The Childress Index (Childress, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 177, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 14, 1948 Page: 14 of 60

                                
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THE CHILDRESS INDEX, CHILDRESS, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1948
LbdKlNG BACK OVER 60 YEARS IN CHILDRESS
GJVES THE APPEARANCEOF A CRAZY QUILT
?
, BY WADE WcCONNELL | ches of that time were important great cattle companies who<-e thou-
As one looks back over 60 years j in the growth and development sands of cattle grazed over hun-
of living and growing up with a of this country. While the railroad dreds of miles. The town of Chil-
city the size of Childress, it some- could bring needed supplies to dress was first located west of its
Lines seems like viewing one of my 1 Childress, it was up to the freigh- present site, about the place where
mother s old-fashioned crazy quilts | ters to see that the ranches were another pioneer, Charlie T. Scott,
fashioned of dark and li^ht spots. | supplied with the goods. Some of! now owns a farm.
Only as the years have slipped : the most important ranches of the
by has the pattern of that growth j time included the OX. the Shoe-
w-ith a city become apparent. The (nail, the Moon Ranch, the Pitch
material of that living has become i Fork, the Mafedor Land and Cat-
richer as the years have gone by, | tie Company.
and as Childress celebrates its 60th . Built for power and endurance,
bnt.hduy, some of the incidents J these freight wagons, for runners I was free, and this way the use
v-l.icii have gone into the patch • of the modern truck lines,wwere of cattle brands became import-
wor* of-its history come to mind I often drawn by six frisky mules. ; ant. As the years have passed, •
'Jo a 12-year-old boy, moving j Usually traveling two to the wa- however, the pattern of bold ent-'
inly a new country was an exciting ■ gon, the freighters often had to j erprise set by tnese pioneerss has ,
experience. As a teen-ager of that' chart a course over an unknown j been followed in many ways.
tin*, 1 can well remember the | route, ford a swift creek, or pick j The first church in the commu- ;
fust celebration of the town's ! off an occasional wolf or coyote j nity was organized by the Meth- j
birthday held July 18. 1889. It was i to protect their cargo of grain, odist Church, and it was erected i
wire, posts, windmills, or other j on the site now occupied by Dr. j
ranching necessities. Some of these j Townsend's residence. Other chur- j
early day freighters included | ches were organized, and Childress
Daud Richardson, Tom Frost. B. .'became a religious place. That in- | #
Pixler, Cal Dyche. F. M. Hilliard. | fluence did much to further the^ §|Qy|ng StOrfcd
OLD CITY HALL
now own:
The town of Childress was lo-
cated in the OX Ranch whose fen-
ces took in some 30 square miles.
The Diamond Tail, the Shoenail,
and other ranches gradually grew
up in a country where the range
Childress-
Up
(Cc
m Page Oi
officials were elected.
The following year,
FW&D railroad was
when the
completed
irch
V'"* ^ *
J
This building was replaced in 1928 by the present structure at the
corner of Commerce Street and Avenue D. the same site as occupied
by the old building.
thio'. gh liie Panhandle, on
14. 18C3. more people moved in
ar.d a town was started on the
present site of Childress. After
considerable wrangling, a com-
promise was reached and the two
settlements were combined.
Childress was established.
By 1890, the population of the
j county was 1115. with B21 o! the
'■esidents in the town of Childress.
! During the jj_ext ten years pro-
I gress was slow, and the population
j in 1900 was 2138.
! Then, the FW&D shops were
j moved here. By 1910, Childress
i County had a population of 9538,
the town of Childress was on its
at the old wooden Court Hoyse
near where the present Woman's
Detriment Club building stands.
Soi,ve of the events included run -
ning for rings, horse racing, and
calx loping.
I saw the famous "Paul Bun-
yan" of this territory, Ellison Car-
roll, throw a yearling over his
head, and in the afternoon Gid
Crews sang his 'kicking mule'
jong and Bosky Edrington danc-
ed ''Jun Crow." The buzz of con-
versation, the good fellowship, the
lusty atmosphere of a new, strong,
growing town made that occas-
ion one to be remembered.
