Oral History of West Coke County, Texas

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Submitted by Mary Love Berryman - marylove@tyler.net
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The Observer/Enterprise, 29 Mar 2002, Robert Lee, TX

Permission granted by Observer/Enterprise for publication in the
Coke County TXGenWeb Archives

The following was written in 1979 for a Folklore Class at Angelo State 
University.

Oral history of West Coke County

by Bonita Copeland

Robert Lee came into existence as the Coke County seat in 1890.  It
was after a battle involving intense rivalry and political 
maneuvering. The County was first organized in 1889 and Hayrick, 
near the mountain that bears that name, was selected as the county 
seat.  There it remained for about a year.

Mr. Eugene Cartledge, a son-in-law of L. B. Harris and then a young 
lawyer in San Angelo, wanted Robert Lee to be the county seat.  He
contested the election on the grounds that Hayrick was not the 
center of the county, and the water supply at Hayrick was 
insufficient.  Mr. Cartledge urged the people now living at Hayrick 
to move to a site located on the Colorado River where there would 
be adequate water.  This land was owned by Mr. Harris, who offered 
to donate the townsite and give every citizen of Hayrick who owned 
a house there, a lot on which to move.

Those who opposed said that the removal would destroy the value of
their homes.  It would disrupt the school term.  A contract for a 
new brick courthouse "had been let and could not be canceled."

Mr. Cartledge did not give up easily however, and waged a campaign 
to have the county seat moved.  He got out an injunction against 
building the brick courthouse at Hayrick pending the proposed 
election to move the county seat.

District Judge J. W. Timmins ruled against Cartledge, but he 
appealed once more.  The injunction was dissolved, but not until
it became apparent that nothing would be done toward building the 
new courthouse until after the removal election.

Cartledge backed H. L. Adams to oppose Judge G. W. Perryman as 
county judge.  Adams pledged that if he were elected he would call 
a special election.  Perryman said if he were elected he would 
refuse to call a removal election.  Adams was elected.

At the next election Robert Lee won by a majority of 48 votes.  Mr.
Harris gave a lot to every family who lived at Hayrick, the moving
began and Robert Lee was born.

Before the removal election, the courthouse (at Hayrick) burned, 
destroying most of the records.  There had been much talk concerning
misappropriations of filing fees, which people had paid to file on 
their homesteads.  There was an inquiry called to ivestigate, but 
was dismissed for lack of evidence.

The remaining few records were moved into a small house at Robert Lee,
and two weeks later that building also burned.  Soon after this fire, a 
lawyer named Billups, who had been investigating the remnants of the
unburned records, was found drowned in a shallow water hole in 
Mountain Creek.  "A heavy rock was wired to his neck, and his feet were
wired together." An inquest was held and a verdict of suicide was 
rendered.  It is not known who held the inquest.

People fradulently settled on Harris's land.  Cartledge filed twenty-
one suits at one time in the Justice Court.  Conditions were unsettled
those first years.

The County was named in honor of Richard Coke who was both senator and 
governor for the state of Texas.

Robert Lee was named after the Civil War rebel general.  Lee came to 
Texas before the war as a federal cavalry officer on duty against the
Indians.  Since he had scouted the Colorado River Valley, he already
bore an identity with the area, and was honored widely by West Texans.

An important point of historical interest in Coke County is the 
Butterfield Overland Mail route which moved approximately 35 miles 
across the county near the site of old Fort Chadbourne, followed a 
southwesterly direction to a point on Grape Creek, thence until it
crossed the county line.  The entire trip for the stage one way, from
Memphis, Tennessee, to San Francisco, California, totaled twenty-four
days of continuous driving.

John Butterfield had admonished his drivers to "remember boys, nothing 
on God's earth must stop the U. S. Mail."  In spite of Indians and 
outlaws, drought and death, heat, hell and somtime high water, the 
mail was usually ahead of time.

