and started with a drove of horses to East Tennessee, arriving there about the first of September of that year. I came back to Texas in 1873, and have lived in or near San Antonio ever since.

Son Of A Trail Driver

I value my membership in the Old Trail Drivers^ Association very greatly, and it was very considerate of you to invite me in to the association by virtue of my newspaper work in behalf of it. And I was very glad to join as a regular member by reason of being the son of a trail driver. Also, as a boy and young man I often made short drives with herds over the country, usually in delivering a herd to some congregating point.

My father and his brother drove a small herd of East Texas steers to Vicksburg immediately following the Civil War, in late '65 or in ^66. The drive began from Cass county, and the steers were gathered in Cass and adjoining counties. My father was 22 at the time and his brother was 20, and each had served the full four years of the w^ar in the field. My father was Henry C. Williams, born at DeKalb, Bowie county, 79 years ago, dying in Milam county, 26 years ago. His brother was William W. Williams, two years younger, now living in Houston, Texas, at 136 Rosalie Street. My

Harry H. Williams

I remember hearing my father tell incidents of the trip to Vicksburg, one of which was that when the herd was swum across the Mississippi Eiver, there was one steer, unusually vigorous and ambitious, that swam circles around the herd while crossing. I don't know Jiow large a force the two brothers took along, but do know that they had a cook, wagon and camping outfit, for just a few years ago in Austin I met the man, who, as a young boy, himself just out of the Confederate army, went along in the capacity of cook.

Later, on returning home, my uncle was elected sheriff of Cass county, at 26 years of age. My father married in Mississippi, returned to Texas, and principally reared his family in Stephens and Eastland counties.

In my work as livestock representative of the San Antonio Express I have repeatedly tried to make known my great appreciation of the usefulness and value of the Old Trail Drivers' Association; still, I cannot forego the pleasure of again sa^dng that Mr. George W. Saunders' work, and the work of others whom you have enlisted in the cause, in preserving the history of the old cattle driving days, is one worthy of the highest commendation.

More About The Ohisholm Trail

I do not look at a trail as being an honor or a dishonor to anyone, but I see no reason why they should be named for people who did not make them.

On page 289 of the first volume of this book is given an article by Fred Sutton of Oklahoma City, in which appears this statement: **This trail was started in 1868 by John Chisholm (Chisum), who drove the first bunch

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 951

Now, the facts are, John Chisholm (Chisum) followed the Goodnight & Loving Trail up the Pecos in 1866, reaching Bosque Grande on the Pecos about December, wintering right below Bosque Grande, with 600 Jingle Bob steers. We wintered about eight miles apart. In the spring of 1867 he disposed of those steers to government contractors, and returned to his Colorado and Concho ranch and began moving his cattle west. In 1860 I formed a partnership with him on the following basis: He was to deliver to me all cattle he could handle at Bosque Grande on the Pecos Eiver, I allowing him one dollar per head profit over Texas prices for his risk. During this contract or agreement, he lost two herds by the Indians. I handled the rest of his drives from Bosque Grande west, disposing of them in Colorado and Wyoming. This continued for three years, and I divided profits equally with him. These profits enabled him to buy the 60,000 head he once held on the Pecos.

Chisholm (Chisum) never drove a herd north, and never claimed to have done so. He did drive two herds to Little Eock* at the end of the Civil War, less than a thousand steers in all.

John McCoy conceived the idea of the Texas cattle trades going to Abilene, and sent scouts down to meet the herds and drive them through the country after they had passed Eed Eiver, at the place known as Eed Eiver Crossing.

Chisholm (Chisum) moved the herds before spoken of en route to Little Eock by what was well known as the Colbert Crossing, following the old U. S. Eoad the entire distance. In conversation with me he said one Chisholm, in no way related to him, did pilot 600 steers from the Texas frontier to old Fort Cobb, and he presumed that this was the origin of the name of the trail, although no trail was opened.

Chisholm (Chisum) was a good trail man, and the best counter I have ever known. He was the only man I have ever seen who could count three grades accurately as they went by. I have seen him do this many times.

I estimate that he delivered to me 15,000 or 16,000 cattle in the three years mentioned. I drove the last of his cattle in 1875, being two herds of big steers, and I took them over what is known as the New Goodnight Trail, leaving the Pecos River above old Fort Sumner to Granada, Colorado. I think W. J. Wilson, known as '^One Armed Bill Wilson," mil remember Chisholm's reaching the Pecos in the winter of 1866. As I remember it, he had passed up to the Colorado in 1866 with Mr. Loving with the stock cattle of our first drive, and he and Mr. Loving met me at Bosque Grande on the Pecos, I think, in February, 1867.

As above stated I positively know no trail north was made by Chisholm (Chisum) but the first herd driven north out of northwest Texas was driven in 1858 by Oliver Loving, leaving Palo Pinto and Jack counties, thence north to Red River, crossing Red River in the neighborhood of Red River Crossing, and striking the Arkansas River near old Fort Zarah, then up the Arkansas to just above where Pueblo now stands. There he wintered the herd. In 1859 (spring) he moved them to the Platte River near Denver and peddled them out. He remained there until the Civil War broke out and had much difficulty in getting back home, but through the assistance of Maxwell, Kit Carson and Dick Wootan, he was given a passport and afterwards delivered beef to the Confederacy during the war, which completely broke him up. He joined me in 1866 on the Western trail, and followed this until his death. Part of these facts were given me by Mr. Loving himself.

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 953 Now A Member Of Congress

I was born in a little log cabin that stood on the banks of the Medina Eiver, one mile below the town of Medina, in Bandera county, forty-four years ago. I worked as a cowboy from the time I could sit in the saddle and whirl a lasso until this present hour, having just returned from my ranch on Devil's River, where I rounded up and delivered in person a herd of steers at the railroad station at Barnhart, some distance from my ranch.

My father was a frontier sheriff. He was away from home a great deal of the time running down outlaws and cattle thieves who infested that country in the days when the good right hand was the chief protection that was afforded the citizenship of that country, exercised by efficient peace officers of that day. I worked for some of the old-time pioneers of that section, namely John R. Blocker, Eugene McKenzie, and many others.

In my early life my principal job was a cook in a cow camp where cowboys will testify, some of them that survived, ''that I cooked things that nobody could eat.'' The boss, wishing to promote, and also to prevent indigestion among the men, elevated me to the position of horse wrangler. There was hardly an old-time trail driver that I have not met up with, and for whom I hold the highest esteem, love and friendship.

My education consists of three months in a log cabin out on the banks of the Medina, where I thoroughly mastered the contents of Webster's Blue-back speller and reader combined. This constitutes the curiMculum and the extent of my literary studies.