A Main Street scene of that time j
would fir: t show the original de- I
: Census I octets Gc
Age Guessing Ly bathers
R. H. Norris is taking the school
census of Childress.
The work is quite different to
what it was three or four years
ago 1895. Then the parent made a
guess as to the age oi his child,
I but now he must give the year,
(month a:.d day of birth and swear
to it.
As a rule, the father sends
j Mr. Norris to the mother for such
informui ion.
! way and the farming industry was
■ developing rapidly.
For the past 38 years, Childress
• and Childress County have contin-
j lied to grow until today the city
has over 10.000 population and the
| county has reached an estimated
! 13,700.  
Closest Election Saw All
Candidates 'Vrfhin ! Vo j
ei
Probably ti
held in C
..when Fred
and Sam T.
All were j:
I " : nv t; ien<
turns were
How ai d by
; was one n
| primary w;
' general elc
i official. E ;
to consider
A re
;roduc:
.meter
i t h.
Tillman King, John King, Ed spiritual welfare of the new town.
Brown, and my own father, E. J. j The old Opera House was a
McConnell.
The ranches, as well as individ-
ual herd owners, drove their cat-
tle to Childress for shipping. The
town was at its height of interest
and activity when two or three
of the larger outfits had herds in
the pens, located on the right-of-
way, ready for shipping to Fort
Worth and Kansas City.
Then the saloons and the gamb-
ling places ran wide open and mo-
ney changed hands frequently.
forerunner of the modern air-con-
ditioned movie palaces. A two-
storied wooden building, it con-
tained places for approximately
150 patrons of the arts. The small
stage resounded to the road show's
of Jack Taylor and his company's
Ten Nights in a Bar Room,
melodramatic "East Lynne," and
others of like tenor. Perhaps the
Little Theather groups might be
surprised to head of the amateur
plays produced by local talent
John
Will Pankney's
Slaying Started
Cemetery Here
line
nled
pot built by the Fort Worth and
Denver where Louis G. Warlick j Living was intense at those times, [ which included
lived with his wife and children. ! and some of the things that hap-
Then the famous Dwight Hotel, j pened then would be scoffed at
operated by Oliver Dwight. came | tiy a generation living in a time
next. His sons, Mel and Ward, i0f Gene Autry movies, but it was j Gff t0 Paducah!"
worked for the OZ Ranch. I reai. And in those days, great deals | Many of those who have pass-
Allrnond,
Genia Estes, the Reed Girls, and
my part which consisted ot yell-
ing one line, "They re off, T hey ie
The "new look" of that day was ; for iaM(j and cattle were consuma-
to be purchased from the bolts of j ted with nothing more formal than
calico and good blue serge for a man's word and handshake.
rale at U. S. Weddington's dry Some of the old-timers who were i
ed on would be surprised to see
the improvements that sons and
daughters of the- pioneers have
made. Occasionally one may feel
goods store. The only barber shop | new-timers then include Mrs. F. I a nostalgia for the "good old days
in town was located between this p Griffith and family, Mr. and ; since change is the only thing
place and the popular Mac Cren- Mrs. T. A. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. j ^at js permanent, Childress has
r:h^w Hardware Store, located in I l. s. Withey, Judge A. J. Fires,
the post office building. j Stovall Johnson, W. G. Gross, Dr.
The second block of stores in- | j h. Cristler, W. C. Montgomery
eluded the Dr. J. W. Albert Drug i an{} family, U. S. and Clint Wed-
St(tfe and restaurant combined, j dington, L. C. Warlick and fami-
Next door, Mrs. F. F. Grilfith fed j ]y( Bushon boys, J. G. Stew-
the hungry railroad men, the far- | ard ani) family, W. L. R. Dixon's
mers, and the ranchers as she j family, Elbert Howard and fam-
pilsd the food high at her board- I jiy) Alex Blackburn and family,
ing house. I Mrs. M. M. Crews and family
J, -H. Bowman's livery stable j consisting of Joe, Lee, Gid, Char-
or.d wagon yard was the mecca of j he, Albert, Rush, Knox, Martin,
those riding into town from dis- j Lulu, and Haydena, Dr. W. T. Al-
tant points. The housing problem } hert ancj family, Dr. J. W. Al-
of that day was important too, J bert and family, o. Dwight, Harry
with "veterans" of a new town I Munday and family and J. T. Van-
clamoring for lumber and other ] hoy and family.
building materials. The L. S. Wi- j Some of trie ranch notables of
they lumber yard did a humming j that time included Pat L. Leon-
followed a pattern of progress.