There are two stations on the Butterfield Trail in Coke County, the 
well known station at Fort Chadbourne on which has been lost.  There
are those who believe that this lost site was actually on Yellow Wolf
Creek, some 15 or so miles west of the site of the station near Fort
Chadbourne.  There seems to be some evidence of the burned out log
station.  Yellow Wolf Creek may have been called Grape Creek at that
time.

Mr. J. Q. McCabe, who had settled in the southwest part of the area in
1882, was one of several citizens who helped build the first store
buildings in Robert Lee.

Mrs. Mark Chumley, 84 years of age and daughter of Mr. McCabe, told 
that her family put down roots near Wildcat Springs.  This was a
beautiful and resourceful spot.  In later years pipe was plumbed into
the wall of the creek bank to aid the natural flow for the family needs.

Mrs. Chumley related that an uncle, James McCabe was a government scout
in the area, and stationed at Fort Chadbourne in the 1860s.  He was
only 17 years old when he first worked on the detail.

Mrs. Chumley and several brothers and sisters attended Simpson School, 
one of the first schools in the county, which was located some miles 
to the south and west from their home.  They commuted in a one horse
buggy.  She said that teachers usually sent children home early if 
weather conditions threatened.  She remembered that on one occasion the 
teacher was late sending the children home and her younger brother and
sister were lost in a snow storm before reaching home.  Fortunately the
children were found before it was too late.

There were Indian parties traveling through the country at this time,
no longer hostile but looking for horses to buy, trade for or steal.
Mrs. Chumley said "horse stealing was as serious a crime as killing a 
man.

Two U. S. marshals showed up uninvited, at the wedding of a young
couple in the community.  The occasion was festive, the bride 
beautifully arrayed, with all the friends and neighbors attending.
The marshalls were there to apprehend the bride's two brothers for
stealing horses.

Mrs. Chumley told tales of youthful michievousness taking place in 
the town of Robert Lee, during her early years.  Some of the young 
men loved to ride their horses down the sidewalks of the new town and 
shoot their guns.  Two or three of these fellows completely cleaned 
out the kitchen of an important lady of the town, just before she was 
to serve dinner at a large social function meeting in her home.

Some remember the sheriff taking drastic action after a time and shot
the horse from under one of the young gentlemen to stop some of the 
foolishness for good.

When ranchers first settled the country, it was considered open range
territory.  They brought their herds in and occupied a site under the
well known early-day system of "range rights."  The early cattlemen
had a sort of "gentlemen's agreement" or unwritten law concerning 
range rights.  It seems that the "first come first serve" rule 
prevailed, and the first to arrive had first claim to the range.  The 
range was unfenced and very few men had any real or legal claim to 
the land grazed by his herd.  One early day Texas rancher is said to 
have owned 50,000 cattle and 11 acres of land.

Barbed wire and cedar posts made their appearance.  However the 
"fencing war" of the 1880s began soon.  The war lasted several years.
It seemed to be a common occurrence for a man to build fences all day, 
and when he returned to his job the next day he would find that some-
one had cut the wire and pulled up the posts during the night.  Many 
times it was burned by "organized fence-cutting mobs".

L. B. Harris had 12 sections of land on the Colorado River.  One night 
in the fall of 1883, the fence cutters cut some forty mils of his fence 
between every post.  The Harrises were getting ready to fence some 
land about four miles west of Robert Lee.  The wire cutters burned 
10,000 cedar posts and two box-car loads of barbed wire that were 
stacked and ready to use.

Ranchers began to organize themselves.  The Cattlemen's Association 
came into being.  Texas Rangers were sent to the area to quiet the 
disturbances.  Ben Warren was hired to investigate difficulties.
Warren was shot and killed.  Governor John Ireland called a special
session of the legislature which passed a law making fence cutting a
felony.  (It is still against the law to carry wire cutters.)  The 
Warren killing just about put an end to fence cutting in the Coke 
area, and things had settled down considerably before homesteaders 
began to arrive in large numbers.  But the really old-time cowman 
never learned to like fences, his dislike is expressed poetically by 
Charles Badger Clark, Jr.

