Also for the sake of they weren't well built and were fire hazards. I believe the Academic Building is mostly concrete because of the loss of Old Main.

Awe come on Canyon Ag
You're just way to logical.

CanyonAg is correct in regard to building construction technology of that earlier time. The first building on campus in which reinforced concrete was used was Nagle Hall in 1909. Buildings constructed prior to that time had a stone and masonry shell, but the interiors were self supporting timber framework with plank floors, walls and ceilings (the walls of some building may have been batten with plaster.)

That is the difference F.E. Giesecke, Class of 1888, made when he became college architect and construction supervisor in 1904. His post-grad studies had been in the new-tech of reinforced concrete (this included a time at the University of Berlin which was most advanced in that science.)

But even at that, building fires were not common events on campus.

The record:
Mess Hall --- 1911
Old Main --- 1912
Mechanical Engineering Shops --- 1920
President's Home --- 1963
Board of Directors' House --- 1979

This photo of Old Main after the fire in 1912 illustrates the concept of a masonry shell enclosing a timber and plank interior. (The shell was pulled down by cadets using ropes.) Behind Old Main is the Chemical and Veterinary Building and to the left of Old Main is Austin Hall.



Construction technology available to A&M College in 1899 is fairly illustrated below. The building in progress is the original Agriculture Building, later called Science Hall.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/17/2007 3:13p).]

I know, they were still beautiful buildings lost to history now.

Fossil good to have you posting again on this topic. Dad grew up in the Roby area, last name of Jay. You may have known him and/or his siblings.

Dawg6 ... I grew up in the vicinity of Roby and many years ago knew a Jay family there. Joe (Neely?) Jay was a best friend in high school in the late 1940s of my oldest brother. This Jay had a couple of older sisters, one of whom, I think, was named Thelma. But they were high schoolers in the early 1940s so as you can imagine I had even less contact with them. Grade schoolers did not exist as far as Roby high schoolers were concerned.

If this Joe Jay happened to be your father, I will apologize again for having been a party to an episode that caused grief to your grandmother. Four of us would-be cowboys were working cattle for your grandmother in about 1949 or so. It was her idea for us to dehorn that big bad bull she owned. I agree that it was mostly our fault that the bull broke free of our best wrestling holds as soon as that first horn came off ... but we did not feel compounded guilt because he broke down one side of the corral and in succession took out two cross fences as he headed south down the Cottonwood creek bottoms knocking down trees with that one remaining horn. That bull was a particularly ill-tempered individual and I still consider him overly sensitive about his horns.

In the foreground of this photo is Gathright Hall (1876-1933), the second building constructed on campus. In the background is the Old Main Building, the first building on campus (1875-1912 burned.)



Gathright Hall was originally called Steward's Hall because it housed the first dining hall on campus and was also the campus dormitory. President Gathright made himself at home in an apartment on the top floor and the building was later named in his honor.

Gathright Hall faced Military Walk and was located between Legett Hall and Milner Hall (both 1911-present.)

This photo taken in 1908 represents the third and fourth masonry buildings on campus ... Austin Hall (1888-1955) and Pfeuffer Hall (1887-1954.) The fellows in this photo obviously had a lot of time on their hands.



Austin Hall and Pfeuffer were identical in design. Austin Hall faced south and was generally from the southeast corner of Gathright Hall to near the northeast corner of Old Main. Pfeuffer Hall was located just south of Old Main and faced to the west.

TERRY L ... This photo is for you since you enjoy historic architecture. The building pictured is the fifth permanent structure on campus ... the first Assembly Hall (1889-1929.)



The Assembly Hall was located south of the other building, faced to the west, and would one day face on Military Walk. It was torn down in 1929 to make room for Hart Hall that would be built on that corner.

The old Assembly Hall was used as a chapel, a meeting place and as an auditorium for the first groups of cadets. Guion Hall built in 1918 just southwest of Assembly Hall could seat approximately 2,500 and it assumed the chapel and auditorium roles from Assembly Hall. The YMCA built in 1914 had earlier assumed the "living room" function of the Assembly Hall.

The figures on the top of Assembly Hall are not student pranksters ... but heroic statuary. Surely that was not destroyed with the building in 1929.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/17/2007 10:08p).]

