TX BIOS:  James Childers
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
   Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
   
   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
   For more information about this text and this American Memory
   collection, refer to accompanying matter.
   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   Folkstuff - Rangelore
   
   Gauthier, Sheldon F.
   
   Rangelore
   
   Tarrant Co., Dist. 7.
   
   Page 1
   
   FEC 240
   
   James Childers, 82, a Copeville, Texas, resident, born May 14, 1857,
   in log cabin on father's farm at Chamberburg, Kentucky. In 1865 the
   family moved to Arkansaw and at the age of 18, James went to work on a
   cattle ranch in the Indian Territory. After terminating his range
   career he farmed for a livelihood.
   
   "I was born in Kentucky at a place called Chamberburg on the Ohio
   River. The event happened on May 14, 1857. My father, J. H. Childers,
   was an early settler of the section. During my childhood the country
   was sparsely settled and farming and logging was the means of making a
   livelihood.
   
   "The conditions under which my family lived will be a fair
   illustration of the community as a whole. Our home was a two room log
   cabin. The average home was two rooms, some were one room structures
   and a few had three rooms. They were double log cabins with rooms on
   either side, one of which contained the fire place. The fire place
   furnished most of the light for the room during the dark hours,
   [excep?] during the summer season when candles were used, as well as
   heat and a means for cooking food. If company was making a call we
   would light the coal oil lamp.
   
   "During my childhood I did not know what tailored clothes were[;?]
   homespun was the only clothing people were able to secure. My folks,
   as all our neighbors did, raised the material, worked it into thread
   and weaved the thread into cloth and from this cloth made clothes.
   Even our shoes were home-made, the hides from our butchered stock were
   made into leather by the tanner of the community. The shoemaker made
   the shoes and they were good shoes too.
   
   "Vegetables in abundance were raised in our garden and kept in a
   cellar from one crop to another. We raised wheat, corn and oats which
   gave us flour, corn meal, and feed for the stock. We hauled the grain
   to the [griet?] mill and traded grain to the miller for the milling
   charge. We had [DEL: [milckcows?] :DEL] [milkcows?] for dairy products
   and beef; and raised sheep for wool as well as mutton.
   
   "On our place was an orchard and from it we obtained our fruit, such
   as apples, 00022peaches, cherries and berries of various kinds. In
   addition to producing fruit to eat, make preserves and jellies, the
   apples provided cide, which turned hard, and the peaches made brandy.
   Some of the corn was used to make corn whiskey. Almost all of the
   settlers had a still and made their own brandy and whiskey. In any
   home of those days would be found a jug of hard cider, brandy and
   whiskey. The custom for the proper welcome of a visitor was to offer
   liquor.
   
   "Our smoke-house always contained a plentiful supply of hams and bacon
   smoked with hickory wood. During the winter months the climate of
   Kentucky is such that meat will keep without any processing, in summer
   it was necessary to salt and smoke meat. During the summer we never
   went hungry for fresh meat, the forest contained many different kinds
   of edible animals and fowls that were easily hunted. So far as food
   and clothes were concerned my father was never worried about an
   adequate supply.
   
   "Even a stranger in the community was a welcome guest, and people went
   out of their way to give him a start. But if anyone became obnoxious
   they had their own way of dealing with such matters. If the stamp of
   approval was not placed on a man, the party was compelled to leave the
   community, and in severe cases if they failed to leave in a hurry they
   were returned to their creator. There was a [feud?] [between?] some
   people existing all [the?] time and generally one or more decisive
   fights would take place during the annual religious [cam?] meeting.
   
   "There was no regular preacher in our community but a traveling
   minister held [service?] once a month in a one room log cabin and once
   each year we had a revival lasting a week. Almost everybody attended
   the revivals. Those living at a distance would bring a supply of food
   and camp at the meeting place. During the monthly visits and the
   revivals the preacher would busy himself attempting to adjust
   differences between parties. He always succeeded in getting many of
   the disputants to shake hands and rededicate themselves to religion,
   but a few would refuse until satisfaction was obtained in fighting it
   out with guns. 00033"The attitude of these folks is well illustrated
   by an incident told me by father and which happened in our community.
   A feud existed between Holder and Jameson. Holder become very ill and
   it was feared he would die. When the preacher came he called on Holder
   to perform the usual duties before death and prevailed on Holder to
   forgive Jameson. Jameson agreed to forgive and forget. After the two
   men had shaken hands and agreed to be friends so that Holder could
   leave this world without malice in his heart, Holder said[:?] 'I want
   it understood that if I don't die, this farce of an agreement don't
   stand.'
   
