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Strange West Texas Connections

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fossil_ag
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A gentleman by the name of James Stuart moved his family to Fisher County (Sylvester area) in about 1880. He had a son, Jeff, and two daughters (Orpha and Emma.) Jeffy became patriarch of the Stuart Clan. Miss Orpha became matriarch of the Terry Clan and Miss Emma became matriarch of the Moore Clan. And that is the connection of a major part of the population of Fisher County. Good folks all.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 4/5/2006 5:13p).]
country
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One of the very best threads I've ever stumbled accross on texags. Love the stories fossil.
fossil_ag
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Goose, I am not acquainted with the younger generations of Campbells in Roby, but it may be of interest to West Texans living in the Houston area that the Aldine High School Educational Center is named for M.O. Campbell, a Roby high grad class of about '42. That center (multi-sports, multi-activities), the envy of every superintendent in the Houston area, seats 5,000 now and is in renovatiion to add another 2,000 seats. M.O. was superintendent there for many years.
FishrCoAg
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Another fascinating bit of Fisher County trivia from fossil_ag. It is amazing how many Fisher County people have achieved some wide spread fame or recognition. Two others that come to mind are Tommy Hargrove (kidnapped & held by narco guerillas, wrote a book from the notes he kept hidden, later was made into a movie, and Ray Martinez, involved in the takedown of the tu sniper. Interestingly, both these fellows were from the Hobbs (Tx) area of Fisher County.

Goose-I forgot about Don Campbell, I have met him but don't know him well.
Goose
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Oddly enough, I live in Kingwood and have been to the Campbell center many times. You're right, it's a heck of a highschool gym!

Unfortunately, Kingwood is a long way from the Big Country so I don't get to see those folks near as often as we'd like.
fossil_ag
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Fisher, that is the first time I had heard that Ramiro (Ray) Martinez of the UT Tower tragedy was part of the Martinez family at Hobbs. I knew some of the older Martinez brothers who had partnered in large farming operations there.

I also knew well Allen (Cookie) Crum who was with him in the takedown of Charles Whitman. I was on alert that day in 1966 at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, a member of a SAC KC-135 tanker aircrew. Cookie Crum had retired from the Air Force about a month before ... he had been a gunner on B-52Ds and we spent many days together on alert. Cookie had just taken a post-retirement job at the Co-Op Bookstore on the drag across from the UT campus. When the shooting started he made his way to the Tower and, as fate would have it, met Ray Martinez. How could this have happened without guidance by an unseen hand?

I watched all this unfold on local TV in Austin and thrilled upon hearing that two brave souls had taken matters into their own hands and killed the crazed killer. It was later that we learned that Cookie was one of the heroes, along with Ramiro Martinez, who I now know was from Hobbs, a community about 10 miles west of Rotan.
fossil_ag
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The folks in far West Texas may be feeling left out on this thread because none of their heroes have been featured. Well, they had theirs ... in fact, they probably had the first in all of West Texas.

The one who comes to mind is John Chisum. John was born in Lamar County (northeast Texas) in 1824 but relocated to the Pecos River country in 1854. John started rounding up free cattle and at one time supposedly claimed 100,000 as his own, although this may have been exaggerated since barbed wire had not been invented yet and he had a lot of Apache and Commanche neighbors at the time who might have disputed that claim. At any rate, he had to have been one tough hombre to live out there.

But John was the first of the big-time West Texas entrepreneurs so we will stick with him. You might recall that he was the first person to drive cattle herds into the New Mexico territories along the trail he staked. (The Chisum trail is not to be confused with the Chisholm trail that generally went through central Texas into Oklahoma.) In New Mexico Chisum got involved in the Lincoln County Grass Wars, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, but you know all of that because you saw the movie CHISUM, starring John Wayne.

It was in 1971 that I met Mr. Chisum (I had read about him for years.) My crew had just ferried a load of troops from Saigon to Hong Kong for a weeks R&R. I was staying at the Miramar Hotel which was right across the street from a large movie house. And out my window was a huge marquee advertising the movie Chisum, starring John Wayne. Now the movie had come out in 1970 and I had been out of the US for over a year so I saw this as an opportunity to get my West Texas battery recharged.

I figured the movie would be in Chinese but I also figured it would be English subtitled. It was, but the translation was awkward at best (from English to Chinese to English subtitles.) Anyway, I was all set to sit back and enjoy the movie with about 2,000 of my nearest and dearest Chinese friends ... but I was not ready for John Wayne and Ben Johnson speaking Chinese. That culture shock nearly floored me but I got over that by diverting my attention to the reaction of the audience to "West Texas" landscapes (it was filmed in Mexico) and the action. Fistfights were accompanied by OOOOOOOOOs and AAAAAAAAHs with each blow like one hears at a fireworks show. Occasionally when the bad guy, McSween, (actually was a partner of the real Chisum) would appear some poor fellow so caught up would jump up screaming every Chinese cuss word in his vocabulary. By the end of the movie with the big fight scene between Chisum (Wayne) and McSween the crowd was on its feet ... and when McSween was knocked off the balcony and impaled on a set of long horns bedlam broke out. Now that is a movie I will never forget ... but I had to wait another year til I got back to the states to see what it was about.