"Let the Cattle rub my tombstone down
And coyotes mourn their kin,
Let horses pay and tram the moun
But don't you fence it in!"

The old-time cowboy rides the range no more.  He was picturesque, a 
hard-riding, gun-toting, happy-to-lucky fellow.  He was a bronzed
figure in high-heeled, narrow-toed boots, chaps, and a ten gallon
hat.  He would be surprised to know that present day cowboys ride
the range in a pickup truck most of the time.

Ranching has always been the most important industry found in the 
country.  Farming is important, and until 1947 these were the basic
economic resources.  Income from oil since that time has been 
important.

Parts of the Colorado River Valley are greatly rolling, while other
areas are divided by mountains.  The 931 square mile area of Coke
County, for the most part, has mountainous boundaries.

One of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River is Yellow Wolf
Creek, named for a Comanche Indian Chief who led a band of Indians
in the area, and according to legend, is buried on a hill 
overlooking the valley.

Meadow Mountain (the hightest in the county), and Stepp Mountain are 
notable mountains in the northwest area of the county.  Goat Mountain 
is a little farther west.  Important is Silver Peak (though not so
high), where there is a post office and a community named for it.  
Silver Peak is the object of a legend which concerns a lost silver
mine.  He went home to raise the money for a mining project but died
before he got back to the mine.  Years later his brother, using the 
former's map, came in search of the mine, but never found it.  This 
story has almost been forgotten since the discovery of black gold in
the area.

Partner Gap is also on the northwest.  It is marked with a historical
marker noting it as a landmark on an ancient Indian trail and early
route of travelers and military, west of Fort Chadbourne, before the 
Civil War.  It is literally a gap through the mountains.  Highway
206 passes through it now.  It was named Panther Gap, legend has it, 
for the panthers which once roamed the region, and probably still do.

Another story is told about Panther Gap.  A woman was separated and 
lost from her wagon train in the area.  Some say her screams can be
heard late at night, still.  Whether it is her screams or that of a
panther might be hard to determine.

On the north side of the county are two notable mountains, Horse
Mountain and Durham Peak.  These are near the Sanco Community.  The
following is an article published in the Robert Lee Observer 
May 7, 1964.  Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Durham pioneeered to the hills of 
Durham's Peak, overlooking the valley of Yellow Wolf Creek.  There 
were no stores or shops or post offices for miles, and very few
people.  There was a Spanish hero named Sancho.  A descendant of the
Durhams believes that the first post office they (her family) applied
for, was named for him.

It is believed that the Durhams moved to this location in 1878, which 
was the first year the Indian raids ceased.  There was also an Indian
Chief, Saneco, who ranged in the country at that time.  Many people
believed that the post office and community were named for him.

Mr. Durham was perhaps the first rock mason in the area.  He cut 
live oak to make a fire hot enough to make his own lime for mortar
from native limestone and his home-made kiln (a remnant of it) is
still at the foot of Durham Peak.

There were at one time some 30 or 31 schools scattered over the county.
Sometimes not more than 20 children attended.  This may have been 
because they had a long way to go.  The only way of commuting was by 
foot or horse back or buggy.

Those first schools had home-made benches and tables, and rawhide or 
rope bottomed chair for the teacher.  Heat came from a wood box-stove
and a wood box for fuel which was replenished by the "big boys" as it
was needed.

It meant real sacrifice on the part of parents and children to support 
these pioneer schools.  Now there are only two schools, one in Robert
Lee and one in Bronte.

The Methodist Church in Robert Lee was the first Church building in 
the area.  Several other congregations met there as well as Methodists
for some time.  Mrs. Cortez Russell, now 88 years of age, served this
church as organist for more than 50 years.  She came to Robert Lee in
1901 when she was 10 years old.  Her father, W. K. Simpson was pastor.
He preached once a month at Robert Lee, and once a month at Hayrick,
Sanco, and Bronte churches.

