Stepping back in time

Memories of old west returns with Ranching Tour

by Melissa Rinehart, associate editor 

Life in today’s society is much different then the earlier days of  ranches and settlements.

The buses were loaded in Levelland to start the Texas Last Frontier Ranch Heritage Tour, which was held on Sept. 27, and jointly hosted by  the Hockley County and Cochran County Historical Commissions.  While driving out of Levelland, Dr. Ron Carden, chairperson of the Social Science Department at South Plains College,   read from the tour narrative and explained how Levelland got it’s name. Residents of Hockley City at the time wanted a post office, so  they had sent in a request. It was denied because there already was a Hockley City in Harris County, northwest of Houston.

Some women gathered in Bowers’ store,  including Mrs. T.W. Bowers, Mrs. G.H. Tubb, Mrs. Jim Stroud, Mrs. George P. Smith, Mrs. S.S. Ripley, Mrs. W.A. Cannon, and Mrs. B.E. Gunn. Mrs. Tubb suggested the word  “level,” and then Mrs. Bowers offered the name Levelland. It also was decided that it would be spelled with two L’s.    

The journey to Whiteface began. The buses unloaded at the high school, where the participants gathered in the auditorium to watch a movie about J.B. Allen. Whiteface was the hometown of the famous cowboy poet who was also a working cowboy. Allen wrote 800 poems before his death in 2005.

“J.B Allen was a man who could walk the walk and talk the talk,” said Dr. Lu Ann Aday.

His wife Margaret Allen is now a country commissioner in  Cochran Country .

The group also viewed two paintings by Paul Wylie. According to the tour narrative, Wylie said his drawings, prints, paintings and sculptures depict the ranch life that he lived, things that happened that he tried to put it down in his work, as he remembers it.

Wylie began his career at  South Plains College, where he took art classes during the 1970’s. He has a piece of work displayed  in the Diamond M collection at the  Texas Tech Museum.

Another stop on the tour was the Surratt Ranch acquired by Judge Surratt. It included 33,000 acres, with 53 sections. The Aday family of Ellis County bought the ranch in 1966, and the family still maintains ownership. In 1999, the Surratt ranch received a Texas Historical maker. Dr. Aday spoke about the history of the land and how her family acquired the land.

 The buses pulled up to the Field Family Cemetery in Bronco, where the  participants  learned about Herschel “Gravy” Field and the 07 Ranch from Sarah Jane Field. Herschel Field left home when he was 12 years old, headed to Texas and New Mexico. He work for  two years as a camp boy, or flunky, gathering firewood at the  L7 ranch. He retuned when he was 14, owning three  houses and a bed roll.

“H. Field left home a boy and retuned a man,” said Sarah Jane Field.

 Herschel  Field  later opened up his own store and post office, which  was always open because Field  was out tending to the cattle. His was a “jot- ‘em down store” on an honor system, according to Sarah Jane Field.  He thought about naming his town “Loco” or “Polo”, before  “Bronco” was approved.

“Herschel Field received the nickname ‘gravy’ because he liked to eat it,” said Sarah Jane Field.

According to the tour narrative, Herschel Field remarked about the Bronco area ,“This country would promise more and do less, and then promise less and do more, than any place in the world.”

“The visit to the 07 Ranch with Sarah Jane Field was a classic moment,” said John Hope, instructor in the Fine Arts Department at SPC .

The buses then headed  north to an old school called Bledsoe, built by donated labor. The school opened in November 1925. Mrs. Lackey the postmaster’s wife, taught at the school.

After leaving the Bledsoe school, the tour moved  northeast to the Slaughter Ranch, where James Holmes, a lawyer with Schmidt Firm in Dallas that represents the Mallet Ranch and Slaughter Ranch, spoke about  the life of Christopher Columbus Slaughter, and how he became a rancher.

Slaughter Ranch Headquarters is a part of the Lazy S Ranch. By 1905, Christopher Columbus Slaughter had more than one  million acres and 40,000 head of cattle. He bought Hereford cattle to Texas and started breeding good cattle, which did him well.

His largest ranch was the Long S Ranch, which was leased from the state and was not as good. The second largest was the Lazy S Ranch, which  was his  legacy for his children.

After Slaughter’s  death in 1919, his children split up the acres into 10 lots, which they drew from a hat to see what lots they would receive.

“ You can’t visit a place like the quadrangle at the Slaughter without telling the history of those buildings constructed in the early 1900’s and the Slaughter empire,” Hope said.

Another stop included a  cemetery in Morton,  where the buses drove by the Buffalo Soldier Memorial. There were four headstones and a Texas historical maker. Then the buses moved to the town square, where tour participants viewed a reenactment of the Morton bank robbery. After the reenactment of therobbery, participants  could walk around the town square and walk in the Texas’ Last Frontier Museum, where a demonstration was held on how to make cornhusk dolls as they had in the old days.

The Texas Last Frontier Museum featured  interesting exhibits depicting  farm and ranch life in bygone days. The Museum highlighted  the old school days and churches, as well as  how a woman’s work is never done and the buffalo soldiers. The Museum also displayed  antique  stoves, record players, schools desks, hospital beds, and metals.

Heading back from a long day of learning and great experience, the buses made one final stop in Whiteface. When the buses arrived, there were chuck wagons,  with a fire pit going and music  playing.

 Whiteface also has a museum that used to be an old hotel that was built in1926. It was the first brick building in Whiteface. The Museum displays Cochran County history and contains exhibits from  the Whiteface area.

In the Whiteface Museum were an old cash register, cigarette machines, curling irons , blow dryers, baseball equipment, and military uniforms. The director, Ed Jennings, was in the center room of the museum demonstrating how trains would send messages to each other.

The tour concluded with a great dinner with great entertainment. There was a band from South Plains College called Ed Marsh and the Hockley City Slickers.

The tour began four years ago “ to give area residents an a opportunity to visit historic places in our counties,” according to  Hope.

The tour has brought people from all over the United States, as well as from outside United States. This year’s tour included  225 people in attendance . Many of those on the tour have participated in the tours since they started.

“ It speaks to the success of the even,”  Hope said.

All Photos by Britni Palomino/Plainsman Press