Another of the original buildings on campus that would eventually face on Military Walk was Ross Hall (1892-1955.) Ross Hall was located a bit north and forward of Old Main and the Academic Building (it was across Military Walk from the back of the YMCA.)

This is a rather grandiose picture of Ross Hall because it actually was not a large building (112ft X 41ft) but it was ornate in front view.



Ross was built as a dormitory and it had 41 two person rooms. Although it remained upright until 1955 it had serious design faults and structural weaknesses. In 1930 it was condemned for habitation and was relegated to storage use. But the demand for space was so dire after WWII that Ross was renovated and placed back in use. In 1950 it became the office headquarters of the Commandant. By 1954 it was beyond repair and demolition began.

The last of the pre-1900 buildings that would face on Military Walk was Foster Hall (1899-1951.) Foster Hall was a dormitory. It was located forward of and to the south of Old Main and the Academic Building (the south end of the Academic Building is visible at the left side of the photo.



Military Walk would eventually pass this side of Foster Hall in the photo ... and in 1951 the Coke Building would be built over the grass in the foreground of the photo.

Thanks Fossil.

I do love the historic architecture, our campuses in Ms. and at U of Al are full of original buildings. We had a dorm at MUW that was pre Civil War and used as a hospital during the Battle of Corinth. It was supposed to be haunted.

I also wonder what might have happened to the statues. Surely they saved those.
Hart Hall, that was Dad's dorm.

[This message has been edited by TERRY L (edited 7/18/2007 2:22p).]

This photo shows the location of two old buildings rarely the subject of interest but very important in early student life.

The photo was taken between 1908 and 1912 and the photographer was standing east of the Chemistry and Veterinary Building and Old Main (center of photo) in about the location where the second Agriculture building would be build in 1922.

The buildings of interest are the second Natatorium (1908-1934), the white frame building to the right of center with gabled roof ... and the first college Infirmary(Hospital) (1895-1932), the frame 2-story building further to the right with all the windows and porch posts.



The squat 2-story building between them is Bagley Hall (1904-1972) with the water standpipe located at its northwest corner. Since the standpipe was the source of water for the campus, it is reasonable that the Natatorium and Hospital would be build close to it. It was not until about 1912 that water was piped into dormitories and other buildings so campus bathing took place in the Natatorium, (or possibly water troughs at the barns ... if at all.)

The water situation being so, I anticipated your next question: With no running water in dorms or other buildings, how did they manage the other necessary convenience? Outdoor privys from 1876 to about 1912.



Privys were placed unobtrusively about campus. I doubt many were as ostentatious as this specimen, and they were easily camoflaged because frame outbuildings for buggy sheds, feed sheds, and outside storage were common about the old campus.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/18/2007 4:26p).]

An interesting feature of the early days on the A&M campus is that frame buildings were considered portable and were frequently moved around to make way for higher status buildings or achieve a higher use of an existing structure.

Since those frame structures were pier and beam with few if any utility connections, relocation was not overly complicated, requiring only timbers for skids and a few teams of mules or horses.

A good example of this is the first Infirmary or Hospital (1895-1932) pictured above in the previous post. At the time of the photo above, taken between 1908 and 1912, the Infirmary was located near the north end of Bagley Hall and the water standpipe. But in 1916 the new Hospital was built over near the President's home so the old Infirmary was relegated to a new use, as a visitor's hotel, and thus it was destined for a new location.

The photo below, taken after 1916 shows the old Infirmary in its new location ... moved north and east to a spot about where the Chemistry Building would later be located. (In the photo, look between the watertower and the stand pipe and in the distance.)



The old Infirmary/hotel was torn down in 1932 and the Giesecke designed Chemistry Building was built in 1932.

The new location was not all that inconvenient for hotel patrons. The street it was on went in front of Sbisa, between Milner and Gathright Halls, in front of some student snack shops and services, in front of the campus bookstore (now Heaton Hall), and in front of the M.E. Shops.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/18/2007 11:06p).]

12,000 views of this thread. I did not expect a turnout like this on March 22, 2006 when I made that first post. Not long ago I started making a list of all topics covered in the past 16 months and gave up after a couple of pages. (What a load of bovine emission.)

It has been fun but if someone else would like to take the lead I would be pleased to coast for a while.