Mifflin Kenedy

Captain Mifflin Kenedy was born at Dowington, Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1818, and died at Corpus Christi, Texas, March 14, 1895, aged seventy-six years. Early in life he became a seaman and followed that line of work for many years. In 1842 he went to Alabama and during one season on the Alabama River served as clerk of the Champion, 8L boat running from Mobile to Montgomery. The Champion then proceeded to Apalachicola, Florida, and ran on the Apalachicola and Chattahoochie Eivers until 1846. While thus engaged in Florida he met Captain Richard King, then a river pilot and in after years his partner in steamboat operations on the Rio Grande, and ranching in Southwest Texas. In the early part of 1846 Captain Kenedy was placed in charge of the Champion and ordered to take her to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Upon his arrival at Pittsburg, he met Major Saunders, an engineer in the United States Army, and a friend of his, who was sent there by General Zachary Taylor to obtain boats for the use of the army on the Rio Grande. Major Saunders purchased the Corvette, Colonel Cross, Major Brown, Whitville and other boats for the service. Captain Kenedy was made commander of the Corvette and directed to proceed to New Orleans and report to Colonel Hunt of the Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A. The appointment was confirmed and Captain Kenedy enlisted for the war, as mas- ter, and was ordered to proceed with the Corvette to the mouth of the Rio Grande and report to E. A. Ogden, assistant quartermaster, U. S. A. One of the reasons for selecting him for this Work was his experience in conducting light boats over the Gulf. He reached the station at the mouth of the Rio Grande in June, 1846, and from that time until the close of the Mexican War transported troops and provisions to Matamoras, Reynosa, Camargo and other points on the river. After the victory of Buena Vista, and while moving on Vera Cruz, General Winfield Scott stopped at the mouth of the Rio Grande, desiring to consult with General Worth. Captain Kenedy's vessel, the Corvette, was selected to take General Scott and staff up the river.

Captain Richard King joined Captain Kenedy in May, 1847, and acted as pilot of the Corvette until the close of the war, in 1848. Both were thoroughly experienced seamen and rendered their country good service. At the end of the Mexican war. Captain Kenedy, Samuel Belden and Captain James Walworth bought a large number of mules and wagons and a stock of merchandise and started for San Juan, is the state of Jalisco, Mexico, but sold their outfit at Zacatecas and returned to Matamoras where they divided the proceeds of the trip and dissolved partnership. Captain Kenedy immediately purchased another stock of goods and, with his merchandise loaded on pack-mules started for the interior of Mexico. At Monterey he sold out and returned to Brownsville, reaching there in the spring of 1850.

Seeing the necessity of good boats on the Rio Grande, he then formed a partnership with Capt. Richard King, Captain James O'Donnel and Mr. Charles Stillman, under the name of M. Kenedy & Co. The firm's purpose was to build boats and run them on the Rio Grande and along the Gulf Coast to Brazos, Santiago. Captain Kenedy proceeded to Pittsburg, Pa., and built two boats, the

Comanche and Grampus. He bought Captain O'Donnel's interest in the business during the following two years, and in 1865 the new firm of King, Kenedy & Co. w^as formed, Charles Stillman having retired. The two firms, during their existence, built and purchased twenty-six boats for trade. In 1874 the firm was dissolved and divided assets. During this time Captain Kenedy served under Major Heitzleman, in the U. S. Army, during the Cortina raid and was Captain of Co. A., 1859.

Captain Eichard King established the Santa Gertrude ranch in Nueces county, Texas, in 1852, and Captain Kenedy bought half interest in it in 1860. They dissolved partnership in this undertaking in 1868, taking share and share alike of cattle, horses and sheep. Capt. King, by agreement reserved Santa Gertrudes ranch. Captain Kenedy buying from Charles Stillman the Laureles ranch consisting of twelve and a half leagues of land, 10,000 cattle, and many horses and sheep, and he moved thereto at once. After the Civil War so many thieves, marauders and outlaws remained on the frontier that Captain King saw that the only effectual way to protect their ' cattle interests was to fence. Captain Kenedy enclosed 132,000 acres of the Laureles, and Captain King enclosed his pastures. They were the first cattle raisers in the state to fence large bodies of land. Captain Kenedy remained on the Laureles ranch until he sold it in 1882 to 'Underwood, Clark & Co. of Kansas City, for $1,000,000 cash. At the time of the sale it contained 242,000 acres of land, all fenced, 50,000 head of cattle and 5,000 head of horses, mares and mules.

Colonel Uriah Lott projected the Corpus Christi, San Diego & Rio Grande narrow gauge railroad from Corpus Christi to Laredo in 1876, and with the assistance of Captains Kenedy and King built the road and sold it to the Mexican National Construction Company in 1881. Captain Kenedy also supplied the money with which

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 957

In 1882 Captain Kenedy established the Kenedy Pasture Co., the ranch lands lying in Cameron county, and being thirty miles in length by twenty in breadth.

April 16, 1852, Captain Kenedy was married to Mrs. Vela de Vidal of Mier, Mexico, the wedding occurring at Brownsville. Six children were born to this union, only one son surviving, Mr. John G. Kenedy, who is now president of the Kenedy Pasture Company.

Captain Kenedy was a believer in State rights and was a staunch Confederate. He and his friend, Captain King, assisted the Confederacy in many ways. They handled their own and Confederate cotton, and lost heavily when their cotton was denounced and seized by General Banks.

John G. Kenedy

John G. Kenedy was born in Brownsville, Texas, April 22, 1856, and was educated at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama. After leaving school in 1873, he accepted a position with Perkins, Swenson & Co., bankers and commission merchants at New Orleans, where he remained several years. In April, 1877 he started on the cattle trail from Laureles, his father's ranch, to Fort Dodge, Kansas, acompanying 18,000 head of cattle. He remained two months at Fort Dodge, drove a herd of 2,000 cattle from there to Ogallala, Nebraska, and then returned to his father's ranch. Six months later he went into the sheep business, which he sold to Lott & Nelson in 1882. After the sale of the Laureles ranch in 1882 Mr. Kenedy became secretary of the Keiunly Pasture Company, which owns 600 square miles of pasture lands, all under fence.

In 1884 he became general manager of this company and took entire charge of La Parra ranch, located six miles from Sarita, Texas. This ranch has 160 miles of fencing, a water front on Buffalo Bayou and Laguna Madre of sixty miles, seventy live artesian wells, and is stocked with about 25,000 head of cattle. Mr. John G. Kenedy married Miss Marie Turcotte of New Orleans January 30, 1884, and has two children living, John G. Kenedy, Jr.,

Felix M. Shaw

Felix M. Shaw was born in Travis county, Texas, in October, 1860. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Shaw, who lived ^'by the side of the road,'' near Austin, and were truly friends to trail drivers. The subject of this sketch had just entered manhood when trail driving was at its best and there was no more beautiful sight to him than to see Del Valle Flat covered with herds. The fascination was more than he could resist, and although his father needed and depended upon him to help at home, he just had to go up the trail, and three seasons found him with John Blocker's outfits en route to Montana. Felix M. Shaw was married in October, 1896, to Miss Ella Matthews of Austin, who, after a short and happy married life, was called to her reward. In 1895 he married Miss Florence Terry of Eagle Pass. To their union were born three daughters and one son, all now living in San Antonio. Mr. Shaw died and was buried at San Antonio July 17, 1908.

