TX BIOS:  J. H. Smith
   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.
   
   0001
   
   Range-lore
   
   Annie McAulay
   
   Maverick, Texas
   
   RANGE-LORE
   
   J. H. Smith was born at Milford, Ellis county, Texas, March 4, 1855.
   He moved to Runnels County in 1874, and later in Clay, Kimble and
   Coleman Counties, working on different ranches in those counties.
   
   "Mr. Smith says: "My father had a few cattle, and I learned about them
   while I was growing up.
   
   "We had to learn how to take care of ourselves in them days. and do
   many things that called for courage and skill. When I was fifteen
   years old, my brother, a year or two older, took typhoid fever. The
   doctor told my father he'd have to travel, move him to a higher
   climate or he would die. So father rigged up on old buggy, put in some
   bedding, grub, a few clothes, a little medicine and a gun and brother
   and I 00022started out. I was going to cut across country toward New
   Mexico. We meant to camp at Ft. Worth the first right, but missed our
   route. We came in sight of a house about dark and found the family
   living there frightened and grief-stricken. The Indians had visited
   them the night before and stolen all their horses and killed one of
   their boys. I didn't sleep much that night for fear that the Indians
   might come back.
   
   "The people begged us to wait a day or two before moving on, but we
   left early the next morning. After a day or two my brother began to
   improve, and in two or three weeks he was well, and so we returned
   home, without encountering or ever seeing an Indian on our whole trip.
   
   "I worked on a ranch at Trickham, Coleman County, when first coming to
   the West. I made a trip from Trickham to Ballinger when there were
   only two houses on the route. They belonged to Rich Coffey and Nat
   Guest. I never saw the like of wild game there was out here then, and
   we still had to look out for Indians some after I came west.
   
   "We followed the old Ben Ficklin trail when we moved to Runnels
   County. We got quite a little Indian scare before we got there. We
   intended going around Santa Anna Mountain, but when we got there we
   saw a fire beside the road that the Indians couldn't have abandoned
   more than an hour before. We turned another way and drove until we got
   in the mud so badly 00033we had to make camp for the night. After we
   crossed the creek next morning we saw five moccasin tracks. They had
   crossed our trail again. I felt we had just narrowly escaped an
   encounter with the Redskins.
   
   "I worked for a time on the Harris McNelly ranch south of the San Saba
   river and near Richland Springs. There was one of the prettiest
   springs I ever saw bubbling up right from under the corner of the
   ranch house. I learned to ride broncs, rope and brand with the best of
   'em while there.
   
   "I lived in what was known as North Texas for nine years, working on
   the Block ranch in Clay County, and also for a while in Jack County.
   
   "The cattle owners had lots of things to contend with then, not only
   cold weather and drouths but some times fatal cattle diseases. While I
   was with the Block outfit, somebody brought in some diseased cattle
   one winter from another state and gave it to all the cattle in that
   locality. Cattle died by the thousands. They claimed they lost sixty
   per cent of their herds from that one disease.
   
   "There was quite a bit of trouble during the wire cutting period.
   Three men were killed in a half mile of my place. On the Block ranch
   which was a large one, they built a scaffold and put a dummy up,
   waving its hands. It meant for were cutters to keep away or suffer the
   consequences. 00044"The big ranches often took advantage in fencing
   the free range. The little men needed the free range and felt
   resentful toward the more prosperous cowmen who could afford to buy
   and fence it.
   
   "A big general round-up was a pretty sight to see in open range days.
   All the different outfits would meet and gather cattle, sometimes from
   two or three different counties. Every rancher would cut his cattle
   and take them home or drive them to market.
   
   "The worst stampede I ever saw happened at the head of [DEL: Lompassas
   :DEL] [Lompasas?] river. We had about a thousand steers. Three of us
   was holding the herd one night during a cold drizzly rain from the
   northwest. The cattle had become restless and drifted toward camp. The
   cook went to got some wood and disturbed the cattle. They began to
   stir more than ever. One of the men was on a frisky horse. He became
   frightened of the cook, too, and started running. Away went our herd.
   We started riding to try to turn them. They ran on to a gulley. The
   other fellow's horse hit it first as he had managed to get in front of
   the herd. When his horse fell it threw him on the other side of the
   gulley. A few of the cattle fell into the gulley, too, but the herd
   turned. I managed to keep up with them, and got them started to
   milling. When daylight came, I found myself several miles from camp,
   cold, hungry and tired. We lost two steers that had fallen into the
   gulley, 00055but I guess we were lucky not to have lost more.
   
   *********
   
   RANGELORE:- J. H. Smith, Robert Lee, Texas. Interviewed July 6, 1938.

************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced 
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of
this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives
to store the file permanently for free access.

http://www.usgwarchives.net/

Thanks to the Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/txcat.html
***********************************************************************