   "Besides farming, logging was a means of earning a livelihood for many
   people throughout our district. The timber was cut and the logs were
   hauled to the [Chic?] River. From the river they were rafted to
   various points where sawmills were located.
   
   "At the time the Civil War ended we moved to Arkansaw in two covered
   wagons pulled by oxen. We crossed the Mississippi River at Memphis,
   Tennessee, and sent on to Pine Bluff. Father located a tract of land
   near Pine Bluff and there I spent my young manhood days. We farmed
   under the same conditions as in Kentucky.
   
   "At 18 I left for the Indian Territory looking for [a?] job with a cow
   outfit and finally landed with a job in what has then called
   No-Man's-Land. That section was about 300 miles between its E. and W.
   border, and 50 miles wide between the N. and S. borders. At that time
   the territory was not attached to any state and since my time it has
   become a part of Oklahoma. It is that strip of land extending from the
   main area of the state and bordering on the N. of the Texas Panhandle.
   No-Man's-Land was used entirely for ranging cattle. There were some
   mighty large cowcamps located in the territory.
   
   "Ranchmen were the rulers of the country. There were no state laws or
   officials to govern the section. Only the Federal Government had any
   authority there, and the Government did not maintain any courts or
   permanent officials to keep order. Therefore the ranchers maintained
   such order that existed. There was a code or rules 00044which the
   ranchers enforced and they had a jail in which were placed men who
   violated the law of the section. The jail was a log hut and a man was
   kept on guard night and day when anyone was in the jail.
   
   "The rules enforced related to the cattle business. So far as the
   relations between men there were no rules to speak of. Each man, more
   or less, took care of himself, except in the matter of stealing and
   killing without cause. It did not require much to justify the [?]
   shooting of a man. For instance, if two men became engaged in a
   quarrel, it was allowable for them to shoot it out and the best shot
   would be declared to be on the right side. If the shooting was fatal
   to aman, it was considered the result of his own doing and no one
   should be blamed. But, if a man was caught stealing a yearling, he was
   subject to severe punishment, even to being hanged or shot.
   
   "Because of the condition existing in No-Man's-Land, there were many
   men who came there to keep out of the law's hands of some state. There
   was an understanding among the People that no one should ask questions
   about a stranger relating to his name, where he was from or what his
   former business was. It was left to the stranger to volunteer such
   information as he desired to furnish about himself. That the citizens
   behaved better than in other places, so far as obeying their laws, is
   indicated by the kangaroo court records. Almost all violations were
   committed by transients. The ranchers had a kangroo court before which
   violators of the code were tried, and the court was seldom called into
   session.
   
   "When a stranger arrived he was accepted as a square man and treated
   as such so long as his conduct merited the treatment. With this
   condition existing one might think the territory was a sort of a den
   for the [seum?] of the United States, but as a whole the cowhands and
   the ranchers were about as dependable and square in their
   00055dealings as one could meet. Perhaps this was so because there
   necessity did not goad nor pride tempt man to violate the laws of man.
   The fact is, I have never heard of a cowboy being robbed of any
   article. What money we cowhands had was carried on our person or in
   our saddle bags. When the saddles were not in use, they would be laid
   around the camp or chuck wagon. We never feared that anyone would
   molest our money.
   
   "My first job on a cow outfit was with the 'ZH', owned by an Eastern
   corporation called the [Guscatine?] Cattle Company. The ZH was one of
   the large outfits ranging in the No-Man's-Land and its brand was
   carried by 60,000 or more cattle. Everything about the camp was kept
   in excellent shape. There was no slip-shod methods about the work or
   operation of the ranch. The headquarters had a well kept [rancher?]
   house, chuck wagons with the best of cooks. The [remuda?] was stocked
   with the best of cow-work trained horses that could be obtained.
   
