TX BIOS:  Lee D. Leverett
   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
   
   Life [?]
   
   Gauthier, Sheldon F.
   
   Rangelore
   
   Tarrant Co., Dist. #7 Duplicate
   
   Page #1
   
   FEC [dup?]
   
   Lee D, Leverett, 71. living at the Old Folks' Home, Tarrant co., Tex.,
   was born Feb. 6, 1866, on a small ranch in Rusk co., Tex.
   
   His father, Joseph D. Leverett, operated a combination stock ranch and
   farm. As a mere boy, Lee learned to ride a horse, and was a fair ride
   at age 10. He remained on his father's farm until he was 21 years old,
   then went to the Indian Territory (now Okla.) and worked for the
   Graham Ranch, located near the town of Duncan.
   
   He remained with the Graham Ranch for several years before returning
   to Rusk co., where he engaged in business as a cattle dealer.
   
   His story:
   
   "I was born in Rusk co., Tex., Feb. 6, 1866. My father's name was
   Joseph D. Leverett. He ran a stock ranch and farm, running a few
   hosses and cows. There was not over 1,000 head of stock at any one
   time and all the work was done by the family, except during a busy
   period, at which time an extra hand would be hired.
   
   "Our sales was made to buyers that traveled through the country. The
   buyers would buy from different small ranchers until they had enough
   to make a herd, then drive the critters to a range. What we raised
   were the real Texas longhorns and the Texas cow pony.
   
   "When I was a lad growing up, cows and horses were stomping around me
   all the time. I couldn't help but learn how to handle the critters.
   
   "Well, when I was 10 years old, I could ride a hoss and smear a
   critter with the rope, and the other things that a cowhand was called
   upon to do. I took my turn at the work and stayed with it until I was
   around 30.
   
     NOTE: C12 - 2/11/41 - Texas
     
   00022"My father's outfit was the kind that cowhands referred to as a
   'Grease-pot' outfit. Four regular hands could take care of the
   critters. My real ranch experience didn't start until I was 21 years
   old. At that time, I went to Okla., then called the 'Indian
   Territory'.
   
   "I hit the drag for the Territory in 1887, and lit on the Graham
   Ranch, located in the section where the town of Duncan is situated.
   The outfit run about 5,000 head on an open range under the brand 'G'.
   All their sales were made in Kansas City, where we drove the critters.
   
   "The Graham outfit worked about 10 hands. The only names I recall are
   Bill Haney and Bob Shank. The rest of the boys I can only recall their
   nicknames, such as 'Red', 'Blackey', 'Nosey', and the likes.
   
   "One of the Graham boys did the chuck fixing and I can't recall his
   first name, because we always referred to him as the 'Cooky',
   'Belly-cheater', or 'Whistle-berry'.
   
   "With that crew we took care of 5,000 head, which would be out in
   numbers after each cut-out for the market. Then it would build back
   with the calf crop.
   
   "During all the five years on the Graham outfit there was no rustler
   trouble, or Indian trouble, to deal with. But, after I quit the
   outfit, the Indians gave a lot of trouble for a spell.
   
   "There were plenty of Indians in that section and we saw lots of them,
   but they never put us to any trouble. The Graham boys would, now and
   then, give them a critter. There was always 00033some runty critters
   showing up that would not pull a price on sale and those would be
   given to the Indians, which they need for 'wohaw', the name they had
   for beef.
   
   "Our trouble was the winter weather, and that took the silver lining
   out of our cloud. The Territory, during those days, and a tolerable
   lot of bad spells during the winter months, and real busters with
   sky-fire during the summer. During storms in when/ the critters need
   the most attention, because that is the time when they are most liable
   to go on the run.
   
   "The cold spells in the winter gave us a heap of trouble. I have often
   had to cut holes in the ice of the water holes, so that the critters
   could get to the water. A number of the winters we had considerable
   numbers freeze to death. It was the weaker ones, of course, that would
   be unable to stand the cold.
   
   "When a real winter buster headed in on us, extra hands were put to
   riding the line; and that was a he-man's job. The outfit was so
   located that we had several good size timber spots on the range, and
   we used the timber to stop the stampedes.
   
   "When a stampede started we would herd the critters into the timber
   and the woods would soon slow the critters down, also bust up the run
   so we could hold the animals. After the herd hit the timber we would
   circle the woods and hold the animals in the woods. Because of the
   situation we never had a hard job trying to stop a run.
   
   "There was only one stampede which resulted in a loss of critters and
   that happened in the summer time. The run took place at the start of a
   cyclone. The weather just before one of 00044those busters hit is
   mucky. A person gets to feeling that he should be at some other spot.
   The critters would get the same feeling and start to milling. If a
   clash of thunder hits, a run can be looked for. That was what happened
   the time I was talking about, and the clash sounded as though the
   earth had bursted. One clash followed another and, with each roar, the
   critters seemed to pick up speed.
   
   "We had the herd headed for the timber and when they hit it they did
   it so hard that a number run plumb into trees and went down. About 25
   were stomped to death. After a stomp, it would take a day to get the
   herd back on the grazing grounds.
   
   "Our worst job was line riding and the night job was the one that
   raised the bristles on the waddies' necks. I have done night riding
   when it was sleeting, with a norther blowing so cold that it would put
   the teeth of an iron hoss to shattering. We waddies used to say that
   the only reason a man would stay with that kind of work was because
   his brain was located next to the saddle.
   
