The Cotulla Record (Cotulla, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 28, 1925 Page: 2 of 8
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THE COTULLA RECORD
L®®kmg Back imt© ftk© G®od Old Trail Brihrirng Day$”Bl®ck®r
Bir®ftR®ir§ Guns® L&irg©§ft Caftftll® Ownn®ir§ isn T®xa§o
Alblb Bl®dk®ir Tells ®ff Manny Drive* ft® K&mas asnd
Me1bir&*]ka.
By Cura Melton Cross.
W ritten Specially for
The Semi- Weekly Farm News.
At the Fat Stock Show in Fort
Worth, groups of cattlemen huddled
together talking over yesterday’s
long horns and today’s Hereford’s.
Laughing and slapping their knees
as they squatted in a circle, recall-
ing some trick played on a tender-
foot that had strayed into camp,
cussin’ a little at recollection of a
particularly close shave in a stam-
pede, or with the “red devils” as
the Lockhart prairie. The next
spring Brother John and I drove
that herd through Fort Worth on
the trail which ran about where the
packing houses now stand, as well
as I can remember. There wasn’t
anything of a town there, just a
store or two and the post, that was
all; but we got provisions enough to
do us to Fort Dodge, Kan., where
we loaded up on supplies again to
take us to Ogallala, Neb. From
there we went to Pole Creek, forty
miles this side of Cheyenne, Wyo.,
and delivered the herd at Pine Bluff,
“we took that 5,000 head to Abilene, j to John Sparks, who was some
Kan., or 3,500 head to Ogllala, Neb."
Interesting men, these, who “fit
bled and died” many times over as
they blazed the way with thousands
of head of cattle on the old Chis-
holm trail, sleeping on saddle blan-
kets and living on the backs of Tex-
as mustangs, that we of today
might ride in motor cars on macada-
mized highways. And while they
disclaim all credit for any part in
Texas progress it was this test of
endurance that peopled our State,
built its cities and promoted its
industries. For these makers of Tex-
as history who wore leather leggins
and Mexican spurs, who were as
much at home on a Texas saddle as
in a rocking chair, were never white-
livered enough to quit the job until
they had finished. They were men,
and while they might have said “I
seen”” they Would have seen every-
thing going, which is a long shot
more to the point than saying “I
saw’” and never seeing anything, as
some of the later tailored editions
have a way of doing.
Blocker Brothers Brands Known on
Every Train
Foremost among these whose
brands became bywords along the
cattle trails, because of much driv-
ing of their enormous herds, were
the Blocker Brothers, John, Jenks,
Macon and A. P., or Ab, as he was
familiarly known, born in Travis
county and so well known for in-
tegrity and honesty of purpose that
for one to say he was a friend of
Blocker was sufficient recommen-
dation. This story is about Ab, the
youngest son.
“Yes, I’m one of the Blocker boys
but I’m not the one who owned more
cattle than any man in Texas at one
time; that was Brother John. Up
to ’79 he owned 85,000 head. I’m
just A. P. or Ab, as everybody calls
me. There were six of us boys, four
lived to be grown; we was born in
Texas on a ranch in Travis county
iind proud of it. I worked cattle in
"The Chisholm Trail.’
In the last issue of the Coun-
try Gentleman there is an in-
teresting story of Texas early
history and the ‘“Chisholm
Trail” written by J. Frank
Dobie, well known in Cotulla
and for some time manager of
the Dobie Ranch here.
This will be reproduced in the
next issue of the Record. We
are sure that many of the old
cattlemen of this section would
like to read it as it will bring
back to them scenes of the old
days.
years later when Nebraska was
made a State elected its Governor,
and a fine one he made, too, for he
was a splendid man.
Some Excitement on Next Trail Trip.----——-------
“I came back home from Wyom- then ti„ >86( wwhen j drove 3 5on
ing and worked all that winter in bead> bought and received forty
more steers, which in turn were miles below Pearsall> Texas to
wintered on the Lockhart prairie, Hugo, Coland deiivered them to
and the next March I started up Fine Ernest at Denver. j camt, back
the trail to Wyoming again. The from that drive with four horses
boss of the herd was a fellow by the and my outfit> rigbt down th<? trai,
name of John Golden, and when we we"d gone up to Tom Green county
got to Ogallala, Neb., Brother John and gathered a herd of cattle and
overtook us, driving 3,000 more delivered them to George Berry at
head. He put me in charge of this the mouth of Devil,s River. The
herd and he took the train for Chey- next spring these cattle were put
enne, to meet me forty miles this in old Mexico and x went back to
s.de a few days later, where we de- three miles thjs side of Austin to
hvered the cattle to Swan brothers. see how father and mother were
A strange thing happened on making it xhey had started to farm
that drive. We were right close to a part of the ranch> so j stayed and
Julesburg, Colo., one evening just worked the farm for them in >87.>88.