That was quite a movie ... and I bet by the end of its run anyone claiming to be from West Texas or knew John Wayne could have been elected mayor of Hong Kong.

fossil_ag
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FishrCoAg ... You might be surprised to know that Tommy Hargrove was an Ag, Class of '66. In addition, I think he had a younger brother that was in the class of '70 or so.
fossil_ag
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WestTxAg06 brought up the subject of the Texas Cowboy Reunion at Stamford. I sorta wish he had not because it brings to mind what was almost painful memories.

For those few of you in West Texas not familiar with the Stamford Cowboy Reunion, it is a top notch rodeo and an Old Timers Reunion held for about three days around the 4th of July. It was organized and I suppose is still directed by ranchers in the area. It has been going on since the early 30s ... so those of us who attended those early day rodeos now qualify for the Old Timers tent.

The interesting thing about the Cowboy Reunion was that the rodeo was restricted to working cowboys and excluded the professional cowboys. So the contestants were generally known in the area and the spectators enjoyed a sort of community pride in the show. It was the place to be in the 30s, 40s and 50s on July 4.

Now my buddies and I in high school looked forward to a trip to Stamford each year but a usual lack of funds restricted us to no more than one performance. But a wheeler-dealer classmate of mine came up with a plan that would solve the money problem. For just about the same price as a general admissions ticket, one could register as a contestant and have free admission to all performances. By doagy, Doyle, that is a plan.

So in about 1949 five of us traveled to Stamford for the opening day and all paid our fees to be Bull Riders. Now being a contestant had all kinds of fringe benefits. Foremost, one could hang around the refreshment tent (with your contestant tag in full view) and meet a lot of young ladies from the surrounding area. At that time you could also sit on the ground inside the arena as close as you dared to the bucking chutes with all your fellow contestants. (You could also be a star of the show when a bull took a hard turn down the fence line and made all the contestants scramble up the fence.)

Now about that necessity to actually try to ride a bull. That was easy to overcome by just not attending the "bull drawing" before the event when bull numbers were placed in a bucket and the contestants drew numbers out for what bull they would ride. No number, no ride, no sweat. Four of us took that easy way out ... but Doyle, our big talking leader, got carried away with the atmosphere and drew for a bull!

Now the rough stock producer that year if I am not mistaken was Goat Mayo from Petrolia (up near Wichita Falls.) And Goat's pride and joy was Bull Number 88 ... distinguished by the fact that few cowboys had ever stayed on him for eight seconds. Doyle's number drawn from the bucket was 88.
Tenseness filled the air inside the arena where us five sat as the rodeo progressed to the Bull Riding event, and us knowing that Doyle was a town kid and had never even riden a milk pen calf, much less a "Bremmer" bull.

Now us five were sitting there along the fence, not one of us Bull Riders even owned a bull rigging (we called it a "surcingle" in those days) waiting for Bull Riding to commence. A couple of riders came out the chute more or less at the same time as the bull to the delight of the crowd. Then, the announcer said, "and next rider up on Bull 88 is Doyle **** of Roby!!" The moment of truth had arrived (we could hear old 88 kicking the slats out of the chute.) And from Doyle came the words that answered our question and stunned the Stamford Cowboy Reunion, "TURN HIM LOOSE!" Loosely translated, this meant the cowboy was unable or unwilling to ride, i.e., the cowboy was currently in the ICU of a local hospital ... or the bull was not considered worthy of the cowboys time and effort. Dead silence along the fence inside the arena ... every bull rider was glaring with murder in his eyes ... Bull 88 was certain "day money" for any rider staying on for 8 seconds ... and Goat Mayo's pickup riders looked no less menacing. Doyle decided about that instant that he had business elsewhere ... and affecting his best immitation of someone walking with a double compound fracture of his left leg he hobbled toward the arena gate. I leaped to assist the poor fellow and the other three jumped up too. We got to the car and left Stamford, its Reunions and its mean bulls.

We went back to the Cowboy Reunion the next year, but not in the same group, and definitely as civilians.



fossil_ag
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AG
dp





[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 4/8/2006 2:26p).]
OrmyIllus
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goose..

Ormy R.I.P
TheSheik
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TCR was the place to be every July 4th

In the 70's us folk from Anson went every night. One year my cousin had rented a motel room at a very very very run down, flea bag hotel on the north side of town. But it had an air conditioner so the 6 or 8 or 10 of us that slept there thought we were in heaven. Other years we'd stay "out back" of the arena and just hang out at one of the dusty, hot dry camps that would pop up in the brush pasture out back. We'd sleep in the bed of our pickup or front seat or more often, not at all until the next morning.

