NTS Feb

North Texas Star
February 2014
CHASING OUR TALES BACK TO FORTUNE BEND
OUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS: HUH? BAD SANTA
PALO PINTO
From
to
PALO DURO
February 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 2
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North Texas Star
4
OUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS
HUH?
By Don Price
20
STORIES & SNIPPETS
Large Crowd Hears Proposals on
HH Country Club Facility
8
CHASING OUR TALES
Back to Fortune Bend
By Sue Seibert
16
BAD SANTA
By Mel Rhodes
12
By Jim Dillard
FROM PALO PINTO TO PALO DURO
Outdoors Along the Brazos
By Don Price
Huh?
T
he old cut-off fork was serene, the surface
glass, and the angler would soon flex his
wrist for the cast. An unintended wave from
the boat could alert the prize.
While using his right hand only, sculling now with
an ash paddle was but a whisper. A red squirrel chat-
tered, a gray fox barked, and a mocking bird taunted
from savannah grass.
This was all but on the surface; dimpled on the
slick were widening rings here upstream and there
downstream, the beginning of a feeding period. A
few minutes and the old cut-off fork seemed alive.
The timing seems right, now we'll grasp the art,
the cast of a blue-eyed fisherman with skin sun
brown.
With its being big and wooden, the Bass Oreno
sort of twisted and tumbled as it sailed over the sur-
face in a race with its reflection, meeting itself with
a splash in a small pocket of watercress near rotting
logs, a perfect cast made by the fisherman from
some 50 feet away. It was a likely spot for a nice
largemouth.
The artificial lure lay motionless for perhaps a
minute; a good 50 feet away a casting rod's tip
began to waver, but only after the slack was taken,
deftly caused by sun-browned hands that somehow
knew. The maestro poised with his wand, ready to
tempo the retrieve, the manipulation of a lure to
wheedle a bass.
In the pocket of watercress the battle-scarred Bass
Oreno began its spasms it rolled, it gambolled, it
capered, it quivered weaving every conceivable
way, forming little flakes of foam round it, merely
another movement to cajole a bass.
Everything seemed to take notice, every object
within near distance both animate and inanimate
seemed to sense the sudden bloom of the old war
horse brandishing three treble hooks.
At the back of the pocket of watercress, a little
beyond where the lure was capering near rotting logs,
lay a streamlined form, its translucent fins barely
wavering.
This bronze form was casting a round eye toward
the surface at the wooden plug painted red and white;
there would be no quarter for the huge bug frolicking
in the bass's lair.
The wooden lure capered on and on, three treble
hooks rattling melodiously against hand-painted
sides, this whole scene manipulated by the deft touch
of the fisherman and his very short solid-steel True
Temper casting rod.
Suddenly a streak of bronze from below and errupt-
ing silver at the surface blended, much too swift for
the eye to follow.
The cedar Bass Oreno caught in the center of this
vortex disappeared in a swirl of percussion and foam,
the target of the bronze-back warrior.
From about 45 feet the angler reflexed his wrists
like a tightly wound clock spring. He jerked the solid
steel casting rod, setting the plug's treble hooks in the
bass's mouth, planting his feet in the wooden boat's
bottom to lean his body toward the fish, preparing for
battle.
Nothing would compare with this moment, pitting
his wits with those of a wily bass; nothing else
seemed to matter. Secular frustrations were on the
back burner.
The patriarch burst out of the water in a shower of
sunsilver to balance on its tail, shaking vigorously to
loose its jaw of the cedar by twisting and turning,
only to be jerked off balance by a taut braided line.
Maneuvers were desperately tried in both deep and
shallow water by the monarch, even the dodge of rap-
idly swimming toward the boat in hopes it might
wriggle free in the slack black braided line.
Laboring hands, working hands cranked the reel's
handle, pausing to let out line while thumbing the
spool, forever pressing the waning battle. Soon the
fish was spent, to float on its side at the boat.
The plugger's thumb and index finger darted out to
firmly clamp the bass's lower jaw to haul it over the
side and into the boat's bottom in one smooth motion.
A virtuoso of angling technique, yet low-key in the
town's coffee shops, the plugger laid down his solid
steel rod to gaze at his prize with a twinkle in his eye.
This trip happened up river from an ancient cement
dam, backing up water for miles, forming an old river
cutoff, just a few minutes from the heart of down-
town Dallas. All the high school boys were just too
busy when I told them of this paradise. They were
just too busy to listen, I guess.
The year was 1944 and I was in my junior year at
Woodrow Wilson High School in North Dallas. I
wound up at the old cutoff on the Elm Fork of the
Trinity River most Saturdays, learning how to suc-
cessfully wheedle a black bass now and then.
The reason I know at length of the happenings of
the above trip is because I was 14-years-old and on
the Elm Fork cutoff, watching the technique of an
older plugger working a large top-water lure.
The fisherman who was working the Bass Oreno,
skillfully wheedling the lunker to strike, was my
mentor, my father. Sometimes my 11-year-old sister
went along, but it was definitely not my mother's cup-
of-tea.
Most of us are fond of looking back to extraordi-
nary moments we shared with mom or dad, back
when we were teenagers, not realizing how lucky
most of us were.
Everyone in downtown Dallas was perhaps too
busy making money to notice this utopia, the Elm
Fork cut-off. Amusing it was to me, as they would
About 1916, the South Bend Bait Company developed a new top-water lure
for bass fshermen. in 17 years over two million of these lures were sold, making
the manufacturer a household word among anglers.
Continued on page 6
travel countless miles to other countries for plugging
water not much better.
But we're all the same, thinking a secret spot off the
beaten trail is the rage, something you can boast
about in the coffee shop.
It's nothing but human nature to think you've made
a discovery all by yourself, something to talk about.
Something like a century has passed, back when
most things were made of wood. Made of hand-fin-
ished cedar and a floater when at rest, the mammoth
Bass Oreno, produced by the South Bend Bait
Company, required deft hands to make it cavort and
caper.