A Log Of The Trails

The question of the log of the Chisholm and other trails leading to the Northern markets has more versions than any question connected with the early trail days because no one, it seems, gives this phase of the game more than a passing thought. Most everyone has heard of the Chisholm Trail, the Goodnight Trail and the Loving Trail but as a matter of fact most of the trail drivers did not care anything about the name of the trail they were traveling, as they were generally too busy to think or care about its name. In conversation I have heard men say : ^'I took the Chisholm Trail at Goliad, Lockhart, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and many other Texas points. '' Some of the Sketches in Volume One of the ' ' Trail Drivers of Texas" speak of the Chisholm Trail starting at San Antonio, Texas; some at other places. The writers of these sketches were honest. They had probably heard this and had not taken the trouble to investigate the real routing and commencing* point, until after the organization of The Old Trail Drivers' Association in 1915. At that time our Secretary was instructed to write to old trail drivers all over the country for information on this subject. We received many letters, each one giving his version, which differed somewjhat. W. P. Anderson, who was railroad agent at Abilene, Kansas, in the late sixties, and had to do with the first shipments of cattle out of that place, gives us a satisfactory description of the Chisholm Trail, laid out by Jesse Chisholm, a half-breed Cherokee Indian, from Red River Station to different points in Kansas. Quoting from Mr. Anderson's letter to the Secretary, which is recorded in the minutes of the first reunion and to be found on page 13 of the first volume of ^'The Trail-Drivers of Texas'':

'*In reference to Mr. Goodnight 's allusion to my 'blazing' the trail for the Joe McCoy herd, my recollection of the first herd that came to Abilene, Kansas, was that of J. J. Meyers, one of the trail drivers of that herd now living at Panhandle, Texas. A Mr. Gibbs, I think, will ascertain further on the subject. The first cattle shipped out of Abilene, that I recollect, was by C. C. Slaughter of Dallas, and while loaded at Abilene, Kansas, the billing was made from Memorandum slips at Junction City, Kansas. The original chapters of Joe Mc- Coy's book were published in a paper called *The Cattle Trail,' edited by H. M. Dixon, whose address is now the Auditorium Building, Chicago. It was my connection with this publication that has probably led Mr. Goodnight into the belief that I helped blaze the trail with McCoy's cattle herd. This was the first paper that I know of that published maps of the trails from different cattle shipping points in Kansas to the intersection of the original Chisholm Trail, one from Coffeyville, Kansas, the first, however, from Baxter Springs, then from Abilene, Newton, then Wichita and Great Bend, Dodge

One of the greatest developing projects ever known in the United States was done by this industry in taking the wilderness from the Indians and wild animals, stocking, peopling and developing sixteen states and territories in 28 years, namely; Western Indian Territory,

Ceossing At Eed Eiver Station

Western Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah and Northwest Texas. We all know that this entire domain was a wilderness in 1867 and only a few trappers and miners had penetrated them. However, the Government's Immigrant California Trail crossed this wilderness, as did a few prospecting expeditions, but up to this date habitation was confined to a few trading posts and forts. Compare this condition with the condition in 1890. All of the Indians were on reservations, the millions of buffalo were replaced by herds of fine cattle, horses, sheep and hogs; the iron horse rumbled through these lands, bringing happy, prosperous people, who built towns, schools, churclies and tilled the rich soil that was waiting for them. The government and other interests did their part and did it well, but to the old trail drivers belongs the glory and honor for having blazed the way that made this great development possible. They did more towards development in twenty-eight years than was ever previously done in one hundred years by our ancestors. The trail to the North from Texas was started in 1867 and closed in 1895, but most of this great development was done in twenty years, from 1870 to 1890. It is conservatively estimated by old trail drivers that there were 98,000,000 cattle and 10,000,000 horse stock driven over the Northern Trails during the 28 years of trail days and that there were 35,000 men employed to handle these herds. Many of them are dead. Those surviving are identified in all lines of business, from high finance to day laborers. The majority of them belong to Texas. One thousand and two hundred of them belong to the Old Trail Drivers' Association which holds its annual re-unions in San Antonio in October of each year, when they live over the bygone days.

From Red River to Abilene, Kansas, as I remember, the streams in 1871 were : Big and Little Washita, Turkey Creek, South and Northern Canadian, Cimarron, Bluff Creek on the line of Kansas. Here we found the first civilized settlement of English-speaking people. The next streams were Pond Creek, Salt Fork of the Arkansas, North Fork of. the Arkansas, at Wichita, Kansas. The next town, Newton, Kansas, was a railroad camp as we went north and a big town when we came back through two months later, that being the terminus of the railroad at that time. Next stream was Smoky River, on which was located Abilene, Kansas, the great Texas cattle market at that time. My experiences at Abilene, and full details of this trip from Texas and return over the trail in 1871, and my trail experiences up to 1886 are fully

The Trail Drivers Op Texas 963

Some herds left the main trail in Wilson county, passed through Bexar county via San Antonio, to get supplies, then through Comal county, intersecting the main trail in Hays or CaldWell counties. All of these trails zigzagged and touched lots of adjoining counties not mentioned in my log.

The thousands of herds that were bought at Abilene, Wichita, Dodge City, Ogallala and other markets were driven to ranches all over the northwest, some as far as the Canadian line.

Here is a correct log of the cattle trails from Texas to Kansas and the Northwestern States and territory beginning at the Eio Grande in Cameron county and giving the names of all the counties in Texas these trails passed through: Starting at the Kio Grande, the trail passed through Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo, Brooks, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Jim Wells, San Patricio, Live Oak, Bee, Goliad, Karnes, Wilson, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, Williamson, Bell, Falls, Bosque, Mc- Lennan, Hill, Johnson, Tarrant, Denton, Wise, Cook, Montague, to Red River Station, or crossing where the Texas trail intersected the Chisholm trail. In the late 70 's it became necessary to move the trail further west, as the old trail was being taken up by farmers. The trail was changed to go through Wilson, Bexar, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Menard, Concho, McCulloch, Coleman, Callahan, Shackleford, Throckmorton, Baylor and Wilbarger to Doan's Store or Crossing on Red River. Later on the Southern herds quit the old trail in San Patricio county and went through Live Oak, McMullen, La Salle, Dimmit, Zavala, Uvalde, Edwards, and intersecting the Western trail in Kimble county, from where all followed the well defined and much traveled Western trail to Doan's Crossing on Red River. As I remember the trail to

Dodge City from Doan's Crossing it passed up North Fork Eed Eiver, Croton Creek, crossed North Fork Ked Eiver at Wichita Mountains, np North Fork to Indian Camp, Elm Creek, Cash Creek, Washita, Canadian, Sand Creek, Wolf Creek, Otter Creek, Beaver Creek, Wild Horse and Cimarron where Red Clark conducted a road house called ''Long Horn Roundup,'' on up Bear Creek, Bluff Creek, at Mailey's road house. Mulberry Creek and Dodge City. Now, my gentle readers, you have the log of old Northern cattle trails, through Texas, and by looking at a map of Texas you can locate any part of the trail by the counties touched, but remember several of the Texas counties were not organized at that time and none in the Indian Territory. You will recall it has been fiftyfive years since the trail started and twenty-four since it closed. I personally drove over all these trails described and there are hundreds of men yet living that will vouch for the correctness of this log.