about two hours by sun. I’d caught xhe fir8t year , wworked it l got
4c for my cotton, and the second
the night horses and left the wagon
to go back to the herd about a mile
away. There’d come up a little
cloud in the northwest, and it had
begun to rain some and thunder and
lightning a good deal. There came
a pretty keen clap and I turned
year I worked it I got 5c for my
cotton. Then mother sold that farm
and I went back in the saddle on the
hurricane deck of a little Spanish
pony and swore that if I ever plant-
ed any more cotton I”d boil the seed
back and looked at the wagon, and three days so rd know they wouldn-t
there lay seven horses and four men! come up and rd never be botbere(J
I ran my horse all the way back to witb it> and j have not p]anted any
’em and found the men were just more to this dav> and there's an_
shocked and were soon up again,, other verse to it rm never going
but the seven horses all laid there.
And do you know, the sun came out-1
about an hour later, and set as clear j Picks Up Hundreds of Cattle Lost
as a bell. I had to go out and catch | on Drives,
more horses forthe night mount, worked cattle> gatherig, roping,
and I m telling you that was one branding and herding until ’89 when
time, it I d had time, I d have sure ; we bougbt several thousand in Blan-
moved my camp. Those
horses didn’t look one bit
me—dead.
seven ^ co and Llano counties and I drove
good to ' one berd xom Green county and
j turned them loose on Aroya Rancho
~ -i ; creek, and another in the Widow
Just About Lived on the Trail .
’7<i to ’93 I Arden s pasture; twenty miles north
' of San Angelo; settled with my men,
From
“How many times did I go up the
trail ? Why, I just about lived on it
from ’76 to ’93. Wouldn’t have felt
right without a chuck wwagon and a
cow outfit. An outfit was eleven
men, including the boss, cook, horse
sent two to the camp twelve miles
below on the Concho River with my
horses, and I took the train and went
to Austin to see my mother and sis-
ter. But I had not been there long
that county and in Llano, Blanco wrangler and eight just plain cow- ^ br°ther
t;nd between Austin and San Mar- boys—that was enough to handle
cos when there’s mighty few houses any number of cattle too. I drove
around there. My first trip from tnree yoke of oxen to my chuck
Austin to San Antonio was on wagon and we made it a point to
horseback beside a buggy that car- swim every river going and coming ^"men. We left those yards with
swam the tbat outfR and one steer) and fr0m j
come to San Antonio. He
met me at the depot and took me to
the stockyards, where he bought
seventy-two head of horses and a
wagon, while I rustled a cook and
ried my mother and a neighbor that couldn’t be forded;
v oman in it. There wasn’t any rail- j Trinity more times than I
road between those towns then and j member,
rot much of a town at either place
- -hat wao in ’74. | in 1882 I
in ’76 1 left home to help Brother : mouth of
can re-
there we picked up lost cattle, bunch- j
... . , , j es of them all the way back to San I
L™, / !eV?ra! „tlall,,n* ,trlps and Angelo that had ben dropped on the j
the way or jost on tbe drjve> and took ;
i ... , T . , ., , „ on ’em to camp on the fhonco and win-1
J i vutn the cattle, and I roped creek called Crazy Woman and de- j tered there
»•' <1 gathered wild steers all over livered them to Stoddard & Martin,
I.lar.o and Blanco counties until I rode over a hundred miles to Chey- ,ndians by the Fifties and Hundreds
hod 3,700 head, which I took to win- j enne, Wyo., and came by train to ^ ame to ( amp.
t r seventeen miles below Austin on | Austin. I stayed off the trail from! “In the spring of ’89 I gathered I
the cattle I’d turned out on Aroya
Rancho, and turned them over to
Bill Bannister, boss of the outfit,
who drove them up the trail, while
I took my outfit and got the herd in
Widow Arden’s pasture and trailed
them to Sand Creek, Montana,
where I delivered them to Stoddard
& Howard, ninety miles below Miles
City in the Yellowstone. Indians
came to our camp by the dozens,
sometimes fifty and a hundred at
once, but I never had any trouble
with them, if they asked for a beef
I told the boys to give them a good
one. I figured we was eating their
grass and drinking their water with
our cattle and I thought I was doing
right to give them a beef when they
want it, so they always treated me
fair and square.