Just touch it, feather it, making a cast last several
minutes. You won't feel left out when the other guys
pass you by, 'cause you might wind up with the big-
gest stringer.
Practically anyone could do it, but only with deter-
mination and patience. It was simply savvy on the
water.
You didn't build your lifestyle on gadgets as some
of us do today, for you were wealthy with a couple of
Bass Orenos and the patience to read the river, now
perhaps a forgotten art.
Pages 48-49 in the 81-year-old 1933 South Bend
Catalogue plainly show the deadly Bass Oreno.
Continued from page 4
Chasing Our Tales
Back to Fortune Bend
By Sue Seibert
L
ast month I shared a letter from Andrew
Kemp regarding the Moore family of the
Fortune Bend of the Brazos River. So far I
have heard nothing, so I will continue with my
Fortune Bend story in hopes that one of you out
there will have information on the Moore family.
I wrote this column many years ago, and so I am
returning to in with the information I had, hoping to
spark a memory of the Fortune Bend families. In a
past column I misnamed a person, so here I am giv-
ing her correct information. Mrs. Vernell Gann
Phillips telephoned me to correct her name and to
tell me stories about her family and the Brazos
Valley.
Mrs. Phillips said that once, when her twin broth-
er and sister, Veva and Vearon, were very small, and
they were living in Caddo, their mother heard a big
cat screaming. Mr. Gann was out bailing hay, so
Mrs. Gann put the twins in a closet to keep them
safe from the lion. The cat howled so fiercely and
so long that the mule jumped the fence and ran off.
When Mr. Gann came home he asked his wife about
the problem and she explained that the panther had
been yelling up the hill all day.
She went on to tell me that when her family want-
ed supplies from town they hitched up the wagon
and rode as far as Indian Creek School the first day,
crossing the Brazos River. On the second day they
would ride into Mineral Wells, do their shopping
and then go back west as far as Indian Creek School
where they would, once again, spend the night
before proceeding back across the river to Caddo.
I have found more information about Vernells
family. John Worth Gann was the fourth child of
Bayless and Laura Gann. He was born Nov. 16,
1894, in the Veal Creek community. He was married
to Bonnie Marie Storm on Sept. 23, 1920, at
Pickwick, Texas. She was born April 27, 1899, in
the Pickwick area. Their children were (twins),
Veva (McCoy) and Vearon, born July 18, 1921, in
Caddo, Texas. Vearon died June 30, 1985. He is
buried in the Indian Creek Cemetery west of
Mineral Wells. Vernell (Phillips) was born Oct. 14,
1923, in Pickwick. Cecil was born June 9, 1938, in
the Fortune Bend community.
John Worth served in the Army in WWI. Vearon
served in the Navy in WWII. The son-in-law Euther
Phillips (ret. U.S. Army) served in WWII, the
Korean conflict, and in Vietnam War.
John and Bonnie lived in Pickwick, Caddo,
Fortune Bend and Mineral Wells. John was a farmer
and rancher and did custom hay baling. He moved
to Mineral Wells in 1940 and set up an auto salvage
business.
John died July 24, 1972, and is buried in the
Indian Creek Cemetery. Bonnie died in April of
1997, and is also buried in the Indian Creek
Cemetery.
These are the stories I would so like to print here
in Chasing Our Tales, so if you have some, please
get in touch with me!
The next story comes from Laura Hight Singleton
of De Leon. Mrs. Hight writes that she appreciated
the column about Fortune Bend and Pickwick. Her
dad, Amos Hight, was born there on May 4, 1919,
to Earnest and Maggie (Terry) Hight. There were
eight girls and three boys in the family while they
were living in that area. Lauras father was born at
home as were most of Granny Hights children. It
was several months after the birth before the family
made the trip to Palo Pinto to register Amos birth,
which a Dr. Smith signed.
Laura goes on to say that her dad grew up and
married Mary Elizabeth Rainwater. He served in
World War II as Amos Hight, but when he applied
for his social security at age 65 he got out his birth
certificate which had recorded him as No Name
Hight.
Amos and his future wife, Elizabeth, grew up
together, and they had many stories to tell on each
other. They were close to the Gann family and were
saddened when Vearon died in 1985. Then in 1986
Amos Hight died. They are greatly missed.
Laura remembers the McCoy family fondly, say-
ing they were special people who were musically
talented. Laura states that she still owns her familys
home place at Brad, behind what was Snoddys
Cafe.
Laura included a partial Hight family tree. The
married names are in parentheses:
Earnest Hight born 1 Jun 1888
Maggie Gertrude (Terry) Hight born 2 Sep 1892
Children of Earnest and Maggie:
Inez (Moore) born 9 Aug 1914
Sadie R. (McCoy) born 17 Nov 1917
Amos D. born 4 May 1919
Eva Lee born 9 Jan 1921
William A. (Billy) born 24 Jul 1924
Dorthy Ruth (Couch) born 21 Apr 1927
Cleo Dean (Mc Coy) born 11 Sep 1930
Marvin born 17 Mar 1933
Iris Virginia (Skiles) born 10 Jan 1936
Wanda Sue (Lewis) born 5 Feb 1939
Earnestine (Strawbridge) born 24 Feb 1941
I also discovered the following information
regarding the McCoy family of Palo Pinto County.
William Anderson Garrard was born on Dec. 8,
1844, in Milford, Bracken County, Ky. In 1880 the
census has him living in 1880 in Palo Pinto County.
He owned Garrard Homestead on Aug. 29, 1887, in
Stephens County. On Aug. 26, 1887, G.W. Boring
applied for a survey of the following land: 160 acres
situated in Stephens County, Texas, and three days
later the land was transferred to W.A. Garrard.
Garrard later transferred the land to Ellen Garrard
on Dec. 2, 1889, because of marital problems. W.A.
Garrard died on May 5, 1894, in Washita, Okla. He
was killed by a mule, as he was a muleskinner by
trade. W.A. Garrards parents were John Mountjoy
Garrard and Mildred (Amelia?) Kinney. He was
married to Ellen Kirkney McCoy in 1883 in Palo
Pinto County.