There are light and dark patch-
es in the crazy quilt of our history,
but the pattern has been bold, ex-
citing, and as the shadows grow
a little longer, one finds that the
pattern is firm, true and good.
First Highway
Group In State
Is Formed Here
Organizing one of the first
highway associations in Texas,
when a group of good roads en-
thusiasts met 40 years ago in
Childress, is recalrec in a letter
business in supplying these wants. ! ard. Mat Swearengen, Alex Black- j from Joseph H. Aynesworth, Bor-
The ring of the hammer, the acrid j burn, Sammy and Russ Gregory,
smell of horses getting a new pair j A1 Crawford, Sam Tyler, Col. R. L.
of shoes, and a puff of smoke lo- i Ellison, John Perry, Tom Smith,
cated the B. F. Blair blacksmith } jjm Smith, Ed Smith, Bill and
shop at the far end of Main Street.
Our family, like many others,
came to Childress along with the
Bob Stone, Frank Klosky, and E.
D. Sorrel.
A group of herd owners inclu-
opening country as the Fort jeci W. L. Underwood, John Cris-
Worth and Denver railroad en
couraged settling the area. Father
made a trip to Vernon from Aledo,
formerly called Parker Station,
where we had settled after coming
to Texas from Cherokee County,
Ga., in the year of 1876.
In the winter of 1887, my oldest
brother, W. T. McConnell, joined
my uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs.
E. T. O'Neil, who had come with
the first settlers to the county and
had set up temporary residence
in the only type of housing then
avnihible, an old fashioned dug-
out.
The rest of the family follow-
ed. The boys of the family rode
in the immigrant cars which car-
ried everything from horses, feed,
and chickens to our house; so per-
haps the modern "pre-fabs" are
not so new in this country, after
all.
The freighters to the big ran-
well, W. T. White, W. I. Johnson,
George Johnson, Lee McGrady,
Frank Coleman, J. W. Johnson,
Earnest Hunt, G. W. Helm, Robert
Nelson, Jas. A. Vardy, and the
Anderson brothers.
ger attorney who formerly lived
in Childress and an officer of the
original Colorado-to-the Gulf As-
sociation.
When the meeting was held in
the Elks Club rooms in the Cris-
tler Bililding here, the particip-
ants had not even dreamed of the
present system of concrete which
now link practically all commun-
ities in the nation.
They were interested in improv-
ing the road which was beginning
,, I to be used by the tourists who lab-
Lite wasn t all riding, i oping j oriously drove chugging touring
ar.d punching cattle all day long, j cars over the humpy highways in
however. One might see a bunch j a new craze for vacations in the
ol ten or 15 boys headed tor the | Colorado mountains.
did
first
porcelain road signs in the state,
marking the road from Denver to
Galveston. They started a cam-
paign to get the road graded and
kept it in passable, if not comfort-
able, condition for year-around
travel. ,
When a motorist was able to
drive from Childress to Fort
Worth in only one day, they point-
ed with pride to the road which
A shooting at a dugout
camo on the Shoenail ranch c
fatally for Will Pankney shortly
before Christmas, 1886, and the
first grave was dug in the Cliil-
dress Cemetery.
Facts of the shooting are recalled
by a number of old-timers but
their conflicting stories about the
exact location illustrated the diffi-
culty in separating truth from the
tradition and heresay in tales of
long-past events.
Panckney was shot bv Charlie
Stewart, an employe of the Shoe-
nail ranch. The two men had quar-
reled, and when they met at the
dugout they resumed their dispute.