Always went to the dance. Usually at the Stagecoach Inn and later on at the tent dance at the rodeo.

In the 80's I was hanging with the right crowd all grown up and everything and went to the Art Show preview dinner and beer bust every year for several years. Then I got married and for some reason, the wife put a kibosh on me going to the rodeo and dance. . . . .

I haven't been in years. I've tried to get my kids to go, but no such luck. This year I finally got us all to go to the Christmas Ball in Anson for the first time. I'm embarassed they'd never been before (17 and 14 yrs old)

WestTxAg06
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Ahh, the great memories of the Texas Cowboy Reunion, I never miss a night's performance. It doesn't get much better than four nights of dancing, rodeoing, and celebrating the cowboy heritage of West Texas. In my opinion (and I may be a little biased, but oh well), I prefer the TCR to any other rodeo I've ever been to. We were always too busy with our hogs to make it to the rodeo at any of the major livestock shows as a kid, but I've been to the Houston rodeo a few times since I've been at A&M, and I was a little disappointed. TCR events like Ranch Bronc riding, Double Mugging, Wild Cow Milking, and the ever-insane and popular Wild Mare Race just add a lot more excitement to a rodeo performance.

I could go on and on about the things that make those four days great: seeing folks like Jody Nix & the Texas Cowboys, Red Steagall, and Jason Boland & the Stragglers at the dance, hanging out at the barbecue cookoff all weekend as assistant chairman (to my dad and one of his best friends), the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboy Band providing the music, everyone in the crowd standing up when one of the SMS Ranch cowboys rides by them during the presentation of the U.S. flag, and the several minutes of absolute silence in the arena as the memorial calf is turned out into the arena on the final night to commemorate the loss of the members of the Old-Timers' Association who passed on since the previous year.

Sheik, you should bring your wife up for the Art Show Preview Party, it's gotten to be quite a social outing both for Stamford and especially for the folks from Abilene, who buy a lot of art that night. She'd get a nice Joe Allen's steak, an open bar (if you're interested in that sort of thing, though I'm not), a while to socialize and check out an outstanding collection of Western Art, she'd get to watch the Quik-Draw contest between the artists, the dance after the Quik-Draw auction, and of course, the chance to help out the West Texas Rehab Center.

My parents have helped with it for years, then I started going in high school for the steak and the good times hanging out with everyone. Well, two years ago, one of our family friends who was then the President of the Stamford Art Foundation that year asked if I'd mind helping take in the money from the art sales that night. Well, little did I know what he actually meant when he said that (I should have, though), and when I get there, in turns out that I'm IN CHARGE of the money for the night, with the official title of Accountant and everything. So I'll be there as the official Preview Party Accountant for the third year in a row (no chance I am ever allowed to relinquish my job), and I'd love to take your money for some art.

[This message has been edited by WestTxAg06 (edited 4/9/2006 7:56p).]
AggieInsectGal
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Hello fellow West Texans... I'm new to TexAgs, but the things that I have read on your forum are really awesome, although it makes me a little home-sick, and I can't wait to read more. I'm from Ballinger, and my parents now live in Big Spring. Thanks for the stories!

WestTxAg06
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Welcome, AggieInsectGal, we're glad to have you and your Ballinger Bearcat-ness here with us. What year are you?
Jarhead96
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[This message has been edited by Jarhead96 (edited 4/9/2006 11:31p).]
AggieInsectGal
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ok, so I'm Jarhead's room mate, and I don't know what I'm doing with this computer... I'm a Bearcat '97, TAMU '01
fossil_ag
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Jarhead and AIGal .... welcome to the both of you. Speaking of Ballinger, chances are one or both of you may have a grandpappy that played for the Bearcats in 1947 in a bi-district game against Ranger. If so you can probably still get a rise out of them if you ask about the two third downs the refs gave Ranger on a fourth quarter drive. With five downs Ranger kept a drive alive, scored and won the game. (Some things in life guys just don't forget.) I was sitting with the Ballinger folks and all of our protesting was in vain. I knew Jimmy Endicott, a halfback, and a big fellow nicknamed "Wart", a lineman, for Ballinger. That was a great team.
FishrCoAg
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fossil_ag
Yes, I know Tommy is an Ag, His brother Raford lives here now, doing well in the crop insurance business. Tommy can tell some stories. As for the TCR, I have a story or two from there back in the 70's, but they will have to wait for a day or so!
WestTxAg06
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I remember hearing Tommy's story a few years back in the Abilene Distorter-News (what we call it in Stamford), but I either forgot or was not aware that he was an Ag. Same with him being Raford's brother. We've bought a fair amount of crop insurance from him in my time, and he was actually my dad's Boy Scout troop leader back many moons ago. He's done quite well in the insurance business, especially since I believe he wrote the computer program for calculating MPCI stuff.
fossil_ag
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If I were to mention Abilene, Sweetwater, Roscoe, Colorado City, Big Spring, Stanton, Midland, Odessa, Monahans, Pecos, Van Horn, Sierra Blanca, and El Paso you would recognize that as the route of I-20 and say that is the ultimate connection within West Texas. And if I asked, "How about US Highway 80, most of you would recognize that as the earlier name for the same highway before I-20 came along and straightened out some kinks and leveled some hills. Then if I asked, "Does the name Bankhead ring a bell?" Hmmmm blank stares.