John Chisum of Denton county, drove lots of cattle to the head of the Concho in the late sixties, and on to the Pecos later. Oliver Loving, Chas. Goodnight, John Gamel, and others drove some herds from the head of the Concho to Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos in the sixties, on up the Pecos to Fort Sumner and on to Pueblo, Colorado. There was a trail called the Goodnight Trail that went from the Pecos by way of Tascosa to Dodge City and other Kansas markets, but I have been unable to get a true log of that trail.

For the information of readers who are not familiar with geographical Texas and its cattle industry, I will state that herds starting from ranches in all parts of the state would intersect the nearest of these Northern trails, coming in from both sides and I doubt if there is a county in the state that did not have a herd traverse some part - of it during trail days.

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 965

Drivers of Texas'' report trouble with the Indians on the trail and others report no trouble. For your information I will say the Indians were not always in the same mood, as sometimes they would leave the reservations on hunting expeditions and change their plans to murder and stealing from the trailers, emigrants and settlers. They were always ready to steal but they were not fond of the Texas cowboy's mode of dealing with them and were very friendly when there were several herds near each other on the trail, but a lone herd was most always imposed on. Few herds passed through the Indian Territory in early days without some trouble with the Indians. I have gone several trips w'ithout any trouble more than having them beg for a few animals and some provisions ; at other times I have had them steal horses, stampede the herd and molest us in every possible way, but the best remedy for them was to stand pat and they usually came to our terms.

The publication of this, the second volume of **The Trail Drivers of Texas" will complete a work I started many years ago, beginning with the agitation of, and the final organization of the Old Trail Drivers' Association. Collecting data for the two volumes was a task that would have tested the patience of Job. I was like Davy Crockett - I knew I was right - and I went ahead. The work was tedious and slow, but I enjoyed it because I knew the organization should exist, and the books would be very interesting and would give facts that the rising generation should know. The general matter of which these two volumes is made up depict a life of which the present generation knows very little. They deal with actual happenings that occurred in the days of trail driving, and these facts are much stranger than fiction. I started a campaign to raise $30,000 to build a monument in Brackenridge Park at San Antonio, on the old trail, to perpetuate the memory of those noble old trail drivers.

The cowboys, or cow-punchers, sometimes called ^^waddies," were men who did all kinds of ranch and trail work with cattle. Whether he was a ranchman, ow^ner of trail herds, son of a cattle king, or just a hand, his occupation gave him that name. Right here I want to defend the cowboys, or cow-punchers, against the socalled **Wild Wesf fiction stories that purport to link them with elements of bad men. There was a very small per cent of them went wrong, as the temptations and influences they met at the northern markets after a long, lonesome, tiresome journey, could not be resisted and entrapped some of them, but no larger per cent than would have fallen from the same number of college students. It is not fair to besmear the name of the cowboy with the deeds of every outlaw in the country. I know the majority of these cowboys made the best citizens of Texas. It is true they were light-hearted and care-free, but they never forsook a friend, or failed to respond to the call of distress. Woman's virtue was their highest ideal, and their respect for womankind was unbounded. These cowboys stood the acid test, and I do not think a nobler set of men ever lived.

In this volume there are about 200 pictures of representative trail men. I claim that 100 of them and their connections handled fully 75 per cent of all the cattle and horses that were driven out of Texas to the Northern markets during the trail days. I am proud to say I was personally acquainted with 90 per cent of these noblemen. They are passing away fast, and I fear there will never be another set of men with such traits of character, home-loving, straight-forward, and God-loving, as the old trail drivers were. They have all stood the acid test, and their memory will stand as a lasting monument to their many deeds and great achievements. And here again I want to take occasion to pay tribute to the pioneer women of onr state, without whose aid and help the early cowmen could not have endured the hardships incident to frontier life. The most appropriate and fitting tribute to these noble women is given in J. M. Hunter's book, ** Pioneer History of Bandera County," which chapter is here given in full :

*^It is pleasant and right to recount the noble deeds of our fathers, but far more pleasant to say something in praise of our gentle sisters, the heroines of the pioneer; she who rocked the cradle bed of childhood; our first, last and faithfulest friend. We would feel remiss in a chivalric duty did we fail to note her share in the great work of discovery and improvement, and it is only proper that we should record some encouraging word to her aspirations and advocate her claims to a just and proper place in the history of our great state. The trophies of the years that pass are a few immortalities gleaned from its sepulchre. Epochs, events, characters, that survive; oblivion is the common goal of the race. Whatever has contributed to human weal has been remembered, memorialized by cenotaph and mausoleum and remains with us on History's page. Their deeds shine on the pages of history, like stars blazing in the night, and their achievements have long been celebrated in song and story. Romulus and Remus founded an empire and their names are immortal. Columbus discovered a new world and he stands unique in the sublime faith and courage which impelled him over an unknown sea. Honor has been rather partial in bestowing her gifts and fame has placed her laurels chiefly on masculine brows, forgetting the countless heroines who were worthy of recognition. It is with great pride that we call attention to the fact that the pioneer women of Texas have proved themselves competent to fill positions other than presiding at the festal board, or beating out the rhythm of their blood with sandaled feet on polished floors, or strewing flowers in the path of the conqueror as he returns from the bloody carnage; for many noble names have swollen the list of those who have proved to the world that women can be true and great even in arduous duties incident to pioneer life. Bravely has she gone to the unprotected frontier, with no shelter but the crude cabin, the dugout or open camp, where winds whistled, wlolves howled, where Indians yelled, and yet within that rude domicile, burning like a lamp, was the pure and stainless Christian faith, love, patience, fortitude and heroism. And as the Star of the East rested over the manger where Christ lay, so, speaking not irreverently, there rested over the roofs of the pioneer a star of the West, the star of Empire, and today that empire is the proudest in the world. The pioneer woman, though creature of toil and loneliness and privation, she endured it with a constancy as changeless as the solitude and danger about her. She has borne her part in all the vicissitudes incident to the outposts of the borderland and her hands have assisted in kindling fires on the confines of civilization to guide the wheels of empire outward, onward. Of necessity, the pioneer woman sacrificed more than the pioneer man, the finer texture of her being was less adapted to the rugged environments of pioneer life. However, as the tides of ocean are forever faithful to the mysterious attractions of the moon, so woman has followed man across seas, over mountains and into deserts to witness his adventures and share his achievements. Those who lay the foundation of empire and extended the outposts of civilization are worthy of all honor, and especially is this true of the frontier women. If Texas today boasts of statesman or warrior, of patriots and freemen, of a civilization andsocial fabric into which is inwrought the elements of permanency and progress, she owes it largely to her pioneer women who founded tlie first homes, worshiped in the first hnmble chapels erected to God on these western hills and boundless prairies now crowded with temples and churches and schools and institutions of learning, whi.^e the multitudinous tramp of a million feet are still heard in the distance coming this way to enjoy what these pioneer mothers purchased by their sacrifice and privation. It was not given to many of these leaders to enter into the fruits of their labors. This splendid civilization we enjoy today, the social vines that shelter us, the civic boughs whose clusters feed us, all spring from seed sown, and the harvest of tears reaped by our pioneers, our old settlers. These pioneer women were familiar with much that has passed with the years, so rapidly have conditions changed. Be it said to their honor that in humble homes and with few advantages she did her part well ; there was something in the lullaby that she sang to her children at twilight, in the sublime simplicity of her teachings that fostered a sturdy manhood and patriotism which was inwrought into the stalwart republic, the precursor of the Lone Star State. She has been scalped and tortured by the savage, and her blood has reddened these plains and valleys as an oblation on the altar of empire. Her life and the tragic scenes through which she passed are each a romance whose daring and adventure and sacrifice are the chief actors on its eventful pages. All that is noblest in man is born of woman's constancy and deathless devotion to him. Knighthood found its inspiration in the pathos of her love and the charm of her smiles. Woman loves man, is jealous of his freedom, his liberty, his honor, and for him she sacrifices all. Heart and soul are the smallest things she immolates on any altar. The pioneer women of Texas robed themselves out in drudgery and toil that their beauty might reappear in the structure their devoted hands built to liberty and progress. They buried themselves in these western solitudes.

