WESLEY LOCKHART, Bronte Farmer, 1940, Coke County, TX ***************************************************************** 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/ Submitted by Jo Collier - jomar@wcc.net 15 Oct 2000 ***************************************************************** Memories Live With Spry Texas WESLEY LOCKHART, 86, BRONTE FARMER FOR 10 YEARS RECALLS INDIANS, CHISHOLM TRAIL, REPUBLICAN PARTY. By John Phelan, Staff Writer San Angelo Standard-Times, 28 Dec 1940 Indians, Longhorn cattle, old powder and ball rifle, and most of all a trip up the Chisholm Trail from Burnet County to Wichita, Kan., live on in the memory of Wesley Warren Lockhart, 86-year old Texas pioneer and a citizen at Bronte for 10 years. They call him just plain Wes, that is the thousands of Texas cow punchers, ranchmen that know him. His family has dubbed him "granddad." but for either Wes or "granddad" it's been a wonderful life being a Texan, a boy, a cowpuncher, a Republican (but for the Roosevelt campaign) and a lover of juicy beefsteak. He didn't go to school very much . . . they didn't have many schools when he was of age to attend. So he just spent his time hunting and fishing on the Llano River. KILLED 33 BUFFALO Buffalo were plentiful when he was a San Angelo butcher during the days of the Civil War and the Fort Concho here. He recalls one time when he shot 33 of the extinct beast in three acres of space. That was a bountiful day. Everybody in West Texas knows Wes. He's been in nearly every county, especially Burnet, Williamson, and Llano. Then he lived in New Mexico at hope and Weed. His sense of humor hasn't failed him. He likes Western movies and retells the time when he asked his wife - she died in 1934 after 54 years of married life - to attend a showing of "Custer's Last Injun Fight." That was at Hope, N. M. He laughs and adds "she had a terrible nightmare that night." Wes was about 86 years years old on Dec. 19 and celebrated quietly with his daughter and son-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. J. D. Leonard, who live next door to his small place in Bronte. SINGS FOR LULLING CATTLE The old timer still retains that musical touch. Old cowboy tunes that he used ot hum as a young man when driving cattle are glued in his memory. And his fingers are still nimble enough to stroke the fiddle. He smiled and retold the story of how he and "the boys" hummed tunes to the Longhorns while herding them across the Red River on that march to Wichita, Kan. Was lost the terminal phalans of the first three fingers on his left hand, but that doesn't handicap his fiddle playing or anything else. It all happened when he and a boy friend were hurrying to cut some wood. Wes grabbed the wood before the boy was finished. He's punched the longhorn steer and he's had narrow escapes with Indians, too. They all came about in 1872 when he, as an 18-year old youth, was helping drive 2,000 head of longhorns up the Chisholm Trail from Burnet. Tom Thaxton was the owner. It took three months for the party of more than 10 to make the trip to Wichita, Kan. in that herding party were such old timers as Ben Wallace, Joe Starr, J. Hugh Lockhard (a brother), Al Chadbourne, Tom Thaxton, Rufe Thaxton, Jess Ray, and Wes. They went through Fort Worth, but when they reached the Red River at Red River Station the river was up so they had to ford it. The boys swam across, guarding the cattle, while the churck wagon and supplies went across on the ferry several miles down the stream. SURPRISED BY INDIANS Near the Oklahoma-Texas border a part of Indians (some of them could speak English, Wes recalls) surprised the boys. Tom Thaxton killed a beef and satisfied the Indians who cut and cooked it right there on the spot. Once before Wes had nearly encountered a party of redmen. On that drive up the Chisholm Trail all but 15 of the 2,500 head arrived safely. They lost them while fording another river at Salt Fork, Arkansas. "Oh, I've got lots of kin people in Llano County," boasts Wes. His brother, Sam Lockhart, was the first sheriff of Llano County years ago. Wes recalls now Sam was murdered and he visited his grave five years ago. "There's a clump of trees grown over it now," he told. LIVELY ENOUGH TO VISIT He's still lively enough to "visit around," even if he is just the least bit hard of hearing. Five years ago he visited a daughter, Mrs. Ellen Flannagan at Los Angeles and a son Ernest at San Bernadino, Calif. Another son, Prof. W. E. Lockhart at West Texas State Teacher College at Canyon, and a grandson, are slated for one-year's active service in the National Guard at Camp Bowie soon. Mr. Lockhart is a captain. Wes wears an army shirt given him by Capt. Lockhart. He's a farmer now in Bronte, owns a house and lot and "makes a small garden." It's been a great life for Wesley Warren Lockhart, father of seven children and one of Texas' oldest cattlemen. Permission granted by San Angelo Standard-Times for publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb Archives -------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Coke County - Cemeteries, Epitaphs & Dates, Compiled by Bonita Compeland and Wanda Smith, p 37 Fairview Cemetery, Bronte, TX Lockhart, William W.(Wesley) 19 Dec 1854 25 Feb 1943 Lockhart, Sarah E. (Eliza) Teague 25 Jan 1858 21 Mar 1934