One Time Went Broke.
“In ’90 and ’91 I took charge of
one of the ranches, fifty miles below
Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande, and
I ran that till ’93; then I took a
wagon and herd of horses from
Spofford Junction and drove them
seventy- five miles above Colorado
City and drove a herd to fourteen
miles below Deadwood, South Dako-
ta, on the Balfourche River, where
I delivered them to Harris & Frank-
lin; then I went back to the ranch
and run it till ’97, when I moved a
bunch of mine and brother John’s
cattle to a pasture in Dimmit county
below Cotulla, and stayed there till
I went broke. And I went so broke
on those cattle that I couldn’t have
hailed a bread wagon without cuss-
ing the driver so he’d stop to fight
me. Then I went to Oklahoma and
stayed one year, and when spring
came I swore that frost would never
fall on me in Oklahoma again.
Is Made Brand Inspector for Cattle
Raisers’ Association.
“I went to El Paso and stayed a
little while and then I moved to the
Chupadero ranch below Eagle Pass
and stayed there till 1912, when I
went to work for the Cattle Raisers’
Associaion and worked for them
eight years before they fired me.
Now I’m on the Blocker ranch at
Big Wells, 100 miles below San An-
tonio. I ride all day, can outride any
man I can hire, am 68 years old and
a pretty good old wagon yet, though
some of the spokes are running
loose.
“We carry about a thousand head
of cattle on the ranch, which seems
like nothing to a man who has driv-
en as many cattle up the trail as I
have; for I guess Blocker Brothers
took more cattle up the trail than
anybody in Texas; at least that is
the reputation we had. I know that
when brother John had so many and
the firm of Blocker & Lytell had
such a lot of them, we drove 60,000
head up the trail in one year. And
I also know that when the droughty
yea^f from ’79 to ’86 came we lost,
at one time, for 100 days hand-run-
ning $1,000 per day; but I’m still
well and able to ride the little cut-
ting pony in the picture harder and
faster and more miles in a day than
any of my men, and all’s well with
thp world as long as a fellow can do
that.”
®®<diw&iffd Seiko®! P®irft£®li® is
S®iaft ft® Japaia.
mnoniiMoiMiiiinNi
Widow Gives Croker Memorial Museum
NMNMIMIlim llllllil 'lonilM
A portfolio prepared by the sixth
grade of the Woodward School has
just been forwarded to Japan.
mis international correspondence
is one phase of the Junior Red Cross 1
j .'gram which has for its aim the
) imotion of a permanent world
j .ice inspired by a closer under-
i gilding and friendship betwen
t pies of different nationality.
The booklet consists of hand-
drawn maps and studies of animal
i . . s well as examples of a \, work.
A letter accompanies this portfolio
describing the work and recreation
cf children in Woodward and re-
i sting examples of the work done
by Japanese children.
Another portfolio prepared by
t ie Woodward sixth graders, and
t,ent to Holland is devoted to cotton.
It contains a general survey of
the importance of cotton and also
i rays on the art of growing cotton,
such as preparation of land, plant-
ini'- of seed, cultivation of land,
b ..- vesting, spinning, selling, ship-
, ,ir and manufacturing.
A letter also accompanies this
p .rtiolio and points out that a par-
t,. u.ar bond of sympathy exists be-
tween the Dutch and ourselves as >
Holland received our Pilgrim fore- I
fathers so hospitably
flight from England.
upon their j
THE ONLY INDIAN RESERVA- |
TION IN TEXAS.
The most unique community of I
the entire Southwest is, beyond
doubt, Indian Village, in the eastern
part of Polk county, Texas, the '
present home of a small remnant of j
Alabama Indians, all that is left of |
a proud race, dedimated by disease
and civilization. Here on the pine-
covered hills of East Texas can be
found today thirty-five families of
the Alabama tribe,the ever stead-
fast friends of the white man, bare-
ly eking out an existence on a res-
ervation of two sections of land
given them by the State of Texas,
in 1854, through the influence of
General Sam Houston.