But all of you have probably seen the name Bankhead somewhere in each of those I-20 towns ... maybe a street name, a name like Bankhead Courts along an old US Highway 80 route, or more frequently an old Bankhead Cafe still hanging on in an older part of town.

Before the names I-20 and US 80 came along, that stretch of highway was known as the Bankhead Highway ... the longest and most famous roadway in America ... and West Texas was right in the middle of it.

In the earliest part of the 20th Century there were no cars. And when cars came along, there were no roads suitable for automobile touring. So as an aid to auto travelers a sort of ad hoc system of National Auto Trails was started ... marking suitable routes between towns with painted colored bands on telephone poles or fence posts. As traffic increased the roads were improved. Soon it made sense to coordinate these trails between states so that gradually a road network was forming. Then, as a sizeable trail became organized it was given an Auto Trail name. Seeing the value of this for transportation and commerce a Senator Bankhead of Alabama pushed through legislation in 1916 for federal funding to states to support this. In 1917 TxDOT was established to manage fed funds in Texas.

The most famous of the trails was named the Bankhead Highway .... and just imagine this! The route was from Washington DC; through Virginia; through North and South Carolina; to Atlanta, Ga; through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, to Little Rock, Ar; to Texarkana, Ft Worth, Dallas, Abilene and on to El Paso; then through New Mexico, Arizona and terminated at San Diego. Roscoe had the distinction of being the origin of a connector that ran to Lubbock, Plainview, Farwell, Roswell, Clovis to El Paso.

In 1926 another highway bill was passed that gave the Feds the authority to name and number all highways that received fed funds. Our highway, the Bankhead Highway, had the distinction of being named US Highway No. 1.

How did West Texas rate this route and this distinction. Easy, the Texas and Pacific railroad was finished in about 1883 from Marshall, Tx through Dallas and Ft Worth and on to El Paso. And following completion of the railroad, towns were formed along that track between Ft Worth and El Paso like pearls in a necklace. The fact that the railroad had scouted its route and birthed towns along side, it was a natural route for a roadway. This and the fact that each town along the route still had the same active boosters around who had aided in getting the railroad through their settlement. These same folks worked with the legislators to coordinate with neighbors in Arkansas and New Mexico to gain the route.

Consider this succession of names for the highway through West Texas we have traveled so many times: State Aid Road No. 1, Highway 1, Bankhead Highway, US Highway No. 1, US Highway 80, and then in 1969 to Interstate 20.

In those early day is Texas travelers had to carry along their bedrolls, food and tools but over time accommodations sprang up to form a backbone of commerce in all those towns. Although technically named US Highway 1 and later US Highway 80, the name Bankhead Highway remained in general use in West Texas through WWII. That highway was a godsend in WWII as troop convoys, war materials of all kind, and many conveniently located military bases made heavy use of its strategic location and route.

Beginning in the early 50s highways were altered and relocated and the name Bankhead Highway was slowly dismantled. But it served West Texas well while it lasted ... and is a bit of West Texas history that deserves remembering.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 4/11/2006 1:04a).]
WestTxAg06
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Another great story, fossil. Making the trip between Stamford and Ft. Worth as a kid, I had always noticed some road signs that pointed out a road called "Old Bankhead Highway" (I believe in the Mineral Wells area), and I had always assumed that Bankhead was the name of some now-vanished community.

But now I know "the REST of the story."
AgDad
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This thread jogged some memories for me, too. I taught school with R. Dale Hull's (of Zebco fame) youngest sister in Odessa at Redeemer Lutheran School. Her name was Wynoma (Lippe). I recall her saying that her parents, who were itinerent photographers, moved to Roby in a covered wagon.

Wynoma (who died about six years ago) had a fantastic collection of photographs of the early days of West Texas. Mrs. Hull, her mother, lived in San Angelo for a while (and would complain, at 80+ years of age) when someone called and she had to clamber down from the roof to answer the phone. Mrs. Hull moved to Odessa to live with Paul and Wynoma Lippe in the 1970's.

We lived in North Cowden, Texas, in the late 40's - when the Odessa High School Bronchos (the Wild Red Hosses of Ector County) won the state football championship with one of the better teams ever to grace the gridiron. Quarterback was Hayden Fry (who recently retired as Iowa's head football coach).