I have a few more posts I want to make about the earliest few years on the A&M campus to fill in some gaps before I retire for good. I have searched for some university publication that identified the oldest buildings, fit them into a time sequence and showed where they were located in relation to the current campus layout. Such a publication may exist but I never located it. This may be the only guide to the 1876-1920 campus available to someone interested in such.

If some reader feels the urge to make use of the information I have thumbnailed in the past couple of weeks to flesh out and turn into a historical publication, please be my guest. I was fortunate to have been around to roam the halls of most of those old building, but the ranks of those who can make that claim are thinning out. It would be a shame to have that bit of early history disappear from the university consciousness when Texags someday shuts down.

You can't quit Fossil.
What will we do?

One question that should have come to mind about the early days of A&M College was where did the faculty live. In the 1870s with Bryan five miles away and the only means of transportation being one horsepower buggies, housing within commuting distance was at a premium.

First Faculty Houses. In 1877 five houses for faculty members were built at a cost of $3,000 each. I think the first five houses were the ones in a row in the center of this photo.



This photo was taken from the rooftop of another house in about 1900. Assembly Hall (built in 1889) is on the left, Foster Hall (built 1899) is on the right. The street the houses are located on was an extension of Lamar Street that goes in front of the MSC. The house on the left of the five would have been moved to erect Guion Hall. Rudder Theater, Rudder Tower and the MSC are built on the site of the other four. Many other faculty homes were built on campus in later years, primarily on the south side extending to Wellborn Road. In the 30s and 40s on-campus home construction stopped and residents were given an opportunity to purchase their home if they would move it off campus. Several homes purchased then were moved across Jersey Street into what is now known as the Southside Historic District.

Bachelor Faculty Housing. Early on, bachelor faculty members more than likely shared dormitory space with students. President Gathright we know had an apartment in Gathright Hall (built in 1876.) In the 1890s a Bachelor Hall and Visitor's Dormitory was built on the north side of the campus at about where Walton Hall is now located. This photo was taken in about 1900 and shows some of the early residents (I suspect the students were pleased that they moved into quarters separate from the dormitories.)



In 1899 the bachelors residing in Bachelor Hall formed a Bachelor Hall Club as a means of improving their living conditions. Within a short time the club petitioned the college president to permit the club to build, own and manage their own living quarters under their club bylaws. The president consented and this group volunteered their own labor and finances and built the Shirley Hotel as a bachelor hotel and boarding house.

The old Bachelor Hall continued as a visitors dormitory until 1917 then was converted into a four-apartment house. It was renovated into a quite attractive residence for married faculty members. It burned in 1934 or 35.

Shirley Hotel.The Shirley Hotel and boarding house,owned by the Bachelor Hall Club, was completed in 1906. From this early photo you can see that it was larger and probably better constructed that the previous Bachelor Hall. It was located across Houston Street from the side of Sbisa Dining Hall.



The Shirley was to become a social center on campus. It was quite an operation and you would be best entertained by reading a bit of its history at this link: http://library.tamu.edu/portal/site/Library/menuitem.2d2523c97cb4262ebd078f3019008a0c/?vgnextoid=9623c35b248c0010VgnVCM1000007800a8c0RCRD

The Shirley Hotel was a successful venture and in 1910 the club constructed the Shirley Annex with rooms for an additional 50 members immediately north of the first hotel.

The Bachelor Hall Club disbanded in 1931. This photo taken before 1911 shows a few of the members of that fun group. (Note: The large building to the left is the Old Mess Hall that burned in 1911.)



Board of Director's House. In 1912 the college built a separate residence for members of the Board of Directors when they were on campus. I suppose before that the gentlemen were accommodated in either in a dormitory, Bachelor Hall or the Shirley Hotel. The Board of Director's House was a frame cottage facing on Houston Street at the rear of Sbisa Dining Hall (across the street from Bachelor Hall.) It was in use by the Directors/Regents from 1912 until the MSC was completed in 1950.



After 1950 it was put to a variety of uses, last as residence for former president Jack K. Williams. It was undergoing renovation in 1979 when a careless workman caused a fire and the house was destroyed by fire.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 7/26/2007 11:47p).]