Dripping Springs was a favorite haunt of early day young people, and
the scene of many gatherings, picture making parties, picnics, and
family outings.  It is almost a mile north of old Edith, just below
the crossing on Salt Creek.  Edith was the site of the first post 
office in Coke County and is 8 miles west of Robert Lee.  Mrs. Ralph
Garvin told me that Edith was named by one of the first school teachers
for is lady friend.

In the memory of the oldest old-timer even in the driest years, 
Dripping Springs has never ceased to drip.  The main spring formerly
ran or dripped in many fine streams from a cluster of moss covered,
overhanging formations.  Much of the overhand has been lost through
caving.  This place was listed as a wonder of nature for years in the
Texas Almanac.

"Dripping Springs made good business for operators of livery stables
in the old days.  A favorite way for a beau to entertain his lady
friend was to rent a buggy and team, or a rubber-fired trap "built for 
two" and pulled by one horse, and join the caravan of buggies that 
often took the crowd to Dripping Springs on Sunday afternoons."

Young people of the 1940s and 1950s also gathered at Dripping Springs 
for parties and picnics.  The mode of travel changed, however, in this 
area now there is a community of lake homes and week end houses.  This
new growth was stimulated by the building of Lake Spence, not very far
from Dripping Springs.

Some of the old school houses, after consolidation became community 
centers.  Club meetings, quilting parties, and forty-two parties were
now held in these places.  They were the scenes of the fruit suppers,
box and pie suppers.  Many times fund raising affairs were held in the 
old school houses.  Country musicals and singings were special affairs
held there.

(History of West Coke County to be continued next week.)

The Observer/Enterprise, 5 Apr 2002, Robert Lee, TX

(continued from last week's Issue)

The county has a history of some illegal social events.  In 1933 
Sheriff Percifull and other officers found and confiscated an illegal
plant in the woodland of a farm near the now abandoned Fort Chadboume. 
It was a crude affair but it was supposed that it was delivering the 
goods or rather the booze--as it was connected up and fire had just 
died out under one of the containers.  The sheriff never did find 
anyone who laid claim to the still.

In the 1960s another confiscation took place, again on the east side of 
the county.  This time the operators were on the scene.  This still
stored in the old county jail which is no longer used for jail.

To be fair to the east side I must include the tale of another social 
event, this on taking place on the far west side of the county. The 
people involved in this were not Coke Countians.  An Easter Sunday 
afternoon, April 14, 1963, two Texas Ranger, Sheriff Childress and 
other deputies were uninvited guests at what they called "two ring 
poultry show" taking place at a secluded spot in the northwest corner 
of Coke County. (Only one road into the site near the river create an
easy trap for the social gathering).  Seventy-seven men were arrested
and paid fines for illegal cock fighting.  The county collected over
$1,500 in fines that day.

The thrill of black gold discovery in the county in 1946 was similar 
to that of the old time prospector finding the shiny stuff in "them 
thar Hills."  On November 17, 1946 Coke County gained its first major 
oil well and as the result of this discovery, the county began to 
enjoy the greatest period of prosperity in its history. This first 
field, and largest discovery is located in the Northwest part of the 
county near the before mentioned Silver Peak.  Since then there have 
been discoveries in many parts of the county.

In the early 1950s many families who lived in the oil fields and worked 
for oil companies on the far Northwest of the county felt kinship with 
the pioneers.  This area is rugged near the earlier mentioned Goat 
Mountain. This part never had in the history of the county been more 
than sparsely populated.  It was mainly known to the rancher and cowboy 
spoken of earlier.

These families had modern homes but good roads and bridges were yet to 
come.  When rains came and low water crossings were not passable, 
children walked over the river on a swinging bridge or were carried on 
a trolley to meet school buses on the other side.  These facilitie were 
provided by the oil companies until a later time when good roads and 
bridges were built. Some anxious prospective parents made special 
arrangements to be met on the other side of the river, an then carried 
some 25 or more miles to the hospital if the unborn chose to come into 
the world when the river couldn't be crossed by car.  Vehicles were 
sometimes stationed on both sides for company employees who had to go 
elsewhere on business.