I still have the '46 booklet highlighting the football season (OHS beat San Antonio Jefferson and Kyle Rote by a score of 21-14 in the state championship game). Byron Townsend was the main running back. Names like Campbell, Moorman, Patterson, Matejowsky, Headlee, etc. still bring back fond memories.

Thanks for the memories!
fossil_ag
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AgDad ... I recently mailed my copy of a game program for the 1945 game between Odessa and Sweetwater to TerryL, a lady who posts frequently on this forum. Her dad played in that game for Sweetwater. I have a notion those old timers would get a kick out of knowing that football season is being discussed 60 years later. Just another nice connection typical of West Texas.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 4/11/2006 3:59p).]
fossil_ag
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There are a couple of old West Texas sayings that may still be in common use. One was "Idle hands are the devil's tools" and the other was "Empty pockets are the devil's playground." Both sayings were appropriate to farm kids in the 50s in West Texas when the day's chores were done and three or four of us merged at one location.

With no TV, no cars available, and no money in our pockets the usual question that made its rounds was, "What can we do that it fun." Now let me explain the conjugation of comparative and superlative adjectives as applied to farm kids in situations like this: the term "fun" would be something like building some musical instruments for a neighborhood band, the term "funner" applied if the handiwork turned out to make a horrendous racket that would add some amusement to their usually mundane lives, and the term "funnest" if the collective genius hit upon some practical use for this wondrous instrument such as maybe scaring a classmate out of three years of growth or maybe causing some old farmer to bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night yelling "Whutwuszat? whutwuszat?"

So that is the way we got into the musical instrument construction for fun situation. (And that is where the devil came in ... if three of us got together, the devil was the unseen fourth who chimed in as we progressed up the conjugation ladder with urgings of "That sounds funner (or funnest), let's do it!"

The first instrument to come to mind was a "tub bass" because we had seen pictures of those with old time hillbilly bands. All the parts we needed to round up were a Number 3 washtub which every farmhouse and barn had a few of, a stout pole about four or five feet long for the neck and some stout wire for the "string" to strum. We had that thing ready to go in no time ... turned the tub upside down, knocked a hole in the edge of the bottom for the pole to go through, a u-bolt to anchor the bottom of the pole to the bottom side of the tub, and a length of 1/8th inch braided wire running from a hole in the middle of the bottom of the tub and tied securely to the top of the pole. Shoot, that thing worked like a charm. It was a three-man operation, one to hold the tub down, one to pull hard on the top of the pole to get the cable tight and the third to strum the string and we had an upright bass.

Now for you musically challenged folks, what we had built was a primordial version of what a symphony conductor would call a double-bass viol (or the less sophisticated would call a bull fiddle.) A finely tuned double bass is said to be able to go four octaves lower than middle C. (The devil chimed in about this point and said "Let's go for six!) Umm no. The pole holder just couldn't pull any harder to increase the tension on the cable and the string plucker said it was already too tight as it was hurting his fingers.

We were stymied a bit until someone had the answer (the devil again probably.) "Let's don't strum it, let's play it like a bull fiddle. All we need is a bow." Now you just don't normally have a fine horsehair bow on the usual West Texas farm but there is always a broom stick handy. And one draw of that broom stick across that cable and we went straight from fun to funner. Depending on the tension the pole man could get on the cable and the deft touch of the broom stick man to get the right vibration of the cable ... that thing let out a wonderful BROOOOOOOOOWWWOOOOOOOOUUGGGGGGGGG. The sound was indescribable, and loud, and so darned amazing it had to have a name. Someone said, "BULL BELLER!" and that name stuck. Now I make no claims to the invention of this contraption, or the unusual bow, or even the name we applied because as simple as things went together I am sure country kids have been making them for centuries. But all that was beside the point, it was time for figuring out a practical application. (Funnest!)

Now after ten o'clock at night all of West Texas was deathly quiet, except for maybe a pack of coyotes yipping or maybe a cow separated from her calf, or a real bull bemoaning being separation from his herd. To test our instrument, we wanted a dirt road, far from town, three or four farmhouses within a half mile or so in clear view so we could guage reaction. We found the right spot down on the Clear Fork of the Brazos not far from Sylvester.

This was our opening performance and we were nervous. Getting everything set up in the middle of the road was easy and the players were in position. In that clear night air that Bull Beller let out a sound that had not been heard since the Cambrian Period ... or maybe even the Permian when the animal remains being pumped around Odessa were walking around. The second drag of our bow even scared the bejabbers out of the artists. The coyotes stopped, the cows stopped, and the real bull even stopped bellering. For a mile around lights started popping on at farmhouses. One more sonorous draw of the bow and we dumped our instrument in the back seat of the car and left that area ... without lights.

