Jones County Texas Archives - Swenson Family - 1927 *********************************************************** Submitted by: Dorman Holub Date: 19 January 2020 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/jones/jonestoc.htm *********************************************************** The Stamford American Thursday, June 30, 1927 Swensons Played Important Part in Local History S.M.S. Cattle known throughout the nation; Headquarters here S.M. Swenson born in OleÕ Sweden, and later coming to the U.S.A. and still later to this part of the county where he took up claims, bought land and cattle, probably did not realize how gigantic an undertaking he had started. For today the famous S.M. S. Brand of Commercial Herefords is known from coast to coast and north and south. S.M. Swenson was the founder of this great institution Swenson Bros. and more recently Swenson Land & Cattle Co. These people today, own and operate about 400,000 acres of land. Even though there may be ranches much larger it is hard to realize the amount of territory covered in so large a tract. Or in this case, tracts of land. E.P. and S.A. Swenson, present owners acquired the famous Tongue River ranch of about 90,000 acres in 1898. The S.M.S. Throckmorton ranch was the original Swenson ranch, acquired by S.M. Swenson when he first moved to West Texas. In this tract there are about 110,000 acres. He also acquired the famous Flat Top (now headquarters) ranch of about 40,000 acres, a part of which has been sold since. S.M. Swenson also acquired the Ericksdahl ranch, about 40,000 to 50,000 acres, but most of this land has been sold since that time. The S.M. S. Spur ranch, owned by a New York Syndicate, in which Swenson Bros. are prominently recognized, was bought in 1907. There were 400,000 acres originally in this tract. These lands are being sold from time to time. In the beginning of S.M.S. history all lands in this part of the west were in open range. Swenson Bros. were the first to fence with barbed wire. From almost the beginning the Swenson Bros. have been consistently improving on their herd. Their breeding policy has been for a number of years 90 percent Hereford and 10 percent Shorthorn or probably more clearly understood as an infusion of Shorthorn blood which is produced by putting one shorthorn bull to nine Hereford bulls in every commercial herd. Bulls from the best herds in the world are put in these registered herds. The S.M.S. does not specialize in registering cattle, but are proud of the fact that they keep only purebred herds. All cattle that donÕt stand up to breeding and make good individuals are cut out. Marketing In the early days, buyers came down from the east for roundup and bought herds at a time. Cattle were sold in large numbers in this way until after 1900. The policy then adopted was to sell direct to the feeders in the corn belt for fattening. S.M.S. Cattle were introduced to the feeders by auctions and special advertising. Most feeders wanted either calves or yearlings more than others and in this event Swenson Bros. featured a standardized product, known as S.M.S. Standard Calves, and S.M.S. Standard Yearlings, the same standard sold to all buyers. In this way the S.M.S. has built a reputation that is nationally known. From 12,000 to 15,000 Calves are branded each year, and as the size of the herd remain practically the same then it is safe to say the sale runs in the same proportion. Keep 1500 Horses About 1500 horses are kept by the S.M.S. including mares and cow ponies for own use. The year-round services of 75 cowboys are used in the operation exclusively. One of the outstanding characters in S.M.S. history was Frank S. Hastings, deceased. Mr. Hastings was nationally known as a poet, writer and speaker. He was manager of the S.M.S. Ranches for 20 years and until his death in 1922. Another of the famous S.M.S. men that is nationally known and is loved and respected by all who know him is Joe Ericson of Spur. Mr. Ericson has been with the S.M.S. a number of years longer than any other cowboy that is still in their service. Then, of course, everyone in our near Stamford knowns ÔScandalousÕ John Selman, foreman of the S.M.S. Flat Top ranch. An account of the life history of ÔScandalous JohnÕ is found elsewhere in this issue. A.J. Swenson, present manager and superintendent, is now on a tour of Europe. W.G. Swenson, son of A.J. Swenson is in active charge of S.M.S. activities at the present time. The writer has this to say about W.G. or more familiarly known as Bill, that he is an efficient executive, that he is capable of handling the office he now holds, assistant manager and superintendent, to perfection. And Bill is a real cowboy, too. He can and often does Ôride right outÕ on roundup, handles a rope in an enviable way in branding, and it is generally known and understood around the corral that bill doesnÕt have to Ôclaw leatherÕ on a bad horse. The S.M.S. office and town headquarters for the last quarter of a century is now being moved from its old location on the northeast corner of the square in Stamford to make way for a modern store and office building. So, it is in ranching history, that many things have been accomplished on the S.M.S. modern methods are supplanting the old. The old Texas Longhorn has retired in favor of the purebred Hereford. The open range is a thing of the past. The chuck wagon is a novelty in the eyes of the great American public and the cowboys go a courtinÕ in automobiles.