I have received some wonderful emails from Noel
Garland of Mesquite, Texas. He stated that Garland
Bend is one bend northwest of Fortune Bend. Upon
reading the Fortune Bend column, Mr. Garland con-
tacted his friend Pete Weldon in San Angelo. Mr.
Weldon told us that Thomas Fielder Weldon was his
grandfather. He went on to say that his grandparents
are buried in Pickwick Cemetery, not too far from
Graford. He said he can find it easily enough, but it
is not really near any other landmark except Possum
Kingdom Lake.
You may remember my column dealing with the
Savage family of Parker and Palo Pinto counties.
My friend, Bonnie Bailey, who assisted me with the
article, tells me that her husbands family, the
Bailey family, were settlers in the Fortune Bend
area as well.
Now for a little information about the next bend
in the Brazos River Chick Bend. As you know
there are lots of bends in the river, and they are usu-
ally named for families who settled them or for
something that happened there. Chick Bend seems
to be the bend most closely associated with Fortune
Bend so far as family relationships are concerned.
James Henry Chick settled Chick Bend after he
left Hill County, Texas, sometime after 1854. He
was born on Feb. 12, 1833, in Indiana. The family
also lived in both Kentucky and Illinois. His fathers
name was James Henry, and he was born in
Kentucky in 1794. The family believes his father
fought in the American Revolution, and if he is the
James Chick born May 14, 1760, in King and
Queen County, Va., and died in November of 1845
in Knox County, Ky., they are correct. If you are a
descendant and want more information regarding
the Daughters of the American Revolution I can
help you.
Continued on page 10
Ella Chick Ballenger
Here is more Chick information from
the 1860 and 1880 censuses:
1860 Palo Pinto Co., TX page 342
James Chick 27 IN
Dorcas 25 IL
Mary 5 IL
Elizabeth 4 IL
Robert 2 TX
1880 Census Palo Pinto Co., TX page 135
James Chick 47 IN-KY-IN
Dorcas J 45 IL-KY-KY
Fanny 15 TX
Francis 13 TX
William P 10 TX
Ella 8 TX
Charles 8 TX
However, I have found a different Chick family, that
of Pettis R. Chick, who says the bend was named for
him. It further states they came from Milam County,
Texas, to Palo Pinto County. Further, they stated that
another Chick, Charles R., was married to Susan
Armstrong in Milam County.
So, you Chick relatives out there, can you let us
know what you think?
Thanks so much for reading. If you have information
you would like to share, please e-mail me at sue_seib-
ert@att.net.
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From Palo Pinto
to Palo Duro
By Jim Dillard
(Part 1 in a series of articles on Charles
Goodnight, legendary cattleman, ranger and Texas
icon, and the events of his life that took him from the
Keechi Creek Valley in Palo Pinto County to his
ranching empire in the vast Palo Duro Canyon coun-
try in the Texas Panhandle.)
I
n 1970 while working with Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department as a fledgling wildlife
biologist in the Texas Panhandle, I had the
opportunity to fly helicopter surveys in Palo Duro
Canyon counting Aoudad sheep. The sheep, native to
the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, were introduced
in the canyon during the 1950s and had gained popu-
larity as a game animal. An annual survey was
required to determine their population status and
number of hunting permits to be issued landowners in
the region with property in or adjoining the canyon.
As the pilot lifted off in the small helicopter from
the rim of the canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State
Park, the sensation of going from level ground to 800
feet of open space below my feet was breathtaking. I
often wondered if Charles Goodnight may have had a
similar feeling back on Oct. 23, 1876, as he sat horse-
back on the north rim of that same canyon with a
herd of 1,600 longhorn cattle behind him and gazed
into the chasm below.
The trail that brought Charles Goodnight to that
point in time was long and winding. It was a trail that
defined his persona as the frontier cattleman and leg-
endary Texas icon that had the grit to venture into
country where others dared not go. Even at an early
age Goodnight had a vision of what he wanted to do
in life and took the opportunities at hand as they were
presented to him to expand his horizons. He was not
only to become a famous cattleman, but delved into a
wide variety of entrepreneurial ventures along the
way.
Although his long and roundabout journey would
eventually lead him to Palo Duro Canyon, it was
fraught with danger from Indians, cattle rustlers,
stampedes, bandits, blizzards, carpetbaggers and
every other obstacle imaginable. Goodnight perse-
vered to make the Palo Duro country his home and in
the process became one of Texass most famous cat-
tleman. His trail also paused here in Palo Pinto
County where he honed his skills as a cattleman and
ranger and left his indelible mark on the hills and val-
leys at the edge of the Western Cross Timbers.
It all began on a family farm in Macoupin County,
Ill. Charles Goodnight was born March 5, 1836, the
fourth of five children, to Charles and Charlotte
(Collier) Goodnight. In 1841, when he was 5, his
father died of pneumonia and his mother soon mar-
ried Hiram Daugherty, a neighboring farmer. As a
child, Charles would have only six months of formal
education, but as he grew up, he quickly learned
skills and trades that would help sustain him through
the hard times to come.
The family traveled 800 miles to Texas in two cov-
ered wagons in late 1845, the year Texas became a
state, and settled in Milam County near Nashville-on-
the-Brazos, located 2 miles below the mouth of Little
River. Charles rode the whole way bareback on his
white-faced mare named Blaze. Nashville-on-the
Brazos had served as the headquarters for the
Robertson Colony in the early 1830s and at one time
was considered by the Texas Legislature as a site for
the capital of the Republic of Texas.
As a youth there, he spent as much time as he could
in the bottomlands of the Brazos River with an old
Native American named Caddo Jack, learning to hunt
and track animals. By age 11, he hired out to work on
neighboring farms.
Not long after their arrival in Texas, his mother had
left Hiram Daugherty, for good reason, and the
family moved to Port Sullivan, a prosperous commu-
nity located on the Brazos River in eastern Milam
County. There Charles worked for an Irish farmer
named Sullivan to help support the family and later
for John Poole, a farmer and stock raiser who he
highly respected, for the pay of $12 to $15 a month.