that from these living sepulchres might come the great pulse-beat of a mighty nation, buoyant, chivalric, progressive civilization. They gave up the comforts and pleasures of society, severed the tenderest ties of the human heart, home and kindred, the old altars where they prayed, the graves of their loved and lost, these the dearest things to a woman's heart, that we today might enjoy in their fullest fruition what they lost. We may w?ell be proud of the temper of these Texas heroines ; their dear old hearts beat the prelude to the grand march of the empire. Their feet beat out the trail over the trackless prairie and across rugged mountains which has since widened into the great thoroughfares of commerce and travel; their tender hands planted the first flowers on the graves of those whose bones first reposed under Texas soil. God bless you, our dear pioneer women. We lieasure you as trophies fresh from the field of victory; niay your declining years be rewarded with the gratitude and appreciation of all who enjoy the blessings, and privileges of this great country; may your last days be as the calm eventide that comes at the end of a quiet summer day when the sun is dying out in the west. We believe and admit it today that woman is heaven's 4deal of all that is pure and ennobling and lovely here, her love is the light of the cabin home.' It is the one thing in the world that is constant, the one peak that rises above the cloud, the one window in which the light burns forever, the one star that darkness cannot quench - is woman's love. It rises to the greatest height, it sinks to the lowest depths, it forgives the most cruel injuries. It is perennial of life, and grows in every climate, neither coldness nor neglect, harshness nor cruelty can extinguish it. It is the perfume of the heart; it is this that has wrought all miracles of art, that gives us music all the way from the cradle song to the last grand symphony that bears the soul away on wings of joy. In the Ian- guage of Petronius to Lygia, ^May the wliite winged doves of peace build their nests in the rafters of your homes,' may the gleams of happiness and prosperity shine on the pathway of your remaining days, and may the smile of an approving God be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway, guiding you safely across the frontier of time to a safe place beneath the shade of the trees on the other side.''

Thomas H. Shaw

T. H. Shaw was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Shaw, and was born in Travis county, Texas, September 27, 1856. He was a natural cowman, and from the time he was a mere boy he loved the work, the camp fire, the chuck wagon, and all the paraphernalia of the cowboy. For several seasons he went as far as the road was cut, from Texas coasts to Wyoming and Montana. He encountered Indians, had thrilling experiences, and had many narrow escapes. At different times he was interested with John E. Blocker. In 1886 he was married to Miss Nannie Blocker and to them were born two sons, Tom H. Shaw, Jr., and Blocker Shaw of Fort Worth. Mr. Shaw spent several years ranching and farming in Eunnels county, where he made many lasting friends. In 1907 he moved his family to Fort Worth and entered the live stock commission business, in which he was engaged at the time of his death, November 17, 1912.

The picture on the following page shows George W. Saunders' Stock Yards in San Antonio in 1888, at the time when John Eutledge penned his 3,500 cattle there to allow his cow-hands to stop over and see the sights of the city. The cattle and horses in the pens can be plainly seen in the picture, with the chuck wagon at rear of a shed. Captain Will Wright, now with the Texas State Eangers, Was with the Rutledge herd at the time, and while meandering around town got lost and could not find his way back to camp without assistance from the police.

A Peize Winner

Ft. Worth Stock Yards in March, 1903, at 15c per pound. The animal was raised by D. S. Donald of Crum, Texas. Mr. Saunders bought him at auction, then raffled him off, and won him back. Three weeks later ^^ Joe Bailey" was slaughtered at San Antonio, and after giving some of the beef to prominent state officials, Mr. Saunders sold the remainder for $300.

Mr. E. B. Flowers, of San Antonio, Texas, was born at Burkesville, Ky., November 27th, 1862. He moved to Caldwell county, Texas, with his parents in 1880. Yonng

Flowers found something here which jnst suited his nature, the cattle business, and went to work on ranches for different stockmen. He went up the trail for Bishop & Head in 1882 and since that time he has been continu- ously identified in cattle interests. At present he owns large ranches in Zavala connty, well stocked with fine cattle. Mr. Flowers is known as ^^ Smiling Elisha.'' All who know him are his friends for his word is his bond. He owns considerable property in San Antonio and is a very busy man superintending his ranch and city properties, but never too busy to give his attention and money to all worthy charities. He is classed as one of Texas' most worthy citizens.

