TX BIOS:  Mrs. Jack Miles
   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
   
   Folk Stuff Range Lore
   
   Range-lore
   
   Doyle
   
   Page one
   
   RANGE-LORE
   
   "Few women in the entire history of the cow country ever threw their
   sugins (bedding) in the wagon and rode the range with their husband
   like a man as I did," says Mrs. Jack Miles of San Angelo, Texas. "My
   love for horses has always amounted to a passion and I have owned some
   of the finest ones in the country.
   
     NOTE: C.12 - 2/11/41 Texas
     
   "We had few diversions in the early days and when my favorite uncle, a
   ranchman of the Concho Country came to visit us at Uvalde, Texas we
   were thrilled to death. On one of these visits he brought me a picture
   of his buddy, who had become famous for his expert riding and
   00022roping all over the wild and wooly west. One glance at the
   handsome pictured face of this dashing Young Lockinvar changed my
   heart toward all my cowboy suitors and set me wondering if I had
   fallen in love with a picture.
   
   "My family decided to move to Tom Green County. We settled on the
   North Concho River and I was at last in my own element. I could stay
   in my saddle from morning until night, eat out of the chuck wagon and
   attend all the square dances for miles around. I hunted and fished and
   ran races with the dashing vaqueros and at last the day of days came.
   I shall never forget the day I met the Young Lockinvar of my picture.
   He was in his proper setting, at the head of a big drove of horses.
   Jack was of one of the oldest families in the state. Their land
   holdings consisted of fifty sections which stretched across Tom Green
   and Runnels Counties and another ranch of fifty-nine sections in the
   Fort McKavett Country. The town of Miles and also Rowena, as well as
   Harriett were all named for members of the Miles family. They were in
   this country when San Angelo was a mere village of picket houses and
   adobe huts, when gambling tables stood on the side walks and the first
   theatre company performed in a livery stable.
   
   "Jack and I attended many frontier socials, picnics, fish frys, races
   and glorious old time square dances, where the fiddle, banjo, and
   guitar made "Sally Gooden", Turkey in the Straw" and "Pop Goes the
   Weasel", famous. Thirty or forty miles was not considered a long
   distance to go on 00033horse back to a dance. After a night of
   hilarious break downs we were served black coffee and cake to
   stimulate our fagging muscles, for the old time dance was a test of
   endurance as well an skill.
   
   "I rode like an Indian and at the age of 16 did not lack for suitors.
   I led them all a wild race from one end of the Concho Country to the
   other.
   
   "The most treasured gift that love could buy for me was a horse, so
   one of my suitors presented me with a fine steed, which I called Ball
   Stockings. My young heart swayed mightily toward the donor. Then
   another suitor presented me with a still finer steed to add to my
   mount, and asked me to return Ball Stockings to his former owner,
   which I refused to do. One night as a bunch of us were riding out to a
   dance at the Doak Ranch and I was proudly mounted upon Ball Stockings,
   riding beside my latest suitor when crack! went a whip across my
   horse's hips. The jealous donor of Ball Stockings had only meant to
   interrupt our conversation but he succeeded beyond his intentions, for
   my adorable Ball Stockings broke into a startled and furious run and I
   had a race as wildly exciting as my heart could crave, while my
   anxious comrades flew after me. This settled my interest in the
   jealous suitor.
   
   "Jack's lariat had already [?] my heart, anyway, so we were soon
   engaged and we married at the old Bailey home on the T. & F. Ranch. A
   big dinner followed the ceremony and the festivities ended in a big
   square dance that 00044night. Each friend took a piece of my wedding
   veil as a souvenir and my husband and I came to San Angelo next day in
   grand style, riding in a big barouche behind a negro driver. Again the
   wide open spaces claimed me, I lived in the saddle from then on. My
   honeymoon was spent on horse back and Jack liked nothing better than
   to have me at every round-up and often said he wondered how he had
   ever made the long drives without me. Of course I knew he said these
   things only to please me but I liked it just the same. One of his
   first presents to me was a fine thorough bred dun horse. He was
   imported from England by Lord Durand and was the darling of my heart.
   He could pace his mile in three minutes. I called him Baby Dun and the
   magnificent creature became the apple of my eye. I spent months in
   gently training him, the result of which would have given him entry
   into a circus. Jack taught him to kneel for me to mount him, bow to
   the judge, tell his age by pawing with his left foot and we would have
   to teach him to paw one more time each year. When I would go out to
   bridle him he would stand on his hind feet, shake his head at me, then
   come meekly up and take the bits in his mouth. His tricks always
   delighted his many admirers. Jack gave two choice lots in the business
   section of San Angelo for Baby Dun.
   