   "On top of the tough night riding, we lived in dugouts. That is, we
   did in the winter months. During the summer, we lived in the open,
   except during spells of rain that would drive us into the dugouts.
   
   "The dugouts were just holes slanted into the ground, deep enough for
   a person to stand up in, and a roof made of poles, covered with sod.
   When a damp spell of weather was on, the duggouts became tolerable
   mucky. 00055"After a long wet spell, one time, when a bunch of us were
   standing around a hand-made stove trying to dry out, a waddy pulled a
   'Home sweet home' sign out of his band and stuck it on the wall. We
   drove him out in the rain as punishment for insulting home.
   
   "When the weather was fair, the work was fitting for a man, and living
   out in the open always kept me fit as a fiddle. I could always lie
   down at night and sleep like a drunken sailor, and get up in the
   morning rearing to go. I never seen a waddy that was not ready to take
   on a load of beans and beef, morning, noon and night.
   
   "The Graham lad that did the cooking was just a fair-to-middling
   cocky. He could boil, bake and burn beans, but no matter how he dished
   out the stuff we lined our flue with the whistle-berries. Beef and
   beans were the main flue liners. We would have beans and beef for
   breakfast, then beef and beans for dinner, and at supper time we would
   get some more beef and beans.
   
   "The beef and bean fare would be backed up with sour-dough bread. I
   want to say right here that the belly-cheater didn't learn to bake
   bread from the teaching of Mr. John Bun, the inventor of the bun.
   Sometimes the bread would come up in fair shape, and then not so
   anyone would hanker or it. The bread was a hit and miss proposition,
   with more misses than hits.
   
   "One time, Red rolled a chunk of the bread into a ball and, sort of
   playful like, threw it at a steer. It hit the critter in the eye, and
   I'll be damned if it didn't knock the critter's eye out. 00066"But,
   kick as we may about the chuck, there was always all that we wanted,
   and none of us lost any leaf lard from eating it. Facts is, we were
   all as strong as a hoss in power, and smell as well.
   
   "We had the beef-bean order broken a little with canned vegetables,
   and there was always plenty of black coffee. Then at times some of us
   would shoot wild game. "I went on several of the drives to Kansas
   City, and for some reason we always played in luck. Our herd never run
   over 1,000 and that size herd can be easily handled. A good many of
   the drivers lost considerable critters, but the Graham boys seemed to
   pick the proper time. During all my trips, we had good weather, and
   that is the one thing needed with the cattle on the drift..
   
   "What I have told you just about covers our work. How we waddies on
   the Graham outfit spent our off time does not take long to tell. There
   was no place to go for amusement, so we had to amuse ourselves. That
   we did by putting up targets and shooting against each other. We also
   threw the loop, did bull-dogging, and anything else that struck our
   fancy. We always tried to see who could tell the biggest lies.
   
   "The cleanest lie I ever heard was told by Bob Shank. He was an
   oldtimer and had nested on many outfits all over the Southwest. Let me
   give you that tale, the best I can, as he told it:
   
   "'I was nesting with an outfit down on the border, before 00077the
   Civil war. The ramrod got an idea in his conk to move his outfit into
   a valley country across the Rio Grande. So we drifted the critters
   into the country and got nicely settled.
   
   "'There were several varqueros in the outfit and them fellows are set
   on having their cock-fights. They had several cocks that they took
   along, and fixed a run for the birds next to a spring where the birds
   had plenty of fresh water.
   
   "'After the runs were fixed the birds were placed in the pens, and at
   once started to scratch for worms and other food. It wasn't long until
   those birds were trying to break out of the runs. The Mexican
   varqueros pronto got busy to see what all the fuss was about. You may
   not believe it, but the facts are that a large number of worms were
   chasing hell out of those fighting birds.
   
   "'Fellows, it was a sight to see those worms leaping up at the ears of
   those vicious birds. The worms had the cocks plumb loco and the birds
   had to be taken out of the runs.
   
   "'About the second day, several of the old mosey horned cows got
   stubborn. By God, they refused to be herded, and would paw the ground
   like an old fighting bull, and make for the hoss.. The next day, a few
   more of the old critters took courage and put their bristles up when
   we wanted to herd the animals around.
   
   "'The matter was getting serious. If any more of the critters took on
   such courage the herd would be out of control.
   
   "'There was a little fellow in the brunch whom all the rawhides picked
   on. He was the 'goat' of the outfit. Waddy 00088Jones started to have
   some fun with the 'goat', and he surprised everyone by beating hell
   out of Jones. There was something funny about the whole thing.
   
   "'After the fight between the two men, I called the 'goat' to one side
   and asked how come that he tied into Jones and beat up on him so
   easily. He told me to take a drink of the water out of the spring
   where the chickens runs were. I did, and I felt so strong that I was
   afraid of myself. That was the answer to the mystery. We named the
   spring the 'Courageous Spring'.
   
   "'What we had to do was see that every man, beast and fowl, drank out
   of the spring, and that put everything where things stood before
   drinking any of the water.
   
   "When I quit the Graham outfit, I returned to Rusk county and went in
   business with my father, buying and selling cattle, which I did for
   several years.

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