Experiences Of A Ranger And Scout

I was born April 23, 1854, in Dewitt county, Texas, my father, ranching at the time, having moved to Texas in 1852 from Mississippi. J. E. Gildea was a soldier under General Scott in Mexico, 1846-47, having enlisted in New Orleans, returning there in 1848 after the Mexican War and married Mrs. Mary Adelaide Cashell, a widow with one young son, Augustus Lorraine Cashell who is Living at this time, January, 1922, in Pope county, Ark. J. E. Gildea and his step-son, Cashell, were both in the Confederate Army and came out lieutenants, and after Gen. Lee's surrender both went to Mexico, my father from the lower Eio Grande where the Confederates under Brig. Gen. J. E. Slaughter had repulsed the Yankees in what is known as the battle of Casa Blanca and which was fought some time subsequent to General Lee's surrender and my half brother Cashell, went as interpreter with Gen. Joe Shelby's men. My father was with the French and Austrian army of invasion and Lieut. Cashell with the Mexican Eopublican army until the Confederates in this last fight of the Civil War were pardoned stock of horses and cattle at the ranch on the Nueces river fifteen miles below Oakville, in Live Oak county, and here is where I began my cowboy work at twelve years of age. From then, 1866 until 1906, I was more or less in the saddle on the frontiers of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and in Old Mexico. In 1868 I was sent to Louisville, Ky., to school and to study medicine and after a year's time I got lonesome and wanted to hear the wolves howl and the owls hoot back in the West, so I took ^* French leave'' out of school and went up the Ohio River to Cincinnati and from there out in the country and down into Indiana and back to Kentucky, then into Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana until I again reached New Orleans, where I stayed several months. Coming back to Texas in the fall of 1870 I was again sent to school to St. Mary's College in San Antonio and attended this school until 1872, when I went on to the frontier south and west of San Antonio, selling Grover & Baker sewing machines. The first school I attended was the old ^'free school" on what is now Houston Street in San Antonio, taught by good old man Newton and Mr. Lacky in 1859 and 1860. The latter hiked. North at the opening of hostilities between the North and South, and his place was filled by Mrs. Pryor. At that time Houston Street was only a road through niesquite and huisache brush. In 1864-65 I attended the St. Mary's College and here I was taught those Christian principles that ever remained with me and encouraged me to -overcome many temptations in after life. In 1870-71 I again attended this college after my return from my ^^spin'' over the range in the Southern and Eastern States as mentioned, and on this ^^spin'' I rode with the Klu Klux Klan in Tennessee when there was no other law to protect Southern homes against the ravages of freed Negroes urged on by the carpet-baggers and protected in their nefarious practices by Federal bayonets. In 1866-67-68, when not attending school I was working cattle for my father in Live Oak county branding, gathering and driving to Bexar county, where we were then living on the Olmos Creek, five miles north of San Antonio. In 1876 I left Dimmit county, where I owned a small bunch of cattle, which I sold, and started to Arizona, stopping awhile in Menard county where I had a sweetheart and here I joined Thomas W. Swilling to go with him to Arizona. We left Menardville early in September, 1876, and pulled out via Ft. Concho, fifty miles north, where we laid in a supply of grub, enough to last us until we reached Eoswell, New Mexico, and again ^^hit the grit" for Arizona, every mile of it over an uninhabited country, infested with hostile Indians. At Centralia, which was a stage station on the high plains guarded by negro troops, we left the stage road and followed the old Butterfield route to Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos; thence up east of Pecos to New Mexico. The Indians were raiding the country when we left and we saw their trails and camped on them quite often from Fort Concho until we got to Seven Rivers in New Mexico. About twenty-five miles west of Ft. Concho we met a company of cavalry escorting the telegraph operator at Ft. Concho, a Mr. Milburn, who had been out repairing the line between

Ft. Conclio and the Pecos River on the stage road, about three miles of which had been cut and destroyed. Mr. Milburn, whom I knew when ox)erator at Ft. Duncan, advised us to return with them to the fort, stating that the country was *' lousy'' with Indians, and we would not be able to get through. At Centralia the negro sergeant in command of the guard advised us to go back. At the rifle-pits we nooned where the Indians had camped the night before; at Castle Gap the Indian trail split, the largest party keeping the trail westward and the smaller party going northwest. The large trail was mostly horses and was about forty in number, no doubt going to the Mescalero Agency at Tularosa, New Mexico, crossing at Horsehead and thence northwest through the Guadalupe Mountains with a bunch of stolen horses. Another trail came in from the north and crossed our trail near Castle Gap, going southeast toward Camp Lancaster, at the mouth of Live Oak Creek. There were about ten on foot and three horses and they crossed the trail we were on about five hours before we came along. We traveled until about midnight, hoping to strike the Pecos at Horsehead, water and get away in the dark hours as it was a bad place for Indians, but being sleepy and tired, we left the trail and went about two hundred yards south and lay down to sleep, staking our horses on fine grass. About five o'clock a. m. we saddled up and pulled out before day and reached Horsehead about nine o'clock, not many hours behind two bands of Indians. About three o'clock the next afternoon we a saw dust ahead of us and not knowing but what it was Indians I sent Swilling with the pack horse into the cane brakes of the Pecos while I maneuvered up the river to see who was coming and found out that it was two white men, a Mr. Pearce, and Nath Underwood, driving a small bunch of cattle from New Mexico to Ft. Stockton, Texas. They let us have a little corn meal and some * 'jerky" from their meager supplies and we went on about ^ve miles to Pope's crossing on the Pecos, where we watered our horses and filled our canteens, then crossed our trail and went behind a butte about one-half mile from our trail and camped. Pearce and Underwood went about two miles farther on their road and camped, making the distance between our camps about seven miles. They hobbled two saddle horses and one- pack-horse and staked the other pack horse, which was a beautiful black and white paint. The Indians had no doubt spotted them before we had met them and had gone under the banks of the Pecos and hid until they went into camp and some time during the night went after their horses, knowing that they had four and only finding the one staked and seeing the trail of our three horses naturally supposed that it was the other three belonging to the cattlemen going on the back track, which they followed and ran into us just at daybreak. It was misting rain when we got up to make a fire next morning and we had rolled our shootingirons in our bed to keep them dry and we did not see the Indians until they were very close to us, nor could they see us until they reached the top of the butte. We saw each other about the same time and they fired only one shot with a carbine and ran back towards the Pecos. When I got my gun they were one hundred and fifty yards away and I fired four shots, wounding one horse and killed one Indian and wounding one. They changed their course, going south down the river a half a mile, then turned east and went up on another butte about three-quarters of a mile from us and buried the dead Indian, then went north parallel to the river and crossed it^ext day where they were seen by a cowman. We then made coffee and packed up and were about to leave when Nath Underwood rode into camp on their trail. I told him about seeing them with his paint horse. Two Indians were riding him. There were seven Indians and four horses, three horses carrying double. (Nath Underwood now lives in San Antonio and I had the pleasure of moot- ing him at the Old Trail Drivers^ Convention in November, 1921.) Next day we got to Pearce and Paxton's camp and got enough ^' chuck" to last us to Seven Eivers. After resting our horses a few days, Mr. Paxton wanted me to locate land at Rattlesnake Springs, near the Guadalupe Mountains and he and I went to see it, leaving Tom Swilling in camp with the others whose names I do not remember. We pulled out early in the morning, crossed the Pecos, then on up Delaware Creek, on which we nooned, then went on to Rattlesnake Springs, only to find it in possession of other parties, three Jones brothers, with whom we spent the night, and started back next morning. At noon we camped in the deep bed of the creek and while there we heard a racket and in peeping over the bank we saw ten Indians driving about twenty-five horses about fifty yards distant right on the trail. The loose herds ahead had obliterated our trail, but they were liable to see it any time and return to investigate. When he got back to Paxton ^s camp that night we found all well, but next day one of the Jones boys came to camp and reported that the Indians had passed their ranch just at night and next day they were afraid we had been killed and came to investigate. Tom Swilling and I continued our journey to Seven Rivers (Beckwith's ranch) where we met John Slaughter's outfit returning from a cattle drive up in New Mexico. When we arrived at South Spring, the headquarters ranch of John S. Chisum, we camped on the ground where the Slaughter outfit had camped a few days before and saw where a Texas cowboy had been shot from his horse by one of Slaughter's men as he rode into their camp, his congealed blood lying in a pool on the ground where he fell and died. His name was Barney Gallagher, and I knew him at Carrizo Springs in Dimmit county. He was generally known as *^ Buckshot," a typical cowboy character of those frontier days.