Bummer

Burd ... Equally disheartening was the fire that destroyed the President's Home in 1963 when Earl Rudder and family were living there.



This home was built in 1892 for incoming President Lawrence Sullivan Ross.

The Old Water Toweris the most memorable landmark on the Texas A&M campus for students enrolled or passing nearby before 1975. It was the first structure identifiable from a great distance when approaching A&M.



The best I can determine from comparing campus photos, it was constructed between 1908 and 1916. (It apparently was present in 1912 because it was principal in the ultimatum delivered to the faculty during the "Student Revolt of 1914" that in addition to reinstating the seniors expelled for hazing, that the college would not take action against individuals responsible for painting Class of 1916 on the Water Tower.)

I imagine the fire that destroyed Old Main in 1911 provided the impetus to construct such a tower to hold a reserve water supply for a campus firefighting capability.

The Water Tower was painted black until sometime after 1928. It was later painted silver and remained that color until torn down in 1975. The "Welcome To Aggieland" was painted in large letters on the east and west sides of the tank and that was a greeting that caught everyone's eye first time seeing the campus. The message was readily discernable from Highway 6 so everyone passing that way after it opened in 1936 received the message.

Other buildings in the photo:
In the right foreground are the ME Shops.
On the right edge behind the Shops is Fermier Hall, the Mechanical Engineering Building.
The building behind the Water Tower with the antenna on top is Bolton Hall.
Bagley Hall is at the bottom left of the Water Tower.
The Academic Building is behind Bagley on the left.

Generations of fish loved that water tower. No matter how lost you were, you could find yourself my orienting yourself to it. I have a few photos I took of it as it was going down.

fossil_ag,

You may have seen this print before. I just remembered that I have it in a closet. Haven't had the chance to get it mounted and hung and actually had forgotten about it. My wife bought it for me as a gift about 6 or 7 years ago. She found it at one of the local aggie gear stores.

The title on the print says "Old Main".

Powerbiscuit, that is a beautiful print. I had not seen it before. It would make a nice centerpoint for an Ag memorabilia wall.

Old Main was built in 1875 at a reported cost of $100,000. It was destroyed by fire in about 1912. The building in the background is Pfeuffer Hall, a dormitory built in 1887 and razed in 1954. If you notice, Pfeuffer Hall is two story and has eight chimneys. Old Main by my count only had two chimneys on each end of the building for four floors. All were for wood burning fireplaces ... I doubt either building was warm in the wintertime.

The photo below taken in 1897 shows both buildings after streets were laid out and a sort of parade ground was graded in front of Old Main.


Another dormitory, Austin Hall (1888-1955), a twin to Pfeuffer Hall was located to the left of Old Main about the same distance away.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 8/1/2007 8:13p).]

I think the store she found it was in the old strip mall where the Safeway used to be. Culpepper plaza maybe, but I'm not sure. I believe the actual store was close to where Los Cucos is (if it's still there). I think that used to be a restaurant called Texas Tumbleweed in the mid-eighties.

Have enjoyed this thread and appreciate all the hard work by Fossil and others keeping it going.

Met a girl from out near Coleman a couple of years ago and fell in love, not with her but the country. I visit there several times a year now.

In the music discussions the name Rick Sikes never came up but should have. Rick is still alive and kicking in Coleman. He had a band in the 60's called Rick Sikes and the Rythym Rebels. They did very well back in the day. Rick's career took a hard turn in the 70's when he was connected to several bank robberies. He spent 14 years in Levenworth for his trouble and basically quit the music business to raise a family when he got out, go to ricksikes.com and check him out. He does have a music store in Coleman now so drop him a line or stop by and talk. He has a million stories about the area and his life and he is masterful at making it fun to listen. Fossil, go through there some time and visit you will be suprised.

I also met a girl once who claims to have been raised on the Rocker B Ranch near Big Lake. Have any of you ever heard of Dob Shane? Owner/Foreman/Lead cowboy from that ranch? Just curious about that.

I came to A&M in '67 and many older buildings were still here, lots of changes this last 40 years, maybe not all for the good. It is a shame that the main campus has no central architectural theme and that so many historical building were lost.

Again thanks for this thread it was great.