The good roads and bridges did come. Some remember when rains ending 
long drought came in 1957 threatening a new bridge which had to be 
reinforced and lengthened.  Low lying wells of the oil field were 
serviced in a motor boat. Flood water has not risen as high since that 
time.

For 80 years people watched red water of the Colorado River roll 
through the county, and thought about how to hold it within. Through 
the years plans for a dam on the river have come and gone, as have 
surveyors when money and provisions played out. To make a long story 
short many dreams were fulfilled in 1969.  Now E. V. Spence Reservoir 
backs up behind Robert Lee Dam.

There is not only plenty of water available, but an ideal summer 
recreation facility has been added to the economy of Robert Lee and the 
county.  The reservoir, when full covers 14,950 acres of land and the 
capacity is 488,750 acre feet of water. The waters are well stocked 
with game fish, providing excellent fishing.  Sailing, water skiing,
and boating are popular sports.

This paper only touches the general area and but a few communities and 
historical high spots.  In conclusion I want to add that Coke County 
has a newly organized pageant association.  Mrs. Wilson Bryan, a 
retired music teacher, has led in this organization and each summer 
directs a pageant portraying some of the history of the county.  She 
and her husband were instrumental in the building of a new am­phitheatre, 
where last sum­mers pageant was presented. More than 150 people, many 
of whom were descendants of early settlers, made up the cast.

NOTES:

Mrs. J. N. Yarbrough, 86 years old, Robert Lee, Texas published 41 
articles in the weekly Robert Lee Observer during the year of 1954. 
Mrs. Yarbrough used this material in a thesis in 1953, and it is 
included in a forthcoming book (now in the hands of the publisher) on 
Coke County History. Mrs. Yarbrough was my high school English teacher 
in Robert Lee (1945-1949). I have talked with her about this project 
and she has given me suggestions and permission to use her pub­lished 
material. I believe all the quotes within the paper are hers that are 
not attributed to someone else.

Mr. Ulmer S. Bird, Sanco, Texas was the editor of the Robert Lee 
Observer when the above mentioned articles were published. There were 
some articles he wrote himself concerning the Sanco Com­munity history 
that I have used.

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Garvin, retired ranchers, 78 and 73 years of age, 
Robert Lee, Texas told me about Edith, some things about Dripping 
Springs, and about social af­fairs in the old community school 
buildings. They oper­ated the Edith general store and post office during 
the years 1929 through 1937.

Mrs. Cortez Russell, 88 years of age, Robert Lee, Texas, told me about 
the first church in Robert Lee.

My father, Melvin Childress, 66 years old, Robert Lee, Texas, was 
county sheriff in the 1960s. He told me about the stills, the Cock 
Fight and the early sheriff shooting the young man's horse.

Mrs. Mark Chumley, 84 years old and a native of Coke County, lives 
with her hus­band in Robert Lee, Texas. They are retired ranchers. 
Their land and old family home has been deeded to their children.

Mrs. Jewell G. Pritchett, From the "Top of Old Hayrick," (Abilene, 
Texas, H. V. Chap­man & Sons, 1979). I used Mrs. Pritchett's book for 
a few statistics and the statement that the Dripping Springs site 
appeared in the Texas Al­manac as a natural wonder.

My husband, Leslie Copeland, 52 years old, (Robert Lee, Texas) and I 
lived 8 miles west of Silver in the 1950s and 1960s. He still works 
for Perkins Prothro Oil Company in the same area.  We moved to Robert 
Lee in 1968 and he now drives there to work. I am a native of Coke 
County and his roots have been transplanted here from near Potales, 
New Mexico since 1947.

Mr. Ruth Williams, 62 years of age, Robert Lee, Texas, my neighbor 
and a native of the county, helped me collect many, many newspapers 
that carried Mrs. Yarbrough's articles and others that I used.