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 981

arrived and we went to work gathering a mixed herd for Nebraska and one of wild old ** moss-horns" for the Indian reservation at San Carlos, Arizona, John Chisum having the contract to furnish the Government beef for over seven thousand Indians on this and its sub-agencies. While working the range, which included all the country from Anton Chico on the north to Seven Eivers on the south and the White Mountains on the west to the Canadian on the east, which John Chisum claimed as his range and over which grazed approximately 100,000 head of John Chisum 's ^^rail" brand and *^ Jingle-bob'' ear marked cattle, we had some tough work and adventures. Two men were tried by ** Judge Lynch" and executed; one at Bosque Grande ranch, for murder and hung, and one near Narvo's Ben Crossing while bringing a herd down the river to Headquarters ranch, for murder and shot. Both of these were for cold-blooded murder which was witnessed by other cowboys who immediately arrested, tried, convicted and executed the murderers, and went on with their work as if nothing of so grim a nature had just happened. The law of the range was * * forget it ' ' for discussions were likely to lead to trouble. In those days, cowboy law was enforced and every cowboy knew it, and I never knew of the subject again brought up around the campfire. After the Nebraska herd had been gathered, cut and road-branded it took the trail via Trinidad, Colorado, with Si Funk in charge, and in about a week we were ready to hit the trail for Arizona with 4,000 head of wild ''moss-horn" steers and 150 head of horses, including the wagon, teams and some private stock belonging to the boys.

It was now November and the weather was getting very cold. We had, as near as I can recall, twenty regular men in the outfit, the ''big boss," "Big Jim," the negro cook and the secretary; our night reliefs of four men three hours each and one man on relief three hours with the remuda. The men had running guard relief and sometimes were justified in reducing the force on relief and at other times reinforcing it according to the foreseen danger of Indians, trail robbers, or weather stampedes.

We camped one bitter cold, sleety night on the summit of the White Mountains and were to pass through the Mescalero Indian reservation next morning. We had grazed our herd that day in the mountains where the grass was good and protected from the snow that had fallen heavy the day before and the previous night, and we thought that they would bed easily, but they were restless and wanted to drift, which necessitated putting on double guard and bunching the remuda under close guard, for we believed the Indians would try to stampede both cattle and horses as they were mad at Chisum's men, who had killed some of them the previous year on the reservation. Every man not on duty that night had his horse saddled and tied up, as Chisum told us on the trail that ever since the Indians had been located on the Tularosa, through which his cattle trail led, that as toll, they would cut twenty head of the best beeves each trip, and they do the cutting themselves and they would not take ^ ^ drags. ' ' Every man in the outfit except ^ ' Old John ' ' and old man Northrup, his private secretary, had a powwow and made *^big medicine'' and did not intend to let *^big Injun" have any beef on this trip. There were with us 21 well armed men, with the cook, and over one thousand fighting Apache ** bucks" ^ve miles ahead of us, whom we had to encounter manana, unless we submitted to their insolence. We knew Chisum 's men just a year before had ridden into the reservation after stolen stock and on getting no satisfaction from Godfrey, the agent, they attempted to drive the stock away and were attacked by the Indians and some of the Indians were killed and all driven into Ft. Stanton ; that now they were not on Government reservation, having left it after the cowboy raid above mentioned and took refuge along the brakes of the Tularosa and Lost Elvers on the west side of the White mountain, therefore had no right to demand toll and we believed they would not attack us if we refused their demand for beef, we resolved to refuse and fight if it became necessary. At 3 a. m. the cook was roused and told to ^ * rustle chuck. ' ' We were not long in getting on the outside of some hot coffee, **pone'' and ** sowbelly" and at daylight every man was in his saddle at the herd. The remuda was now thrown in the herd and we were looking for **01d John" to come and start the cattle, when old ** Solomon," the Mescalero chief, and twenty painted warriors, well mounted and armed, came towards us. Frank Baker (afterwards killed by Billy the Kid) and I rode out and met him and he not seeing Chisum whom he knew, ignored us and attempted to pass. I signaled him to halt and with a scowl on his face he said ** Captain Cheese-om? Queremos baka-shee," (all the Apaches called beef or meat baka-she, pronounced bah-cah-she. The northern Indians called it wo-ha). I replied **yo soy captain; ninguna bakashee por usted. (I am captain; no beef for you.) " My back being turned to the wagon, I did not see Chisum leave camp, but one of the boys rode up and informed me and I signaled the chief to remain where he was. I rode back to meet Mr. Chisum. He was very angry and wanted to go to the chief and I asked him not to interfere and to go back. I called Bill Henry who was near by and told him to tell the boys if they saw Mr. Chisum and me ride back to the chief to surround the Indians and if I fired a shot not to let an Indian escape nor an Indian horse get back to the agency; that if Mr. Chisum interfered I would shoot the chief. Henry went off in a gallop and **01d John" being thoroughly convinced by this time, turned his horse and started back to the wagon, which had gone up close to the herd. I returned to the chief who sat on his horse with a sullen look on his face and I pointing in the direction of the reservation said.

**vallese bakashee nada." He grunted and offered me his hand which I refused to take, knowing that if I did so every one of his warriors would offer their hands and he and every buck would want to shake hands with every man of us and thus get to the big boss, which I did not want to occur. He wheeled his paint mustang and took the back trail at a fast gait and every buck formed in single file and followed him. We had no more trouble with them and when we got the lead cattle to within a mile of the reservation Frank Baker and I were sent ahead to see that the Indians were kept back so as not to stampede the herd. Godfroy, the agent, had a confab with Solomon, the chief, through the interpreter, who gave orders and our way was cleared. Here I was shown the Indian whom I shot and wounded at Pope's Crossing in September. He was convalescing, but as poor as a snake, my bullet having struck him in the back, passing through the right nipple. I told him I shot him and killed one and a horse. Several stood by him who said they were there and all seemed pleased to see me and shook hands and asked for **el otro?" (the other man). I told them he was with the herd and they said **bueno,'' and rode to meet the herd. We watered at Lost Eiver and started over the long trail of sixty miles over the ^Svhite deserf to San Augustine Springs, where Shedd's ranch was located. It took us nearly thirty-six hours to reach there with the lead cattle and the tail drags were forty-four hours in getting in. When the lead cattle got to within five miles of San Augustine, they were held back and allowed to go in slow, the drag end was twenty miles behind, which meant a line of cattle twenty miles long. The remuda had been sent in to water and back twelve miles the evening of the second day to enable the line men to change mounts and send their jaded ones to water. This drive was the worst of the whole trip but we did not lose a single head. Chisum said it was the first drive he ever made over it that he did not lose cattle, both from exhaustion and cattle thieves who would cut the line between the riders, who were often necessarily several miles apart, and get away with them as they were never followed on account of scarcity of men. These thieves were generally Mexicans, but sometimes Indians and white men. When we reached the Eio Grande we laid over a couple of days to rest and graze, while some of the boys were sent down the river to Dona Ana and vicinity, to pick up stolen cattle he had previously lost. For some reason or other I was generally made **side boss" on these trips, so taking four men we left early in the morning and began to round up at Dona Ana in the afternoon and we had picked up nearly fifty head, nearly all work oxen, and started back mth them when we were followed and attacked by a bunch of Mexicans. We had seen them coming and rode back to a gully where we dismounted. They could see us and came at us on a charge, yelling and shooting. Our first volley scattered them and drove them back. It seems that some soldiers from Ft. Sheldon were with the Mexicans and two of them got hurt or were killed, for the next day an officer and ten men came to us while we were crossing the river to inquire into the occurrence. He was shown the cattle we had brought in, all bearing the same brand and earmark as the balance of the herd and informed that they were stolen cattle belonging to Mr. Chisum, with whom he had been conversing. He said that after the fight it had been reported to the post commander that it was cattle thieves who had taken the oxen and the Mexicans had followed to recover them when they were attacked and seven killed and two soldiers badly wounded. The soldiers had no right to be with them, but were courting some Mexican girls and were induced by the Mexicans to go with them, not thinking of having a fight.