ST
Dallas boy

what a way to spend a lazy sunday afternoon, haven't got through all the pages yet. My son has lived in Snyder for the past 3 years, so learning about the old towns and byways along the way from Dallas is a real treat. Thanks fossil_ag and others for the great insight, should be a book here somehow, any good stories on Snyder or Scurry Co.?

geno ...

First, welcome to West Texas and particularly to Scurry County. Like many others over the years you have come to realize that the area is not exactly the Garden of Eden as described by land promoters in the 1870s. But if you are not overly sensitive to heat, drought, sandstorms, raging blizzards, stinging insects and poking thorns, it is a pleasant place.

As a newcomer to Scurry County, you have learned by now that the county was named after General William Read (Dirty Shirt) Scurry of the Confederate Army. That nickname has been the bane of Scurryites for years who without taking the time to research the facts have assumed that their county namesake was a person of questionable hygeine. So the locals were shamed by the "person who gave them that awful name."

You can be a hero in Scurry County by revealing to them the truth about W.R. Scurry's background and how that nickname came about.

In the years before the Civil War, Mr. Scurry was a prominent East Texas lawyer. He reportedly was eloquent in speach and courtly in manner ... and he was active in early day Texas politics. In 1857 he campaigned vigorously for H.R. Runnels for Governor of the state in a race against Sam Houston. Runnels won the election and Scurry gained the enmity of Sam Houston. In the election of 1859 between the same parties Sam Houston won the race to become Governor.

This is the way Sam Houston settled his score with W.R. Scurry and how Scurry received his nickname:

quote:

---

His Dislike for General W. R. Scurry.
General William R. Scurry, who was killed at the battle of the Saline during our Civil War, was one of the eloquent men of Texas. He opposed Houston from the stump in 1859 and incurred his enmity. Scurry, who was often careless in his attire, was nicknamed by Houston “Dirty-Shirt Bill.” His hatred of Scurry found expression in a peculiar manner. After the inauguration of General Houston in 1860, A. J. Hamilton and G. W. Paschal, desiring to retain Professor Shumard as State Geologist, introduced him to the Governor who was quite busy, but being introduced Houston laid down his pen and said: “O yes, glad to see you, Professor. Few men in Texas are qualified for your office. You call rocks the bones of the earth and tell how old it is by inspecting them. Yes, yes, a rare sort of learning! I wish a test of your skill. Find out and report to me the composition of the dirt on Bill Scurry's neck. If the report satisfies me I may keep you.” Then rising up, he said: “Good afternoon, Professor, good afternoon,” and with a lordly gesture bowed him to the door.

Soon afterwards I met Hamilton coming from the Capitol who told me that he had just inquired about Shumard's appointment, and the Governor had said: “He is a remarkable man, sir. He reports that he has found six distinct strata of filth on Bill Scurry's neck, and in the lower strata next to the hide he has discovered the fossil remains of animalculae.”

---

It is a great story of early day Texas political wars, but unfortunately reporters and historians have given it legs as fact ... and the poor folks in Scurry County have lived all these years because of lawyerly hyperbola.

The facts of the matter are, when Texas seceeded from the Union in March 1861, Sam Houston, an anti-secessionist, was booted out of his Governor office.

W.R. Scurry immediately volunteered for service in the 4th Texas Cavalry being formed in several East Texas counties. He enterred as a Major and by demonstrating leadership and valor quickly rose in rank. He was with Gen Sibley in the ill-fated campaign to conquer New Mexico (they won the battles but came back for lack of water and supplies.) Later he was with Gen Randal in the 28th Texas Cavalry defending Texas from Yankee incursions along the Red River. He was killed in battle at Jenkins Ferry a little southwest of Texarkana. Lawyer/General Scurry was a brave and honorable man ... and I doubt his personal hygeine was no less attended to than others of his time.