He raised a horse his brother had caught on the
open prairie and from that experience became a skill-
ful horseman. At the age of 15 and weight of 90
pounds, he hired out as a jockey for a horse-racing
operation at Port Sullivan but soon returned home to
his mother to remove himself from the bad people
and environment that surrounded the sport. He con-
tinued to work at various farm and plantation jobs,
including supervising crews of slaves.
In the fall of 1850 the family bought a small farm
northeast of Cameron but later relocated 15 miles
west of Waco between the junction of the Bosque and
Brazos rivers. Charles took odd jobs whacking bulls
and splitting rails. At the age of 16 he began freight-
ing and hauling with ox teams at Waco. He was also
becoming restless to venture wherever he wanted and
follow the new movement of cattle ranching by gath-
ering and herding wild longhorn cattle to lucrative
markets. Cattle raising was more profitable than
farming and the wide open spaces were calling him.
In 1853 his mother married the Reverend Adam
Sheek, a Methodist preacher and a man Goodnight
described as a very devout Christian man,
extremely kind and in my estimation as nearly fault-
less as it is possible for a man to be. Charles formed
a partnership with his new stepbrother J. Wes Sheek
in 1856 to establish their own cattle business. They
set out with all their holdings, which included three
good horses, several firearms, a large wagon and six
yokes of cattle, for the San Saba River area which
was reported to be fine grass country. After spending
two or three days in the area, they determined there
was no fortune to be made there and decided to head
on to the land of opportunity California.
Turning north they traveled cross-country to Fort
Graham, a military fort located on the Brazos River
in present western Hill County. Their plan was to then
follow the military road up the Brazos to Fort
Goodnight
From Palo Pinto
to Palo Duro
Belknap (in present Young County) where the
California Immigrant Road crossed the Brazos and
then on the California.
On the road between Fort Graham and Fort
Belknap, Charles came to a fork in the road of his life
when he unexpectedly encountered his brother-in-law
Alfred Lane. Lane dissuaded them from going on to
California and to buy into a large tract of land with
him on the Brazos River south of Weatherford. They
agreed on the land purchase, but when Sheek and
Lane learned in Waco the title to the land was imper-
fect, the deal fell through.
All was not lost. In the late summer of 1856, Wes
Sheek and Goodnight contracted with Claiborn
Varner, Sheeks brother-in-law, to take his herd of 430
head of cattle, mostly cows, and keep them on shares
for 10 years. Varner delivered the cattle to them at
Camp Creek, located 15 miles from present Glen
Rose in Somervell County, with the stipulation that
they could graze them wherever they liked but he was
to receive every fourth calf in pay. Goodnight and
Sheek agreed and lived in one side of a double log
cabin during the winter of 1856 and wintered the cat-
tle in a bend of the Brazos River. In the spring of
1857 they headed the cattle marked with the CV
brand north up the Brazos River Valley in search of
new grazing lands.
They set their sights on Palo Pinto County which
had been created the previous year by the Texas
Legislature from Bosque and Navarro counties and
organized on April 27, 1857, with Golconda (later
Palo Pinto) as the county seat. Goodnight and Sheek
drove their herd of cattle into the north-central part of
the county along Keechi Creek at the western edge of
the Upper (Western) Cross Timbers near Black
Springs (later Oran, Texas.) There they found good
mesquite grass for grazing and abundant wood for
fuel and building. Once the cattle were settled, they
constructed a log cabin, and during the following year
Charles moved his mother and stepfather to the ranch.
For the next three years, with no market for the
calves their herd was producing, Goodnight resorted
to his earlier experience of freighting with teams of
oxen. He hauled freight from the railheads north of
Houston at Hempstead and later Bryan to Palo Pinto
County where commodities such as salt, sugar, syrup,
whisky and all other types of merchandise were in
great demand. On his last trip from Bryan, he hauled
13,000 pounds of salt for the town of Palo Pinto. He
also made acquaintance with Oliver Loving who had
moved into the Keechi Creek Valley area in 1855 and
operated a country store nearby on the
Charles Goodnight
Belknap-Weatherford Road. Loving had also begun
trailing his and other cattlemens herds to markets in
Louisiana and Illinois where beef was in demand.
After Wes Sheek married, Goodnight was required to
spend more time working their free-ranging cattle
and less time freighting.
During this same period, two Native American res-
ervations were established by the federal government
on the Clear Fork of the Brazos (Throckmorton
County) and south of Fort Belknap (Young County)
in an attempt to civilize marauding tribes of
Comanches and settle friendly Indians on unoccu-
pied lands set aside by the State of Texas.
After a group of men from Erath County
massacred seven friendly reservation Indians
out on an authorized hunt north of Palo Pinto
on Dec. 27, 1858, as they slept in their camp,
the whole region became like a powder keg
waiting to explode. A large group of settlers
and cattlemen, including Goodnight, orga-
nized and ultimately demanded the removal
of the reservation Indians over issues of con-
tinued depredations and other reported atroc-
ities. By August 1859, all reservation Indians
were finally escorted by military units from
Camp Cooper and Fort Belknap north across
Red River into Indian Territory. But the trou-
ble had only just begun.
With the onset of the Civil War and as fed-
eral posts along the Texas frontier were
abandoned, citizens formed volunteer rang-
ing companies to help defend their families
and livestock from increased Indian raids.
After 56 Comanche warriors killed most of
the members of three families in Jack County
on Nov. 26, 1860, Goodnight joined J.J.
(Jack) Cureton and 94 other young settlers,
including C.C. Slaughter and school teacher
J. H. Baker of Palo Pinto, to combat the
menace. On Dec. 12, 1860, they combined
with a state ranger company commanded by
young Lawrence Sullivan Ross and set out
for Indian country with Goodnight serving as
scout and guide. They would arrive just
behind the state force at the conclusion of a
fight at an Indian camp located on Mule
Creek, a small tributary of the Pease River,
in present Hardeman County. It was during
that fight that Cynthia Ann Parker, who had been
carried off during an Indian raid at Fort Parker (near
present Groesbeck, Texas) in 1836, was rescued.