   ["?]When I started work I was in range language a greener. My starting
   wages were $25, per month.for the first year. Thereafter they were
   $35. to [$40?]. per month. After the old cowhands had their fun with
   me as butt of their jokes they took me in hand and did all they could
   to help we learn they work. So far as riding a horse was concerned, I
   could do it fairly well, because during the days of my youth the horse
   was the chief [means?] of travel. Of course riding the range and doing
   cow work required somewhat different riding than the ordinary riding
   for travel. To learn this difference did not take me long. The part of
   the work I had to learn completely was handling the [lariat?]. This
   [DEL: [iI?] :DEL] i did readily because I had excellent teachers.
   During the first couple months I spent most of my time practicing
   throwing and handling the lariat. I was successful and at the end of
   my first year's work I could place the loop where I desired quite
   accurately. I was a proficient as the average waddy and when I
   terminated my career, I could throw the rope with the best. 00066"John
   Roberts, a Texan, was top-screw. This term was applied to indicate the
   ranch boss. Roberts was a proficient boss and a genuine man in every
   way. He started me off riding the line. This job is holding the herd
   together in a bunch. Almost all the time the outfit had more or less
   cattle cut out and being held for a drive to the market., and these
   were held separate from the other cattle. This required several riders
   working night and day. This line riding was not unplesant work during
   fair weather but in inclement weather at times the cattle decided to
   run and then the cowhand had his hands full.
   
   "All the cattle on the ZH ranch were the wild longhorn breed and ready
   to run at any moment. It seemed, at times, they would run for the fun
   and exercise. This section was subject to severe electric storms and
   when one of these storms struck us we were sure of a job with a
   running herd. Most of the times we would be successful in holding the
   herd together and get the animals to milling. Occasionally, we would
   fail to do so and when the animals got away from us, it then required
   work and time to locate and bunch all the cattle. Many times we would
   fail to find all the animals, however, these would be located in the
   general roundup.
   
   "I do not suppose there is an old cowhand who cannot, mentally and
   vividly, hear the snapping hoofs, clashing horns and the drumming of
   the animals feet hitting the ground, which came to their ears while a
   herd stampeded. During the darkness and a storm raging, the noise had
   an ominous sound. One could sense the danger ahead, because at these
   times it was necessary to ride at the best speed a horse could give,
   and do it over rough ground. [A?] cowhand was playing with Lady Luck
   every minute of the run. If the horse hit a hole or stumbled over a
   rock, thereby going down, the rider could not see what there was to
   avoid, and perhaps be thrown onto a rock or under the feet of crazed
   and running animals. On two occasions 'ZH' waddies were killed by a
   fall from a stumbling horse. Broken bones were a frequent occurrence.
   00077"Next to a stampede our most dreaded event was the coming of a
   severe norther. The cattle would sense the approaching weather and
   started drifting two or more days ahead [of?] its arrival. The cattle
   drifted to hunt for shelter. If we did not hold the animals back they
   would scatter in the [loe?] of a hill or to a cluster of trees, but in
   a little while they would [hove?] on trusting to find better shelter.
   Therefore there was more or less a constant movement of the cattle.
   These [northers?] were not a frequent occurrence and luckly for the
   ranchers it was not often. Because [after?] one it required several
   weeks work hunting strays.
   
   "The general roundups were held each year in the Spring and Fall. The
   affairs were called a general roundup and all cowcamps in the range
   territory would join into one outfit, operating under one roundup
   boss. During this roundup the country would be thoroughly combed for
   cattle, one section at a time. The animals driven into the roundup
   [he?] [dou?] [rters?] [end?] there cut out according to brands, the
   yearlings branded and the [males?] casterated. It required three
   months to accomplish the work [and?] during this time we lived [on?] a
   chuck wagon life. [?] slept in the open rolled in our blankets. our
   [food?] [ate?] cooked over a camp fire and consisted of canned
   vegetable, dried fruit, beef and some [pastary?]. We had some bacon
   and to vary the meat died occasionally some of us would kill some
   game. Buffalos were still existing in rather large numbers and we ate
   a lot of choice cuts of buffalo meat.
   
   "I have mentioned our dread of stampedes and drifts but I must not
   fail to tell about the worst of all conditions which we were in
   constant fear, and this was the prairie fire. Every waddy was
   instructed to keep constant watch for fires and when smoke was seen to
   drop what one was doing, regardless of how important it was, and ride
   to the smoke. We all followed this rule strictly because it was
   necessary to stop a fire before it had a chance to spread.
   
     NOTE: C12 -2/11/41 - Texas

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