Now let me explain about rural communication in West Texas at that time. We were just getting telephones on farms in West Texas ... but everyone was on a party line ... six to eight parties on one line. And it was not polite to do it but when one party's discrete ring rang, everyone on the line picked up particularly at night (just in case it was something important.) Well, if someone just happened to be calling to tell his brother that some feeerocious beast was moving around the the Clear Fork bottoms that was important! ... and with every one on 8-party-lines something like that could cover the county in a geometric minute. The next day in town seems like half the people claimed to have heard the beast and the other half were guessing what it might have been.

We waited about a week before the next performance ... over by the Royston community ... four drags on the bow and "Let"s get out of here." The next day in town the word on the street were ominous. Search parties were out looking for tracks (darn, why didn't we think of that!... just too much fun potential.) But also we figured someone might be out at night in their pickup trucks just hoping the critter would make an appearance near their house.

So, we retired our infamous Bull Beller after only two performances. And we went on to other interests as the talk in the town subsided ... content that the animal whatever it was had followed the Clear Fork on up toward Throckmorton or maybe as far as Possum Kingdom.

I don't know if any of my partners confessed to this foolishness over the years, but if not, you are the first to know the rest of the story about the Bull Beller on the Clear Fork.

TheSheik
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AG
thats a great story !



back to Bankhead hiway.
There is a stretch of old 80 near Baird that is supposed to be part of the original Bankhead hiway roadbed. Just a little bit, but still there. Not worth the trip or anything, but if you happen to be in that area sometime, if I remember right, it is east out of Baird.

TheSheik
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here's a great little discussion of the road west from Fort Worth and some great pictures of what remains of some of the old highway. The bricks (Thurber bricks I'd assume) are still visible in many places.

http://www.bygonebyways.com/tx80-central_texas.htm

quote:

Heading west out of Cisco on Ranch Road 2945 is yet another treat. With old telephone poles & RR tracks on one side and rural America on the other, I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw an Edsel, Hudson or even a little Henry J coming from the other80-TX-Putnam-Finley Road-Lone Star Tourist Court direction. But if you enjoyed this stretch of highway, just wait. On the other side of Putnam, be sure to stay on 80-TX-Putnam-Finley Road-Lone Star Tourist Court the north frontage westbound. This will become Finley Rd. - 8.5 miles of one of the finest stretches of vintage highway I've come across in my travels. An absolute *MUST SEE*! The rural countryside, many concrete bridges and vintage concrete are a real time capsule. To top it off, out in the middle of it all, just on the west side of Deep Creek lies the abandoned old Lone Star Garage & Tourist Camp (see pic). I found out the name purely by chance: I was out taking some pictures when from across the street, a red pick up slowly cruised on up and I had the pleasure to meet Ms. Johnsie Allen (see pic) whose folks owned the homestead right across the street and also used to own & operate the old court itself. Now living in Baird a few miles down the road, Johnsie had just stopped out to feed some wild cats (what a softie!) so 10 minutes either way and we probably would have missed each other. We chatted for about an hour and 1/2 about the old court, her family and Baird before I had to mosey on as the sun was setting. Isn't it funny how chance works out? I would have always wondered about that old cafe I never would have met Johnsie.
Author's Addendum-04/05: I have the unfortunate duty of relaying the fact that Johnsie passed away early this month-out here at this very same spot-no doubt reminiscing about the old road, her old homestead and all of the love and memories that came along. She will be missed greatly by her family, and by myself.

Another person familiar with the old tourist camp is James Owens from Clyde. He writes: "Thanks for the picture...that's the station I was talking about. When I was in high school, we used to think it was haunted and try to get scared, but nothing turned out from it...lol" Thanks for sharing James!

Sadly, we must leave Finley Rd. behind as we hit I-20 at exit 310. If you popped on the south frontage then west, you can see where the old road went around the large hill where the radio towers are then swung around on into Baird, but this all gated and 80-TX-Baird-RR Mural private property now. But don't despair, Baird has enough old Highway 80 for anyone. Indeed, at least three alignments are evident through the area (see my driving guide for details). Loop 425 coming into town is the last incarnation, but east of town, be sure to check out Ivey Rd. for evidence of even earlier 80! Downtown, Baird has a small but quaint area with a couple of very nice, historic murals and is anchored by a historic RR depot at the southern apex. Be sure to check out the area before heading west out of town on Ranch Road 18.










[This message has been edited by TheSheik (edited 4/13/2006 12:32a).]
fossil_ag
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AG
The Sheik ... Thanks for for locating a very nice website that gives a fair illustration of early highways and early travel.

First, as late as the 30s even the Bankhead Highway was not a glistening ribbon of asphalt. Apparently district highway engineers had leeway in their methods of constructing and maintaining the highway because as you traveled that thin ribbon it was common to hit one stretch of mostly caliche to be surprised down the way by a brick road like the picture above. The roadways were very narrow two lane with no improved shoulders. A flat tire on a rainy day meant maneuvering off into the mud ... and usually getting stuck to add to your misery.