By 1861 Goodnight had not yet joined any of the
state ranging or minutemen companies that had been
authorized to patrol the region against Indians and
continued to herd his cattle on his Keechi Valley
range with his brother-in-law Adam Sheek. While
out hunting hogs they had bought the previous year
from a farmer who had left the country, Goodnight
was injured when a large boar broke loose from the
hold of his dog and cut a deep gash on his lower leg
with its sharp teeth. Although he was unable to enlist
in the Confederate Army with many of his neighbors
due to his injury, Goodnight resolved to stay and
defend their homes against Indians who continued to
raid throughout the region.
Once well enough to ride, Goodnight and his
brother-in-law Alfred (Alf) Lane traveled to Fort
Belknap and enlisted in the Frontier Regiment, which
had been authorized by the Texas Legislature on
Dec. 21, 1861. Goodnight would spend most of his
time at old Camp Cooper on the Clear Fork of the
Brazos (present Throckmorton County) during the
Civil War years in service with the Frontier
Regiment and its reorganization as the Mounted
Regiment of Texas State Troops under Jack
Cureton. Goodnight would lead many scouts to the
west and northwest in the uninhabited rough and jag-
ged badlands below the Llano Estacado in search of
Indians and in the process gained insight on the land
and its future potential for livestock grazing. With
the Civil War winding down in 1864, Goodnights
term as a ranger expired and he returned home to
Black Springs.
With cattle and Confederate money worthless,
Goodnight and several of his Keechi Valley and Palo
Pinto County cattlemen friends decided they would
look for greener pastures to the southwest or possi-
bly in Mexico where they could raise their livestock
unmolested by Indians, deserters, carpetbaggers and
cattle thieves. As conditions deteriorated and with lit-
tle prospect for profiting from his cattle enterprise,
Goodnight traveled to the home of Maj. George B.
Erath near Cameron, Texas, to get his blessings on
leaving the country. At that time, Erath was in com-
mand over the military district in which
Goodnight lived and his permission was nec-
essary to leave the country due to the restric-
tions of the war. Erath counseled Goodnight
and encouraged him to stay.
Nevertheless, Goodnight, along with C.C.
Slaughter, John Dick Jowell, Kit Carter,
George Lemley and Alf Lane, met at Palo
Pinto and set off southwest to find new graz-
ing country. After the party crossed the San
Saba River near the old abandoned Spanish
mission (near Menard, Texas) and looked at
some good grazing land located there,
Goodnight and Lane decided they would
return home. Rather than finding a new
range for their cattle, they would search for
new markets and drive cattle to them. The
other cattlemen continued on but would later
return to Palo Pinto County without success.
In the absence of many of the frontier set-
tlers and cattlemen during the five years of
the Civil War, unbranded cattle ran free and
multiplied across the prairies of frontier
Texas. Goodnight and the other returning set-
tlers not only had to deal with continuing
raids but with cow thieves as well.
Mavericking (branding unmarked cattle
and claiming ownership) became a common
practice throughout the region and many of
Goodnights yearlings and other cattle were
now being claimed by others. In 1864,
Goodnight and Sheek traded for all of
Clairborn Varners CV cattle agreeing to pay
him $7 per head in gold. The debt was paid
off in three years from money Goodnight
earned trailing cattle and from land Sheek
had received from his father-in-laws estate. At the
time Goodnight had no idea of exactly how many
cattle he and Sheek owned, but he estimated there
were at least 8,000 head running under a half-dozen
brands.
In the spring of 1864 Goodnight drove 1,000 head
of cattle up the Brazos River and located them on
Elm Creek, located west of Fort Belknap in present
Throckmorton County. There he and an old German
man named Charlie Neuhous built some large corrals
to help hold the cattle; these pens would
subsequently be known as the Neuhous Pens. In July of that year Goodnight
gathered 1,200-1,500 additional cattle and moved them to the new ranch along
Elm Creek. Alfred Lane had caught up with the herd and helped move them as
far as Fort Belknap and the next day began his return trip to Palo Pinto County.
As he passed near Lookout Mountain in Jack County he was ambushed by
Indians and killed.
During the fall of 1864 Goodnight began gathering another herd of 2,000 cat-
tle from Loving Valley (north of present Peadenville in Palo Pinto County), but
due to the ever-present menace of Indians decided not to move them to the new
outside ranch. On Oct. 13, 1864, several hundred Indians made a raid near his
ranch on Elm Creek and drove off and estimated 10,000 cattle, killed several
settlers and took women and children captive. A number of Indians were also
killed during the fight that ensued between settlers and a ranger unit that arrived
on the scene. When Goodnight rode through the area just after the fight he visit-
ed with several of the survivors of the raid and then made his way up the creek
to check on his cattle at the Neuhous Pens. Fortunately, the raiders had not dis-
covered the cattle and all were safe. He joined a company of volunteers and
trailed the Indians for two days, but being outnumbered, they returned without
success. (to be continued)
Sources: Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman, by J. Evetts Haley;
C.C. Slaughter: Rancher, Banker, Baptist, by David J. Murrah; Painted Post:
The Beldings and Their Ranches in Palo Pinto County Pioneer Days to
Computer Age, by Barbra Belding; Texas Historical Association Online and
several other Internet sources.
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A
Place
in Time
FEBRUARY 1866
Jere Benjamin Hart moves to the frontier county of Palo Pinto. He worked as a ranch
hand 5 years before homesteading and establishing his own ranching operation the
Hart Ranch.
FEBRUARY 12, 1968
Palo Pinto County Commissioners agree to keep the county's old sandstone jail for use
as a museum.
FEBRUARY 22, 1873
Jesse Veale is the last white settler killed by Native American Indians in Palo Pinto
County, at the mouth of Ioni Creek in the western reaches of the county.