William Scurry was buried in the State Cemetery at Austin. His biography:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/media/7583ScurryWR67HS.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp%3Fstep%3D1%26pers_id%3D67&h=300&w=178&sz=52&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=DJ9h2RIlWoslaM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=69&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGeneral%2BW.%2BR.%2BScurry%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG




[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 8/13/2007 12:34p).]

here fossilag
delete that link and put this one in there
its shorter

http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form22.asp?step=1&pers_id=67




I'd always heard him called "Dirty Neck Bill Scurry"
but searching just now it looks like nearly all of that reference on the web comes from a book by Charles Anderson titled that.

read more on Scurry County
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/hcs7.html

and the Mooar Brothers have a hell of a story that centers and revolves around Snyder and Scurry county at the end of their lives. J Wright Mooar was the #1 man in the buffalo hunting world
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmo16.html

well worth the read
http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2005/hunt.htm
http://www.mcwhiney.org/press/pr/Buffalo%20Days%20press%20release.htm


[This message has been edited by TheSheik (edited 8/13/2007 3:03p).]

What? And give up my title to the longest link ever posted on Texags?

you can make a link say whatever you like....

try this, (use square brackets in place of the squiggly ones and don't forget the "=" sign between the first "url" and the link, after the link, place the closing bracket"]", type your text and use the closing url as normal)

{url=www.texags.com}TEXAGS{/url}

will look like this:

TEXAGS

your link could look like this

William Scurry Biography



[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 8/13/2007 2:34p).]

Snyder and Scurry County have quietly gone about their affairs since founding in 1884 and have generally been ignored by the world. Even in West Texas they were rarely considered a destination for any purpose, just a waypoint of travelers on their way to Lubbock, ElPaso, Dallas or Austin. They just got no respect ... or maybe folks there just liked it that way. But Scurry folks are somebody special.

The state would be surprised to know that the headwaters of the Clear Fork of the Brazos River are in dry Scurry County ... and that dry Scurry joins with Borden and Dawson to birth the state's pride river, the Colorado.

But a more surprising factoid about Scurry County is that as of January 1, 2003, 2,006,853,566 barrels of crude oil had been pumped from its nether regions. Only five other counties in the state can boast such production: Andrews (Andrews), Ector (Odessa), Gaines (Seminole), Gregg (Longview), and Yoakum (Denver City.)

The first well to produce oil in West Texas was in Scurry County in 1923, and the members of the Permian Basin Club still are reluctant to admit Scurry County to their membership ... even though Scurry has produced more oil than 13 of its other members.

Snyder was the last of the great Boom Towns in Texas oil history. Begining in about 1949 with a few discovery wells, by 1950 oil country realized that the Canyon Reef was the real deal and the Kelly-Snyder field was born. Oil workers followed drilling rigs into little Snyder by the hundreds. By mid-1950 the town of about 3,000 grew by 11,000 new bodies and could have doubled that number if the town could have accommodated the influx. The town was overwhelmed (and the locals generally underwhelmed with their new neighbors) as businesses of every sort began springing up in tents and under the few trees. Day workers had to drive 50-60 miles between worksites and their bedrooms and "cafes" sprang up in local front yards to feed the workers coming through. It was wild times not only for Snyder but all small towns in that part of West Texas. The boom lasted about five years then settled down into a routine with Snyder happy to be back down to about 13,000 permanent residents. (The high school football coach, Speedy Moffatt, was happy because he had about a hundred big old tough kids transferring in from every oil town in the state and his future was never brighter ... but that is another story.)

So that bit of history should put a spring in your step and a twinkle in your eye as you stroll down main street in Snyder. Just remember to be pleasant to an old cowboy ambling along in scuffed boots and faded levis and a greasy Resistol hat ... he could well be the owner of a ranch that had a billion or so barrels of oil sipped out from under it.

Straight, I have never heard of Dob Shane. I was born and raised in Big Lake. The first family I remember living on and running the Rocker B were the Farrs.Bud Farr is a vet in Lubbock, Class of '66, I think. The Farrs were on the Rocker B by the late 1950s. If Shane was before that then it was before my time. If Shane was there in the 1980s or 90s then it was after I lost connections to Big Lake, which is a great place to be from.

Weren't there some Bashems on the Rocker?

I can't believe I forgot the Bashams. Jan was a year ahead of me. I think they followed the Farrs on the Rocker B. Her older brother Jimmy graduated from high school in Big Lake in 1970 or '71. So the Bashams were on the Rocker B in the late '60s and early '70s.

Yes, I know Jimmy, and am good friends with his son Ryan. We head out to the Rocker every Feb. for a hunt, which is nice for me because it reminds me of the place I grew up on in Crane/Upton counties (the McElroy).