Also, Bridge abutments and culvert sides were located even with the side of the highway and were designed to protect the structure and not the car that might hit them. There was also a state law in those days that said highways would go under railroads at right angles. That meant two flat 90 degree turns when the road designer wanted to cross to the other side of the tracks. (Those turns before and after a 12-14 foot high underpass are still on some older roads today. The surprise when you encounter one today is no more than it was to travelers in the 30s and 40s.

Highways in the 20s through 40s also tended to follow the terrain ... because excavation equipment was generally not available to carve down hills and fill in the valleys. What we now call a bulldozer came along first in the mid-30s as a blade mounted on the front of a tracked farm tractor. The blade could be lifted by cables driven by a PTO but it had no downward pressure to dig in. Hydraulics for downward pressure for dozers and excavators did not arrive until the mid 40s. (They were developed by the CBs in WWII.)

Now in the 30s and 40s even though we had a highway available that went from sea to sea, travel of any distance was risky. Cars were not totally reliable making breakdowns on a remote stretch a serious matter, tube-type tires were notoriously non-trustworthy making tire repair including patching a tube on the side of the road commonplace, NO air conditioners until the 50s, and finding a place to eat or sleep was difficult. There were no motels (the first motel in BCS was the Sands in 1954.) There were Tourist Courts ... one bedroom/bath cottages usually called "cabins." Several can still be seen along the old Bankhead Highway/US80 routes. Most were fairly clean but all were likely to provide critters to go home with you such as bedbugs, scabies, headlice, and crablice. That being the case, many travelers carried along bedrolls and tents and camped along the road.

(But most usually, travelers planned their routes from one kinfolk house to the next and felt no guilt at arriving at Aunt Belle's house at 2 a.m. asking if she had a bed available ... and a meal too it it's not too much bother.)



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 4/13/2006 4:09p).]
fossil_ag
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AG
Light rail for interurban transportation has been a hot topic in Texas for the past few years ... I will have you know it was a hot topic 100 years ago too (before going into an extended hibernation.)

Shortly after 1900 Texas had more than 500 miles of gasoline or electric driven trolleys shuttling passengers and odd cargo. Now 70 percent of this mileage was connecting various towns like Denison, McKinney, Plano, Waxahachie and Corsicana to Dallas and Ft Worth. Twenty percent was in the vicinity of Houston and Galveston. And the rest was in short lines like Temple-Belton and Bryan-Texas A&M. The Bryan-A&M trolley started in 1915 and lasted until 1930.

Now in all of West Texas there were only two interurban trolley systems ... one was in El Paso. Guess which city in all of West Texas had the other ....... Time is up. If you guessed Roby in Fisher County you are correct.

It was 1885 before Fisher County logged its 150th resident and was eligible for countyhood. There were only two settlements vying for the designation as County Seat ... Roby and Fisher (a settlement four miles north of Roby.) Roby got the designation of County Seat in 1886 and it was quite an economic blow for its neighbors to the north ...which in the next few years grew to 200 inhabitants, 2 stores, a tent hotel, a post office, a school and a blacksmith. But the leaders of Fisher though disappointed with not landing the county seat tag continued to promote their settlement and changed the settlement's name from Fisher to North Roby in an attempt to steal a bit of Roby's good fortune.

But the politics of Fisher County were to get more complicated beginning in about 1910 as a settlement four miles north of Fisher/North Roby was trying to get organized. Unknown to the Roby/North Roby leaders, scoundrels in that new burg (White Flat) were negotiating with a railroad outfit in Waco to extend a railroad from Waco to (now get this) their new town of Rotan. (Rotan was the name of the president of the railroad at Waco!) So Rotan got a railroad in 1915, the year the town was chartered. That railroad, later known as the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) traveled southeast and within a mile of the old Fisher/North Roby settlement. Well, that's a fine howdy-do ... so North Roby just moved up to the new railroad tracks ... fully expecting then to become the commercial hub of central West Texas.

But Roby was not to be outdone in this battle of the titans (the total population of all three warring factions probably did not exceed 500 counting kids, dogs and mules.) Roby proceeded that same year (1915) to invit a couple of fellows in to build and operate a trolley from the north entrance of their new courthouse to the North Roby siding of the Katy Railroad. That new four mile trolley line was named the Roby Northern Railway.

The Roby Northern railroad operated until 1923 with gas burning trolleys. It sold out that year to a new Abilene company named West Texas Utilities who converted the line to electricity. (How many Abilene folks knew WTU was in the railroad business at one time?) That trolley operated until 1941 when it was closed down for good (ooooops, not for good, forever.)