FEBRUARY 23, 1911
Comanche Chief Quanah Parker dies.The son of a comanche chief and white captive
Cynthia Ann Parker, Quanah Parker rose to prominence in the Quahadas band of the Co-
manches. After the hostilities, Parker became a man of two worlds, adapting to change
and "walking the white man's road." He is buried at Fort Sill, Okla., in a section known
as Chief's Knoll. He was interred with full military honors.
FEBRUARY 25, 1871
Col. Ranald Slidell (Bad Hand) Mackenzie assumes command of Fort Concho on the
Texas frontier. A month later he moved his headquarters to Fort Richarson at nearby
Jacksboro. He was instrumental in ending the Indian Wars in Texas.
FEBRUARY 1951
Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells reactivated and redesignated Wolters Air Force Base.
a
little before noon two days before
Christmas 1927, Marshall Ratliff
donned a borrowed Santa suit not
because he felt the holiday spirit,
but because he needed a disguise.
He may have been the original
Bad Santa.
As he walked to the First National Bank of
Cisco, children began to follow in his wake, at-
tracted to Santa, as any red-blooded kid would
be. Ratliff stopped to chat and patted the exuber-
ant children on the head.
Having reached the bank, the disguised Ratliff
the Santa getup was necessary because hed
lived in Cisco ducked into an alley where he
rejoined his gang. Theyd dropped him off sev-
eral blocks from the bank and driven closer.
Santa, still being followed by several of the
children, walked into the bank, setting into mo-
tion an ill-fated chain of events that would end
with the deaths of six men and instigate the larg-
est manhunt ever seen in the Lone Star State.
THE SETUP
Ratliff, an ex-con, and his brother, Lee, had
been pardoned by Gov. Miriam A. Ferguson after
serving only one year of their sentences, lengthy
stretches associated with their robbery of a bank
in Valera, a small rural community in west central
Coleman County. Theyd planned to rob First
National Bank of Cisco together, but Lee ran afoul
of the law after his pardon and was rearrested.
During this period, bank robberies were com-
mon in Texas, to the tune of three or four a day.
Consequently, the Texas Bankers Association of-
fered a $5,000 reward to anyone shooting a bank
robber during a holdup.
But neither this nor his partner-in-crimes rear-
rest deterred Ratliff, 24, from his designs on the
Cisco bank; he simply enlisted the help of Henry
Helms, 32, and Robert Hill, 21, ex-cons he knew
from Huntsville. A safe-cracker rounded out the
four-man crew, though he came down with the
fu before the robbery and had to be replaced.
Louis Davis, 22, a relative of Helms with no
criminal record but bills to pay, was recruited for
the job.
The planning sessions for the heist took place
in Wichita Falls where, when ready, the felonious
quartet stole a car and rolled toward Cisco, arriv-
ing the morning of Dec. 23, 1927.
BEST LAID PLANS ...
Once inside the bank, a cashier greeted San-
ta, who responded by turning and walking to a
table in the middle of the lobby. Again the cashier
called out, Hello, Santa. No response. Santas
helpers entered, drew their guns and informed
customers and employees they intended to make
a rather large withdrawal. As Helms, Hill and
Davis kept everyone in the bank covered, Ratliff
helped himself to money from tellers drawers
then forced one of them to open the vault.
While Ratliff grabbed up money in the vault,
another player, a key one, entered the bank. Mrs.
B.P. Blassengame, who had her 6-year-old daugh-
ter with her, realized what was going on and
made for another door and a quick exit, despite
warnings from the gunmen that they would
shoot if she did not stop.
Once in the alleyway Blassengame screamed
and ran to the police station barely a block away.
She alerted Chief of Police G.E. (Bit) Bedford and
just about everyone else in town. The unraveling
began.
Minutes later Santa emerged from the vault,
his sack bulging with money. Hill spied someone
moving about outside and fred a shot through
the window. A return shot rang out.
Wanting to make sure those outside knew they
were armed, Hill squeezed off several rounds into
the ceiling. A hail of bullets resulted as numerous
by Mel Rhodes
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armed citizens fred into the bank. (Remember
the $5,000 reward for shooting a robber in the
act!)
Clearly, the situation was deteriorating. De-
ciding to exit the bank-turned-shooting-gallery,
the robbers herded everyone in the bank out
the door and toward the getaway car. Several
of these human shields including the bank
president were wounded as they exited the
building. Most of the customers and employ-
ees escaped but not Laverne Comer (12) and
Emma May Robertson (10), who were nabbed
as hostages and put into the car.
Getting from the bank to the car proved to be
a bloody affair. During the alleyway shootout
both Chief Bedford and offcer George Carmi-
chael were mortally wounded. Bedford, hit fve
times, expired several hours later while Carmi-
chael lingered until Jan. 17. Ratliff and Davis
were also hit during the running gun battle.
Once inside the car and moving, Ratliff real-
ized another detail had escaped their attention:
they were almost out of gas. What else could go
wrong? One of tires had been shot out.
On the outskirts of town the robbers tried
to commandeer an Oldsmobile. Stepping into
the roadway they motioned the driver over.
Fourteen-year-old Woody Harris complied with
their request. He slid out of the seat, surren-
dering the car. His parents and grandmother
were told to get out and run for their lives.
Ratliff and his crew transferred everything to
the new ride in a hail of gunfre. Hill was hit. As
they piled into the Oldsmobile and made ready
to leave Cisco in the rear-view mirror, they
made another onerous discovery: Woody had
taken the keys!
Leaving Davis behind unconscious, they
forced the two hostages back into the frst car
and spun away. They were encouraged to see
the mob stop at the Olds, giving up the chase.
Later they would learn the mob stopped be-
cause theyd left the stolen money in the car
with Davis!
The $12,400 in cash and $150,000 in nonne-
gotiable securities were returned to the bullet-
riddled bank. Someone counted over 200 bullet
holes.