I quit the outfit when we reached the San Simon in Arizona, thirty-five mik^s from our destination, which was Croton Springs, in Sulijhur Springs valley, and where I again worked for Chisum in 1878, *^ circling and signing^' and guarding his range from the point of Pinal Mountains on the north to about where Pierce is now on the south, from the Dragoon Mountains on the west, to the Chiricahua Mountains on the east. It would require too much space to relate the incidents that transpired in connection with our lives the short time I worked there, but all will be told in detail in a book I hope to have published in 1924.

In the latter years I served as a special ranger in Companies D and F, Texas Frontier Battalion, and U. S. Deputy Marshal and also deputy sheriff and other official positions on the frontier. This service was from 1881 to 1889. I have met most of the so-called outlaws and bad men who ranged in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona from 1865 to 1890 and never knew but one but what had some good traits about him. On the other hand I have known some so-called good men and officers with some very bad traits about them. I married in San Antonio in 1885 and have two boys and a girl dead and three daughters living. They are, Mrs. William E. Lea, of Sanderson, Texas; Mrs. A. M. Preston who was with her husband in France and Mrs. Eobert C. Courtney of Del Eio, Texas. Now at the age of sixty-eight years I am still hale and hearty and square with my fellowmen, but owe much to God for keeping me and mine.

Got A Tail-Hold And Held On

In 1873 I helped to drive the second herd of cattle out of Medina county for Lytle and McDaniel, from Haby's ranch above Castroville to Ellsworth, Kansas. We crossed the Guadalupe at New Braunfels, and went on by San Marcos, Austin and Fort Worth, crossed Eed River at Red River Station, and on to Pond Creek, where the Indians killed a man named Chambers, who was in charge of a herd belonging to Jim Tucker, of Frio county. I and Jim Neal, Hyge Neal, C. K. Perkins and others helped to bury Chambers at Pond Creek. Then we drove on up to Russell, Kansas, on the Smoky River above Ellsworth, and from there I went with another herd to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We were near Big Spring on the Platte River when Sam Bass and Joel Collins made the big haul in a train robbery there. I knew them both well. Collins and another of the robbers were killed at Buffalo Station, in Nebraska, and Bass was killed at Round Rock, Texas.

Our outfit consisted of Bill McBee, Quiller Johnson, Bill Henson, Jim Berrington, and three negroes. All are dead now except Bill McBee and myself. Bob Trimble was our boss. He was killed a few years afterward by Joe Cordova, who was hanged in Bexar county jail for murder.

In 1877 I helped to drive a herd to Dodge City, Kansas, for Lytle and McDaniel. James McClusky was our boss. On that trip I met up with Mack Stewart, who served ten years in a Mexican prison, and afterward died near Dallas.

boat. Tony Williams, a negro, was riding a mule, and swam with the cattle to point the herd. The waves were so high Tony was swept off his mule, and we thought he was gone, but in a little while we discovered him holding on to the tail of a big beef steer, and when the steer went up the bank Tony was still holding on and went with him.

The Poet Of The Range

C. C. Walsh of San Angelo, Texas, is known all over the southwest and western parts of Texas as the poet of the range. When he meets a man whose character impresses him he studies the man and the man's character. Idiosyncrasies of his speech, peculiarities of expression, distinguishing facial features - all of these are within the purview of the studies of Col. Walsh, the banker and student of men. Then he writes the man he has studied into a poem and poems he has written will preserve a race of men rapidly passing from the range and from existence.

The West Texas cowman's folk life is a hobby with him. He believes the Texas cowman to be one of the noblest American type. Their brogue, their mannerisms, their ideals and their shortcomings are his study book and he has faithfully incorporated them into poems, one of which follows:

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 991

^ * Gents : Hang your hats out on a limb. This one thing I demand. Honor yer pardners - right an' left." How pompous his command! *'Heel an' Toe - lock horns with yearlin's.

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 993

*'Boys - chase that * rustler' frum th' camp - Th' hon'ry ^ball o' hair.' The ghels all form a ladies chain - Of * Bowles: Pete' take care -

The Trail Drivers Of Texas 995 James B. Gillett

Eecently there appeared a book, Six Years With the Texas Rangers, recounting the experiences of James B. Gillett, Ex-Sergeant of Company A, Frontier Battalion, which should be in every Texas liome. James B. Gillett was born at Austin, Texas, November 4, 1856. He worked with cattle for several years, and in 1875 he joined Captain Dan W. Roberts' company of rangers at Menardville, and engaged in the work of running down outlaws, fighting Indians and ridding the border of undesirable characters for a long time. Mr. Gillett writes interestingly of those early days, and tells of many events that are found on the pages of history. In his book he graphically describes cowboy and ranger life, gives the names of his comrades and associates, relates thrilling anecdotes of battles with Indians and desperadoes, and keeps the reader interested from start to finish. He served as city marshal of El Paso for several years when that town was considered the ^'toughesf frontier town in the United States. The lawless element held full sway there for a time, killings were of almost daily occurrence, and it required an iron hand and a steady nerve to cope with the situation, but Jim Gillett was equal to the emergency and helped to make the Pass City a decent, respectable place in which to live.

Mr. Gillett, after so many years of strenuous duty, during which time he had many narrow escapes from death, retired from official duty to accept a position as manager of the Estado Land and Cattle Company, which owned large ranch interests in Brewster county. He had previously purchased a small ranch of his own and had acquired a number of cattle. He was manager for the Estado Company six years, during which time the herd had increased from six to thirty thousand head. His own bunch of cattle had also increased to such numbers that demanded his attention,

Mr. Gillett donated fifty copies of his book, Six Years With the Texas Rangers^ to the Old Time Trail Drivers^ Association to be sold and the proceeds to go to the fund that is being raised for the erection of a monument to the old trail drivers.

A Few Bars In The Key Of G.

Miss Marian Elizabeth Jennings is a popular favorite at the reunions of the old time cowboys, and she is generally called upon to give readings at the annual conventions. Her renditions are always good and meet with hearty applause because she brings the sentiment right home to her hearers. The following, by Clifton Carlisle Osborne, was recited by Miss Jennings at the 1921 Convention of the Old Time Trail Drivers' Association in San Antonio, and when she had finished many of the Association's members came forward to express their appreciation and tender their congratulations :