   "For years the greatest event of our Concho Country was our fair. It
   was a gala week of riding, roping, branding, contests, racing and
   cowboy tournaments of every description. In the many races I won at
   the fair, I rode a side saddle with 00055big black hair saddle
   pockets. These were always filled with candy, won in racing with the
   cowboys. For my racing I used a little brown pony called Pumpkin.
   
   "My saddle, bridle, blanket, spurs, quirt, and rope cost $100.00. My
   bridle bit was silver mounted. My riding habit was made of water proof
   flannel trimmed in big brass buttons. My hat was a John B. Stetson. I
   wore buckskin gauntlet gloves. My boots were calf skin and laced to
   the knees. I still have a pair of them. I was a good shot but never
   wore a pistol.
   
   "The hardest ride I ever made was after a big mustang horse. He was a
   beautiful creature with long silken mane and tail. Jack and I captured
   several of them. This one got with an old outlaw horse that had on a
   big bell. We knew we would have to run him down to catch him, so we
   started toward the ranch. We ran them about fifteen miles and the
   clang of that big bell got louder and louder. I can hear it yet, when
   I think of that ride. We captured the old rascal about sundown. I
   didn't have a dry thread on me. I made this ride on my big Baby Dun
   horse.
   
   "Stray horses bothered us so much by getting into the pasture that one
   day we roped a bunch of them and tied an old dry cowhide to each one
   of their tails. The last we saw of them, they were going over the hill
   with the cowhides standing straight out in the air. We had a good
   laugh and never saw the horses again.
   
   "On one occasion we gathered eleven hundred cattle out 00066of the
   Fort McKavett pasture to be moved to Tom Green County. We threw them
   together on the side of a rocky hill. Jack cut out all the strays and
   it fell to my lot to be placed between the cut and the herd, which is
   a very hard place. One old wild cow was thrown with the cut-backs. She
   tried to run over me and get back into the herd. I was riding a little
   grey pacing pony named Grand Pap. He was as quick as lightning. I ran
   that old heifer for thirty minutes. All at once she made a break,
   simply sniffing the air. I slapped my spurs into Grand Pap and wheeled
   around to head her off when my saddle turned under his belly and I
   fell to the ground among the rocks and mesquite bushes. My horse
   planted his foot on the skirt of my riding habit and stopped dead
   still. Bless his heart! Jack and the boys came running to me but I
   only had a few bruises and scratches. They fixed my saddle back on and
   I went on duty again. This time I took after that old cow and ran her
   so far she never came back. That ended the excitement until that
   night.
   
   "At sun-down the cook struck camp and pitched my tent. (I always had
   my individual tent) then he prepared supper, which consisted of chili
   beans, flavored with garlic, fried calf meat, or broiled calf ribs,
   biscuit bread, baked in a big iron skillet (now called a dutch oven)
   black coffee, stewed dried apples, and molasses. Sometimes we had a
   dish called "Sun-of-a-Gun". All the cowboys considered that a treat
   and I must say it was good. When a meal was ready, the cook would
   holler, 00077'Come and get it, or I am going to throw it out'. A part
   of the boys held the herd while the others came in and ate, then they
   went back on duty and the other boys came in and ate.
   
   "After supper Jack and I went on first guard. We were riding around
   and around, singing to keep the cattle quiet, when all of a sudden a
   big black cloud came up and in a few minutes the lightning was playing
   around on the cows' horns. The thunder was terrific, big drops of rain
   began to fall. I was riding a white horse but it was so dark I could
   see him only when the lightning flashed. The cattle were milling and
   stirring. All the boys were called out and we were doing pretty well
   holding them but the storm was growing worse and worse and the cattle
   getting more and more restless. There had been some wire fences built
   near where we camped and none of us knew how they ran, so as the
   cattle began to break away, the boss hollered 'Let 'em go'. We all
   went to the wagon, got in and sat there the rest of the night. We ate
   breakfast before daylight next morning and overtook the lead cattle
   about seven miles from camp. We only missed about fifty head and we
   got them back in the spring round-up.
   