Besides the two offcers who were mortally
wounded in the melee, six townspeople had
been hit ... by whom no one knew. Davis died
that night in a Fort Worth hospital.
DOWNWARD SPIRAL ...
A couple of miles outside town, Ratliff,
Helms and Hill abandoned the shot-up getaway
car and their hostages, continuing on foot. They
stole a car the next morning but wrecked it near
Putnam.
Commandeering another vehicle, they forced
the driver, Carl Wylie, a young driller, to act as
chauffeur. Some 24 hours later they gave the
man back his car and sent him on his way. But
they soon took another.
As the robbers tried to cross the Brazos River
at South Bend they were ambushed by Young
County authorities. Another car chase, com-
plete with a shootout in a feld, ensued. Ratliff
went down when hit, while Helms and Hill,
also hit, escaped into the trees. They managed
to evade lawmen for a time, but fnally dragged
into Graham, seven days after the robbery, and
were arrested without incident. They had been
asking around about a boarding house; some-
one they asked noticed their pistols and called
the cops. When arrested, Hill had three pistols,
Helms four.
Ratliff was taken into custody in the feld. He
had six gunshot wounds and carried six pistols.
All three surviving robbers Ratliff, Helms
and Hill had sustained several wounds apiece
and had not eaten for days. They would be
nursed back to health. They would have their
days in court.
HANDS-ON JUSTICE ...
Ratliff was tried and convicted of armed rob-
bery Jan. 27, 1928, receiving a 99-year sentence.
He reportedly commented, Thats no hill for
a high-stepper like me. Maybe not, but a few
months later, on March 30th, he was sentenced
to death for his involvement in the deaths of
lawmen Bedford and Carmichael quite a hill
even for a high-stepper.
Helms was the second to stand trial. Identi-
fed as the robber who actually shot and killed
the two lawmen, he received a death sentence
in late February. After an insanity plea failed to
reverse his fate, Helms was electrocuted Sept. 6,
1929, in Huntsville.
Hill, the last to be tried, pleaded guilty to
armed robbery and asked for mercy, citing
his rough life in and out of orphanages and
reformatories. In March he received a 99-year
sentence. But prison life apparently did not suit
him, as he escaped and was recaptured three
times. Paroled in the mid 1940s, he changed
his name, moved to West Texas and reportedly
became a productive, law-abiding citizen.
Ratliff fled an appeal. When that failed, and
on the very day Helms was executed, he began
acting insane, apparently convincing his jailers
hed snapped. His mother, Rilla Carter, fled for
an insanity hearing in Huntsville.
This did not sit well with the good people
of Eastland County, who thought he should
already have been executed.
On Nov. 18, while cooling his heels in the
Eastland County Jail in Eastland, awaiting
execution, Ratliff faked paralysis. His jailers ap-
parently fell for the ruse and began feeding and
bathing him.
Ratliff, seizing an opportunity, grabbed a .38
Colt pistol from a desk drawer and pumped
fve rounds into one of the jailers, fatally
wounding him. The other jailer wrestled him
to the ground and fnally beat him unconscious
and returned him to his cell.
Next morning a crowd began to gather. By
nightfall it had grown to an angry mob of over
1,000 people. They wanted Ratliff.
Jailer Pack Kilbourn told the mob he would
not turn his prisoner over to them but was soon
overpowered and relieved of his charge.
The vigilantes dragged Ratliff out into the
street and tied his hands and feet. They then
carried him to an empty lot behind the Majestic
Theater. A play called The Noose was playing
at the theater.
Someone in the crowd threw a rope over a
guy wire between two telephone poles. They
hoisted Ratliff up until the hastily tied knot
gave way and he fell back to the ground. The
second time the knot held and the Santa Claus
bankrobber dangled some 15 feet in the air.
Forgive me boys, were his last words.
Ratliff was pronounced dead 20 minutes later
at 9:55 p.m. when a county judge and justice of
the peace arrived on the scene and ordered him
taken down. Thousands of people viewed his
body the next day as it lay displayed in a furni-
ture store in Eastland.
Ratliff is buried in Fort Worth in the Olivet
Cemetery but lives on in the varied and colorful
annals of Texas history.
Published previously in the Star.
An estimated 225-250 area residents attended a pub-
lic informational meeting on the proposed Holiday
Hills Country Club Thursday night at the Student
Activities Building on former Fort Wolters. When the
meeting concluded after some two and one-half hours,
a show of support from the entire gathering was virtu-
ally unanimous.
Steering committee member Carl Kessler, who was
in charge of the land acquisition committee, stated that
the major groundwork on planning is now complete.
The 117 acres which now constitutes the Holiday Hills
Golf Course would be purchased from the current 26
shareholders for $175,000.
Due to the economics of selecting a suitable site, the
Holiday Hills facility represented the most feasible
solution. This was based on high costs of constructing a
new golf course plus other facilities on another area
location. The Holiday Hills facility also has an ample
water supply on the 117-acre tract.
In addition to the Holiday Hills, layout negotiations
are underway to purchase Building 250 on the former
Wolters property for use as a basic framework in the
proposed Country Club House. This structure was the
provost marshals office prior to the fort closure.
The property, which also includes four acres of land,
was gifted to the Palo Pinto County Hospital District in
1974. Kessler said the Steering Committee has met
with the Hospital Board, and while no firm decision
has been made to date, the committee is optimistic. A
price on the building and accompanying four acres was
quoted at $33,550.
Kessler described the structure as sound, solid con-
struction which would easily lend itself to modification.
Also, the site, located just north of the golf course, has
a paved parking lot and is partially equipped with cen-
tral heat and air. On new construction, Kessler said an
estimated $7-$10 per square foot cost remodeling
would provide a first-class country club facility.
Plans are to build up to three tennis courts on the east
side of the club structure and a swimming pool on the
west side. Contained in the clubhouse would be a large
dining area capable of seating in excess of 300 persons,
a lounge, offices, kitchen, and six restrooms. The area
surrounding would be landscaped, Kessler said.