Now you folks who have occasioned to travel US70 between Roby and Rotan are wondering where all this took place because there are no longer any signs of settlements, Katy railroads or trolley tracks. Well, the city of Fisher was on the north bank of the Clear Fork of the Brazos where it crossed US70. The Katy tracks crossed Hwy 70 about a mile north of that point. Look closely and you can make out where the railroad bed used to be. A few yards north of that crossing point turn east on a dirt road and go about a quarter to half mile and that is beautiful downtown North Roby, northern terminus of the Roby Northern Railroad.

(Now for a more personal note, the Katy tracks crossed Hwy 70 at grade and there were no lights, bells, or other warnings ... and the train in the 50s passed that crossing at about 10 p.m. Not good even under the best of circumstances ... but if you were a high schooler trying to beat the seven minute record from Rotan to Roby at 10 p.m., things got dicey. So, if faced with that situation and you got to the crossing at the same time as the train engine the option was to turn left on that dirt road mentioned above and outrun the train to another crossing at old North Roby and continue on for the record. I always wondered if the Katy engineers ever considered dumping more coal into the boilers to make a real race out of it.)

West Texas is full of strange connections.

TheSheik
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AG
one modification. . . we had one too !

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/AA/hda1.html
quote:
Internal transportation improved with the establishment of the Abilene Street Railway (called the Abilene Traction Company after 1919), which ran streetcar lines from 1908 to 1931.


the old street car "hanger" or whatever you call it is still standing a couple of blocks west of Grape on 10th I think.


its a barn
http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/TX/Taylor/vacant.html
quote:
Abilene Street Railway Company Barn (added 1992 - Building - #92000205)
Also known as 1048
Taylor County - 1037 Clinton St., Abilene
(less then 1 acres, 1 building)

Historic Significance: Event
Area of Significance: Transportation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Transportation
Historic Sub-function: Rail-Related
Current Function: Vacant/Not In Use

fossil_ag
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AG
Sheik ... Well now, that is a a surprise that Abilene was a trolley town. Curious that it did not appear in other sources other than it did not use the term interurban in the name and called itself a traction railway. Anyway, that is good to know. It appears also that it was owned by a forefunner of WTU. By the way, WTU is a good story too, with great historical A&M connections.
FishrCoAg
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AG
Actually, fossil, the Texas Central railroad built thru Rotan in 1907, when the name was changed from White Flat, we will be celebrating our centennial next year! The town was incorporated in 1909, I believe. I can remember the tracks between Rotan & Roby north of the Clear Fork. 7 minutes from town to town seems pretty fast for the 50's, as the road was much more crooked and narrow than it is now. Also, in my previous post I forgot to mention another important Fisher County native. Earl Ray Pearson, head man in the Texas Rangers, was a classmate of mine in the class of 1973 at Rotan. I believe he was the 1st African-American DPS trooper, and am sure the 1st AA Texas Ranger. How many counties our size have had 2 members of the Rangers at one time?
sjtwxman
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I always wondered why Roby and Rotan were so close together! Thanks for the stories guys. Keep it up. Although I'm not from out here (born in Gonzales and grew up in Round Rock), been working out here for 10 years. Names on a map are one thing, hearing about the history certainly adds to it and makes it fun.
fossil_ag
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AG
"7 minutes from town to town seems pretty fast for the 50s?" No, that was about average. You are just not familiar with the power to weight ratio of the early 50s Olds 88s or little Buick Specials. One night in '51 seven of us in a 51 Nash Ambassador while on one of the high speed dashes broadsided a pickup truck at the entrance of the Rotan Drivein movie located just past the curve about a mile south of Rotan. I was the only one able to communicate with DPS at the hospital (and I was knocked half crazy) so when the officers asked me how fast we were going I replied "We were going 100 at the curve and we picked up speed after that." No one was killed so no foul was called.

You are correct on the 1909 incorporation and also on the early name of the railroad ... but Jay Gould was in Texas with his M-K-T railroad and was busy buying up smaller rail lines and incorporating into his network. By the early 20s communities all over Texas had access to a Katy line. The trolley barn in Roby was located northeast of the courthouse near where the Little League field is located ... I made a couple of trips on that trolley, a nice experience for country kids.
WestTxAg06
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AG
The thread continues to get better and better. I've got an interesting West Texas connection story or two, but I really don't feel worthy of telling them alongside fossilag's experiences.

Very interesting about the trolley between Rotan and Roby. I did not know that WTU was in the railroad business, but it doesn't surprise me. Before the company lost a lot of its local connection with the Central & Southwest merger with AEP a few years ago, WTU had its hand in just about everything you could think of that would benefit the community, from donating huge sums of money to various community events, to using their bucket trucks and other equipment for hanging Christmas decorations downtown, and who knows what else. The good news in Stamford is, though WTU isn't allowed to do near as much of that any more, the good folks at Big Country Electric Cooperative (and I'll be darned if there isn't a Fisher County connection in this story, it's headquartered over there at Roby) have done a good job of picking up the slack.
 
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