You can be interested in reading
this story, which will appear in the
Cotulla Record Magazine Section,
March 7th.
Mrs. Bulii Croker, widow of the
noted Tammany leader, has announced
the gtft of a $500,000 memorial mu-
seum to the city of New York. The
museum will Include a mausoleum
within which the body of Richard
Oroker will be placed. The museum
will contain many of the books, paint-
ings and tapestries collected by Croker.
These will he removed from the Croker
home in Ireland, where Croker lived
from 1907 to 1919. He died April 29,
1922.
Mia. Croker was Bula Benton Ed-
monston, a Cherokee Indian “princess”
of Oklahoma. After Croker’s death
his sons by his first marriage tried to
break his wiU, whereupon there was
much lltlgution In the American courts.
Croker was born in [relund in 1841
and was brought here as a child. He
learned the machinist’s trade. He en-
tered politics in 1865, serving New
York city as alderman, coroner, (ire
commissioner and city chamberlain. He was opposed to the Tweed ring and
was recognized head of Tammany Hall for 17 years. Croker got his education
in the public schools of New York, but he was a shrewd politician and a man
of dominating personality, as Is shown by his long leadership of Tammany
Hall.
After C'roker's retirement and his establishment of a home In Ireland, hs
achieved international fume by winning the English derby of 1907 with Orby,
a horse of his own breeding.
Quite a few took in the celebra-
tion at Laredo first of the week.
The Grand Jury was in session
somewhat longer this term of Court
than usual and returned a few more
bills of indictments than usual.
Farmers who broke their land early
and used moisture conservation meth-
ods are able to get up corn and feed
crops.
La Salle and Frio
County Land for Sale.
IN LARGE OR SMALL TRACTS, IMPROVED OR UN-
IMPROVED. IRRIGATED AND DRY FARMS.
PRICED RIGHT.
LIST WITH US. WE DO OUR BEST TO FIND BUYERS.
CHAS. THOMPSON
Artesia Wells, Texas
H. B. MILLER
Pearsall, Texas
D. L. NEELEY
SELLS CHEAPER FOR CASH.
THE BEST GROCERIES
WE SELL “ALL GOLD COFFEE”
HAY, GRAIN AND FEED STUFF.
COTULLA.
-TEXAS.
FARMERS & STOCKMANS BANK
(UNINCORPORATED)
Corner Front and Center Streets.
Burwell Building.
Your Business Will be Appreciated.
J. H. ZACHRY, Mgr.
J. H. GALLMAN, ASS’t. Mgr.
DRAUGHON’S COLLEGE
SAN ANTONIO. TEXAS
Finest, most sanitary, most up-to-date commercial school
Quarters in the South.
LARGE AND EXPERT FACULTY.
Bookkeeping, Banking, Accounting, Auditing, Income Tax work,
special courses preparing for certified Public Accountant’s
Degree, Shorthand, Typewriting, Arithmetic, Penmanship, Eng-
lish, Bank Posting and Ledger Posting machines, Burrough's
Calculator, etc.
POSITION GUARANTEED. Teach you in school or by mail.
Enter any time. Clip this ad and return for elegant catalog
and beautiful specimens of penmanship, FREE.
Your name
Address
Plant Trees Now
AND UNTIL LAST OF MARCH
Liberal Premiums with Cash Orders,
No communities and few homes
have enough home-grown fruit.
PEACHES, PLUMS, PFARS, FIGS, NECTARINES,
PECANS, JUJUBES and OTHER FRUIT,
We have new sure-bearing varieties
and the old standards.
WE WILL TRADE TREES FOR LAND
In future people will drive twenty or thirty miles to pick
their own fruit and pay more than if you took it to them.
EVERGREENS, FLOWERING SHRUBS, ROSES HARDY
CLIMATE-PROOF NATIVE SHRUBS, and
OTHER ORNAMENTALS.
Catalog Free, Satisfaction Guaranteed.
WE PAY EXPRESS.
INFORMATION GLADLY GIVEN.
THE AUSTIN NURSERY
F. T. RAMSEY & SON,
Austin, Texas
Since 1875.
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The Cotulla Record (Cotulla, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 28, 1925, newspaper, February 28, 1925; Cotulla, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1162413/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Alexander Memorial Library.