According to the testimony which
won aequital for Stewart by a dis-
trict court jury, Pankney started
to mount his horse and leave when
words were exchanged.
Stepping behind his horse, Pank-
ney drew his Winchester from the
saddle scabbard and fired over his j
horse. Stewart also took shelter
behind his horse but fired under
the animal. Bullets struck Pank-
ney in the abdomen. He was taken
to Childress for medical attention
but died the next day.
His grave was unmarked and to-
day has become lost in the ceme-
tery.
Accounts agree on these points,
but the location of the dugout has
given rise to a story more inter-
esting than the actual shooting.
Caved-in remains of a dugout
just across Red River and about
half a mile from the old crossing
are pointed out by some as the
spot where Pankney was shot.
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Whitehead,
| however, point to a depression on
j their land, about three miles east
i of their farm home, as the location
j of the dugout.
The most picturesque story,
however, was told by Bob Billings-
ley to an Index reporter a few
years ago. Billingsley. a former
cowboy, said he rode into the line
camp the morning after Ihe shoot-
ing, and heard the story from the I
excited witnesses. He points out |
a third ruin as the right dugout.
The wounded Pankney had al- I
ready bc<-n Taken to Childress 1
when he arrived, Billingsley said,
but there was a large spot of
blood on the dugout floor where
he had lain. He helped the other
cowboys clean up the dugout, j
digging up the bloody spot and
throwing the dirt outside.
But the next day, the spot had j
appeared again, dark and damp. '
So some more dirt was dug out. A
few days later, after Pankney
had died, the trace of blood shoy/-
ed again as clearly as ever, so |he
dugout was abandoned and the
cowboys built another near by to
serve as their camp.
 • 
First Diner On The Denver
Came Through Here in '99
CHILDRESS, May 26. 1899 —
Saturday morning for breakfast
will be the end of the Denver
trains stopping at Childress for
meals.
On Sunday morning, the dining
cars will make the first trip. On
the same day a new time card will
go into effect. Agent Herald has
not yet received the schedule, but j
says north-bound passenger trains |
would reach Childress about 5:30 J
p. m., and south-bound trains a- [
bout 9:30 a. m.
ThisVuits Our people, as it makes j
the evening train over an hour
earlier and the morning train an '
hour later.
OUR HEARTY
CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE
OLD SETTLERS REUNION
Celebrating Their 60th Anniversary
JULY 16-17
AND BEST WISHES AND GREETINGS TO
THE CHILDRESS INDEX
ON THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY
E. V.
SERVICE
FSTE
STATION
GOOD GULF PRODUCTS
CORNER COMMERCE & AVE. F
OX tank for a dip in the old Qne thing the acSOCiation
swimming hole. That bunch might {was to put up possib]y the
include Sumner and Ed Williams,
Albert and Wilbur Withey, Carl
and Oscar Newlin, Walter and Jim
Stewart, Mark and Wirt Bowman,
L. G. and O. T. Warlick, Fisher
Westmoreland, Willie, Albert, and
Charlie Mitchell, James Mitchell,
and many others.
The cowmen and the small ran-
cher^and farmer were enemies in
those days, and no one showed
the white feather then. Settlement' is now a thoroughfare surpassing
of this county began with the their most rosy visions.
FROM ONE OLD-TIMER
TO ANOTHER
CONGRATULATIONS
Best Wishes To The Old Settlers Reunion
On Their 60th Anniversary
JULY 16-17
They Tackled Big Things
ALSO CONGRATULATIONS TO MORRIS HIGLEY AND
THE CHILDRESS INDEX ON THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY
WH ITE'S MAC HIN E SHOP
CHARLIE WHITE
1007 AVENUE F, NE.
WE PAY OUR RESPECTS TO THE
PIONEERS OF CHILDRESS COUNTY
NOW CELEBRATING THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY
OLD SETTLERS REUNION
JULY 16-17
HACKLEE & DOSS
NEW & USED CARS
101 AVENUE F, NW.
CHILDRESS, TEXAS
■
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