   "Jack's father owned three of the largest ranches in West Texas and
   Jack bossed them all. I have worked for months at a time with my
   husband, rounding up and branding cattle. I went on the drive and
   helped to throw the cattle on the round-up grounds. When all the
   drives were in we held the herd while the boss rode in and cut out all
   stray 00088cattle. The cut is hard to hold. The cattle cut out try to
   get back into the herd and as we keep them out they get very unruly
   and it takes a lot of riding to hold them.
   
   "I had seven dandy saddle horses in my mount and they were all No. 1
   cow horses. Jack was a natural cowboy and became the champion roper of
   the world, still holding this title. He roped six and seven years old
   steers weighing eight and nine hundred pounds, not calves like the
   champions of today rope. I would not waste my time looking at a calf
   or goat roping now.
   
   "Jack and I rode the range together, in all kinds of weather. When we
   had a tenderfoot with the outfit the boys played jokes on him all the
   time. Some of them were pretty rough too. If he made a mistake which
   he did in most everything he tried to do, not knowing anything about
   the cow business, the boys would bend him over the wagon tongue and
   hit him six or eight licks with a pair of leather leggings. They
   called that putting the leggings on him. If there was a creek near by
   they would throw him in, cloths and all and tell him to swim or drown.
   
   "Rattlesnakes are the worst enemies the cowboys have. They seem to
   want to share the boys' warm beds and often crawled in among their
   blankets.
   
   "One night two of the boys made their beds together. One of the boys
   could make a hissing sound exactly like a rattlesnake. After they went
   to bed and got warm, Frank began 00099to hiss through his teeth. The
   other old boy came out of that bed like a wild cat and could not be
   persuaded to go back to bed that night, what sleep he got was leaning
   against a tree by the fire with a big stick in his hand.
   
   "On another occasion we moved a herd to the Colorado Ranch on the
   Colorado River. We had been branding and I was keeping tally. After we
   had finished we were so tired and dirty Jack said, 'Let's go to the
   river and take a bath'. He saddled old Dun, I mounted and he rode
   behind me. When we got to the river we saw that it was rising. The
   water looked dirty and red. I did not go in but Jack took his bath and
   we started back to camp. Old Dun was single footing and Jack slapped
   him on the hips, he got faster and pretty soon down he went and I went
   on over his head about five feet and landed right on my head. Jack,
   old Dun and I were all piled up together. My horse scrambled to his
   feet and Jack jumped up and picked me up. I was only stunned and came
   out of it in a minute with no bad effects except a big knot on my
   head. Jack was not hurt but my darling horse was standing there
   shaking all over and covered with dirt. His mouth was bleeding as the
   bit had broken and cut it. The sight of him in that condition hurt me
   worse than the fall I got. Baby Dun had stepped into an old out bed
   and that caused him to fall. Ordinarily he was as light footed as an
   elk.
   
   "When we got back to the ranch we were rested and someone suggested
   that we go hunting. We kept a pack of 001010hounds in the barn left so
   we saddled fresh mounts and turned the dogs out. They were frisky and
   eager to run, barking and yelping, ready to go. It was fun to run and
   keep up with them. When we came to a wire fence the boys would jump
   down and kick the staples out and stand on the wire until we all rode
   over. When the dogs would catch the coyotes they had great fun killing
   them.
   
   "I certainly enjoyed ranch life and wish I could live it all over
   again, but time had brought such changes that ranching is not what it
   used to be. I want to say that the old fashioned cowboys were the
   finest fellows I ever knew, loyal and true in every respect and had
   the greatest respect for women. They would lay down their lives if
   necessary for a woman. They were congenial among them selves and would
   give their boss the best they had in them. I will always say, luck to
   the cowboys wherever they may be found and sing to myself, I'm a jolly
   cowgirl, I hunt cows all the time. I always catch the Son-of-a-Gun who
   steals a cow of mine. I can ride a bronco and ride him with all ease.
   I can rope a streak of lightning and ride it where I please".

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