TX BIOS:  George M. Hunt
   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
   
   Project
   
   Warren, Ivey G. P.W.
   
   District 17. Words 2011 [Folkstuff- Sketch?]
   
   Lubbock County
   
   Lubbock Texas
   
   240
   
   pg. 1 [4] [HALF A CENTURY ON THE SOUTH PLAINS?]
   
   "My father, George M. [Hunt?], brought his family to the South Plains
   in 1884, from Sterling, Kansas," and Mrs. George C. Wolffarth. "I was
   quite small then, but I have heard the details of the trip recounted
   numbers of times by my parents and the older children of our family.
   [DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "There were 14 people who started on this journey to the Texas Plains.
   There [DEL: was :DEL] were Henry Baldwin and his family, [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] Paul Seely, Miss Celia Corrigon, and an elderly man, whose name
   my father soon forgot, and then our family. We began the trip with
   three wagons, each drawn by, two horses and my father's buggy. Jimmie,
   our pet pony was hitched to the buggy.["?]
   
   "Now one of the wagons and the team belonged to the elderly man. My
   father had made a trade with him to bear his part of the expenses of
   the trip if [DEL: he :DEL] the man would bring a lead of our household
   goods in his wagon, but on the [DEL: [?] :DEL] fifth day out from
   Sterling, he changed his mind and would come no farther, so father had
   to transfer mother's organ and the other things which the old man had
   been carrying on his freighter, to the two remaining wagons, which
   were already over loaded, and we continued on our journey."
   
   "We began the long trip on the afternoon of the 5th of November and
   reached Estacado 31 days later [????]. [Our?] route ran from Sterling
   to Dodge City along the left bank of the Arkansas River."
   
   "At Dodge City the party turned [south?] and took [The?] Jones and
   Plummer Trail," Mrs.Wolfforth continued, "We had three rivers to cross
   after that before we reached our destination. [?]First we crossed the
   [Cimarron?], which was treacherous on account of the [DEL: quick-sand
   :DEL] quicksand. There were accounts given of a whole [DEL: outfit
   :DEL] outfit's having been swallowed up in the river bed a short time
   before this, and natives there advised our men to drive through the
   stream as quickly as they could, which they did, using the whips to,
   keep the horses from stopping to drink, and we forded the river
   without disaster.
   
     NOTE: C12 - 2/11/41 - Texas
     
   00022[DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "Next we came to the [Canadian?] River," Mrs. Wolfforth went on. "This
   river was not deep excepting where holes had been washed out in the
   sand. [Anlong?] train of wagons crossed just in front of [?]. These
   wagons were drawn by about twenty oxen. Men on horses [rode?] across
   the river and picked out a crossing place before they let the ox-teams
   go in, so that we crossed behind them and had no trouble getting over
   to the other side. [DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "When we reached Red River, we found it dry at this point, and
   experienced no difficulty whatever in crossing. [DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "There were not many towns on our route," Mrs. Wolffarth explained.
   "After we left Dodge City the next town we reached was [Mobeetie?],
   the Clarendon. Two or three days after we left [Clarenton?] we came to
   the headquarters of the Quitaque ranch. This ranch house was located
   near the mouth of the Tale Canyon. Our party had always traveled
   together, but on the second day after we left the [Quitaque?] ranch,
   my parents took my little baby brother,/ sister Mirta and me in the
   buggy and left camp at noon before the wagons started. My father had
   been told that when we reached Blanco Canyon, we would have to go
   about [two?] miles to reach Hank Smith's home, and he thought that we
   were only a few miles from Mr. Smith's place, but it was much farther
   than he had reckoned and somehow he got confused and lost his way in
   the canyon. We were separated from the wagons and traveled around over
   [dim?] trails through the canyons. Night found us in a ravine, far
   from our party. We had no food and no water. The few [wraps?] that my
   father and mother had brought along in the buggy were not sufficient
   to keep us warm. This was about the first week in December and it was
   rather cold in the canyon, even with the mild weather that we had that
   winter. There was no moon and it was very dark, father got out of the
   buggy and sought for a protected nook in the ravine where we could
   spend the night. Suddenly he came to a [dugout?]. He crept inside
   where 00033there was a faint light showing at the back of the dugout.
   This proved to be coals in a large [DEL: fire-place :DEL] fireplace at
   the back. There was a cottonwood back-log, partly burned [DEL: ? :DEL]
   Father stirred the coals and soon had a fire going. No one appeared
   and we spent the night alone in the dugout. There were no beds, so my
   parents made us lie on the wraps, while they spent the night sitting
   up. We were warm and in a measure protected from the wild animals that
   [?] the plains. The greater part of the next morning was spent in
   trying to get back on the [right?] trail and at least the wagons were
   located and we were united again. After a good meal we [started?] out
   once more looking for the Smith's rock house. We traveled all the
   afternoon without seeing a house anywhere. Night was coming down upon
   us and we were still in the canyon. Father and mother debated whether
   to pitch the tent and make camp for the night or to go on. They always
   set up the stove and put up the tent for the night. The men got out
   and walked down the canyon a little way[ [DEL: ? :DEL] ] trying to get
   their bearing and then they heard the barking dogs in the distance
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] We followed the sound and soon located Hank Smith's
   house. They were not [surprised?] to see us as father had been sending
   his cousin, Dr. J. W. Hunt at [Estacado?] cards from different points
   of our journey and Dr. Hunt had [communicated?] with Mr. Smith,
   keeping him informed of our progress. The Smiths gave us a hearty
   welcome and we spent the night with them. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "When we got to Estacado we found the little settlement to have a
   population of between 80 and 100 people. In another year and a half
   the population had increased to 125. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "This settlement was generally known as [DEL: ? :DEL] ' The Quaker
   Colony ,' Mrs. Wolffarth said. "They had a church house which was a
   frame building, and here in this house we attended our first
   [Christmas?] service in the [state?] of Texas. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "Christmas Day was warm and beautiful and we had a watermelon feast on
   the church house lawn. Isish Cox, who lived three miles of Estacado
   furnished the melons. He had stored the melons in hi cellar and they
   were in fine condition for the Christmas feast. 00044"We lived at
   Estacado until 1890. These were busy years for my father." Mrs.
   Wolfforth observed. "Judge G. M. Swink of Dallas had been appointed to
   come to Estacado and have a survey made of all enclosed lands. He
   secured a few helpers and my father was employed to go with Judge
   Swink and made a survey of the [DEL: " :DEL] Circle [?] Ranch [DEL: "
   :DEL] in Hale County [DEL: ? :DEL] This ranch was owned or controlled
   at that time by C. C. Slaughter. [DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "At this time Crosby County was not organized and was still attached
   to Baylor County for judical and surveying purposes. All of the
   records were kept at Seymour . This made it very inconvenient for the
   men who tried to keep offices in Estacado, so through the request of
   Paris Cox, my father was appointed by the Commissioners of Baylor
   County as Justice of the Peace[ [DEL: ? :DEL] ] This constituted his
   as Ex-Officio Notary Public. Along with the other duties required of
   him, my father was sometimes asked to perform ceremonies. [DEL: "
   :DEL]
   
