TX BIOS:  Futha Higginbotham
   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
   
   Beliefs and customs - Occupational lore
   
   Mrs. Annie McAulay
   
   Maverick, Texas
   
   Runnels County [Typed?]
   
   Page 1. [dup?]
   
   COWBOY LORE
   
   FUTHA HIGGINBOTHAM was born in [DEL: Eroth :DEL] Erath County in 1888.
   He moved with his parents to Coke County in 1889. [DEL: His father, F.
   A. Higginbotham, bought a ranch north of Bronte where he ranched until
   his death. [?] parents moved from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Texas at
   the close of the Civil War. :DEL]
   
   Mr. Higginbotham says, [DEL: "I learned to ride very young. :DEL] " My
   father and grandfather before me were stock farmers and ranchers. I
   have lived on a ranch north of Bronte all of my life. After my
   father's death, my mother continued to live in the old place and asked
   me to take it over, and so I have continued as a rancher and stock
   farmer at the same place.
   
   "I used to help with the round-ups when I wasn't more'n twelve or
   fourteen years old. They'd always make me help hold the cuts. But one
   thing I was proud of, they'd always let me go to dinner with the first
   bunch.
   
   "I began trying to ride broncs when I wasn't more'n fourteen or
   fifteen, I guess. I got throwed a lot, but never seriously hurt. We
   boys thought Old Dick Hazelton was the greatest feller in the world,
   because [DEL: e :DEL] he was such a good bronc buster. He was the hero
   of ranch boys then. My greatest aspiration was to ride like him. He
   was a good buster. He could ride anything.
   
   "I gave up the idea of being a bronc rider after a few years and
   settled down to real ranch work.
   
     NOTE: C12 - Texas
     
   00022"When I was about fifteen years old, another boy and I drove a
   bunch of cattle ( -about a hundred head- ) to [DEL: Swewater :DEL]
   Sweetwater. We were driving them from the Richard place near Bronte ,
   / And Mr. Richard told us to try to have them at Sweetwater by night.
   
   "I guess we rushed them too much , and when we got within a few miles
   of town / they were so tired they'd hardly drive. Some of them began
   to lie down. One steer, nearly two years old, refused to go an inch
   further. He just couldn't stand on his feet. Somehow or other we
   managed to get him up on the horse with me. We continued that way
   [DEL: - :DEL] very slowly for two or three miles [DEL: ; :DEL] , until
   we met Mr. Richard who had come out from Sweetwater to meet us. He put
   the yearling in his buggy and we managed to get the herd into town
   about ten o'clock / that night. I was [DEL: shore :DEL] sure tired,
   too.
   
   "I worked in Crocket County fourteen months , about the time I was
   grown. I guess I was ninteen years old. I worked for Clayton and
   Childress on their seventy five section ranch. They worked eight or
   ten men regular. There [DEL: was :DEL] were some drift fences on the
   creek that [DEL: was :DEL] were [DEL: shore :DEL] sure hard to keep
   repaired. Seemed like we had lots of rain and every time it rained the
   creeks got up and washed the fences down or damaged them.
   
   "Every thing was fenced so our rounding up wasn't hard. They had
   corrals in which to herd and cut them, and branding chutes to brand
   them in.
   
   "I've known a few good women riders. The Hannah sisters and also the
   Calloway sisters. They [DEL: both :DEL] lived on ranches near
   Blackwell [DEL: , :DEL] and did regular ranch work. The Calloway girls
   [DEL: use :DEL] used to get lots of kick out of going to a dance and
   shootin' 'em up, as they called it. They 00033considered themselves
   wild cowgirls, but no one really took them seriously. [DEL: " :DEL]
   Dessie Calloway, the older sister, would ride pitchin' horses. She
   especially liked to ride high jumpers. They seldom got too tough [?]
   for her to ride. After their marriages [DEL: in which they did well
   :DEL] , I'm told they have lived very quiet and contented lives.
   "0004Bibliography Father Higginbotham Bronte Texas, Old Cowhand and
   pioneer citizen of Coke County. Interviewed Aug. 19, 1938.

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