   "During this time my parents [kept?] a small boarding house which we
   called [DEL: " :DEL] '? The Llano House. [DEL: " :DEL] ' Father also
   had a little store [DEL: ? :DEL] Most of his supplies were hauled from
   Amarillo [DEL: ? :DEL] This was not any nearer than other towns where
   he could have gotten his goods, but the roads to the north were
   usually in better condition than the [other?] roads so that we formed
   the habit of going to Amarillo[ [DEL: ? :DEL] ] On these trips we
   often saw deer, antelopes and wild horses."
   
   "In [September?] 1890 we moved from Estacado to Lubbock. We settled in
   the North town, which was across the canyon [DEL: ? :DEL] This was the
   town which was laid out by F. E. Wheelock. We had sold the boarding
   house but still operated a store,[DEL: this :DEL] [?] was housed in a
   big tent. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "There was one school in Lubbock at this time, which we attended. We
   also had our little social affairs [DEL: ? :DEL] church services were
   held at the court house. Altogether the young people really had a nice
   time in those days. [DEL: ? :DEL]
   
   "In 1894 I taught the summer school at Canyon." Mrs. Wolffarth said.
   "And on the 24th of August in 1898, I was married to George C.
   Wolffarth. We had our 00055ceremony performed by our Methodist pastor,
   H. A. Story. It was a home wedding and we received many presents from
   our friends. Among the things was a heavy silver caster set,
   beautifully engraved and I still have it. Then there were chickens and
   blankets, besides other useful things for the house, which we we
   appreciated very much. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "I have lived on the South Plains for 52 years." Mrs. [Wolffarth?]
   concluded. "Many changes have taken place in the town and over the
   country during these years. I have seen the big ranches go and the
   farms take their place. Most of the cattle are gone and the cattlemen
   have changed their lines of business. Some of them turned to polities,
   and some to banking. The cowboys who used to ride the range [DEL: ,
   :DEL] exchanged their lariats for hoes, or put their ponies to plows
   and began to till the soil. The Plains have changed, new business
   houses are constantly going up, new residences are being built every
   day and still there are not sufficient accommodations for the new
   people who move to Lubbock. Out little town on the plains is becoming
   a little city now. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "There are just a few of the very old pioneers left," Mrs.
   [Wolffarth?] said [?] softly. "My parents are both gone, many of our
   old friends are gone, but we have a few old-timers with us yet. There
   is Judge P. [?]. Brown. I went to school to him and Mrs. W. T. Boone
   too. For three generations the [Boons?] have instructed the Hunts or
   the Hunts were instructors for the Boons. First Mrs. Boone [was?] my
   [teacher?] then her children were instructed by me, and after that my
   little children were taught by one of the Boon children. [DEL: " :DEL]
   
   "Lubbock is a fine town [DEL: ? :DEL] I say that the credit for the
   real making of the town should be given largely to the [cattlemen?][
   [DEL: ? :DEL] ] They were the backbone of the plains, they withstood
   the hardships of those early days and blazed the trail for
   civilization; they helped build the first settlements. When we first
   came to the Plains, my people knew nothing of cattlemen, we had heard
   rough stories about the cowboys and we 00066dreaded then even more
   than we did the Indians, but we found out before we had been here
   long, how mistaken we were, and soon learned that honesty and
   friendliness characterized the cowmen of the great Plains. [DEL: ?
   :DEL] "
   
   The George G. [Wolffarths'?] are one of Lubbock's most prominent
   pioneer families. Mrs. [Wolffarth?] has always taken an active part in
   the social life of the city and has also taken a great interest in the
   educational program. Mr.[Wolffarth?] was the First District Clerk of
   Lubbock County and served in that [capacity?] for 8 years. He
   organized and built the Citizen's National Bank and was President of
   this bank for 14 years. He was a cattleman in the early days on the
   Plains. BIBLIOGRAPHY
   
   Mrs. George C. [Woffforth?]................. Lubbock, Texas.

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