At next Tuesdays City Council meeting, Kessler said
members of the steering committee will present a pro-
posal relative to a possible lease or contract agreement
at $1 per year on two tracts of 45 and 42 acres that bor-
der the country club site on the north and west. The 45
acre tract was deeded to the city by the government
sometime ago and the 42 acre tract remains as surplus
government property. If arrangements can be made on a
lease basis, future plans by the Holiday Hills Country
Club, Inc., a non-profit organization public or munici-
pal golf course.
Regarding the financing on the initial $175,000, com-
mittee member C.A. Larimore told the audience that
the payoff would involve a 20 year period at eight per-
cent interest with monthly payments of $1475. He
described the country club as a good community asset
that rests with the potential member-stockholder.
In addition to the $1000 membership fee, monthly
fees will be charged each member and, while the
amount is subject to approval by the Board of
Directors, proposals of $20 per month (social fee) or
$30 per month (golf playing and social fees) were men-
tioned. These figures will be subject to approval by the
new Board of Directors.
Committee member Glen Watson stated that initial
priorities would logically be placed on construction of
the clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis courts. For
the present time, the 18 hole golf course would remain
as is. The committee is, however, expected to recom-
mend to the Board of Directors that when funds
become available, perhaps within five years, nine of the
present 18 holes be reconstructed into a first-class nine
hole course. Then, hopefully, within another five years,
a second nine holes of equal quality could be built.
A nominating committee chaired by Dr. Tom Key
selected the names of nine persons for consideration
and vote as possible members of the HHCC Board of
Directors to be elected next Thursday night.
Dr. Key said other nominations
will also be accepted at next weeks
meeting. The nine persons nominat-
ed last night were Jess Turner, Glen
Watson, Jim Loftin, Paul Schneider,
C.A. Larimore, J.F. Bailey, J.O.
Cox, Janet Holland and Carl
Kessler.
Senator Tom Creighton acted as
mediator in a question answer ses-
sion after the various individual pre-
sentations were made by the steer-
ing committee members. On the
question of whether non-members
will be able to pay a green fee and play golf, the com-
mittee, after some discussion, agreed that this is one of
several questions that can only be decided by the Board
of Directors.
To the question of what happens if negotiations on
the Provost Marshal building are not satisfactory with
either party, Kessler answered that a clubhouse struc-
ture would then be built on the golf course location at
an estimated cost of $180,000. The committee was,
however, confident that a purchase of the property can
be negotiated.
It was also pointed out that a right-of-way could be
obtained from the country clubhouse site of the golf
course (from north side). While there was no limit set
on the maximum number of memberships that will be
accepted, the minimum number mentioned several
times was 200 memberships.
The $1000 membership should be paid by next
Thursday night. The committee stated that membership
monies will be used in the construction of the club-
house and facilities (tennis courts, swimming pool) and
dues will go toward the monthly note payment. Social
dues reportedly will start when the clubhouse is ready
for use.
The steering committee is made up of George
ONeal, as chairman, Mel Appling, Fred Eubanks,
Janet Holland, Dr. Tom Key, Mrs. Tom Creighton, Carl
Hartt, Tom Kelly, C.A. Larimore, Mrs. Herman Petty,
Jim Romig, Paul Schneider, George Smith, Glen
Watson, Bob Watson, Don Wyss and Carl Kessler.
The stockholder meeting will be held Thursday,
February 10 at 7:30 in the Student Activity Building.
Should you have questions that are not answered in this
write-up, contact one of the steering committee mem-
bers listed above.
This series of pieces from the past is meant to remind
us of this areas unique history. The material comes
from old issues maintained at the Index office and is
presented pretty much as it appeared in print. These
papers are quite yellowed and brittle, deteriorating
from age. By publishing these pieces perhaps we can
keep them in play in the digital world for years to
come. For clarity, some punctuation issues have been
addressed. Hopefully you will enjoy these tiny windows
to the past. Feedback is appreciated and will be
shared. E-mail publisher@mineralwellsindex.com or
send your letter to Mineral Wells Index, P.O. Box 370,
Mineral Wells, Texas 76068, attention publisher. You
may also drop it by our office at 300 S.E. 1st. St. in
Mineral Wells.
Thanks for reading!
STORIES & SNIPPETS
Large Crowd Hears Proposals On HH Country Club Facility
Friday
February 4, 1977
Mineral Wells Index
Judy Myers, O.D.
Dwayne Roberts, M.D. David Hendricks, M.D.
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Smoking
1550 Millsap Hwy Mineral Wells, TX
940.682.6694
www. hogmountainretreat.com
Open Dance Hal l st yl e pavi l i on wi t h st age
Rust i c Count ry Cabi n wi t h f ul l ki t chen
Hi l l - t op RV Park excl usi vel y for your guest s
Weddings
Receptions
Private Parties
Family Reunions
Class Reunions
Cook Offs Store Hours:
9 am-5:30 pm Tuesday-Friday
9 am-3:30 pm Saturday
D&Js
Polaris ATVs, Rangers
Warning: ATVs can be hazardous to operate. Never carry passengers. Be especially careful of difcult terrain.
Never ride on public roads, always avoid paved surfaces. Always wear a helmet and protective clothing. Polaris
ATVs may not be ridden by anyone under 16, and all riders should take a training course. For training and safety
information, see your Polaris dealer or call 1-800-342-3764.
A
D
V
E
R
T
IS
IN
G
W
O
R
K
S
!
Call us to nd out how...
940.325.4465
Old fashioned service at a reasonable price
No Hidden Fees or Charges
Commercial & Residential Propane Sales & Service
New & Used Tanks Installed
Our Propane is State Approved HD5 We can sell propane
cheaper than our competitors because our overhead is lower
Call Heine Propane Today! Owner Scott Heine
14324 Baker Rd. Weatherford
MENTI ON THI S AD FOR $5. 00 OFF OF PURCHASE
Fowler Construction
Kitchens Baths Concrete Carports Trim
Custom Fences Bell-Tec Service Cabinets
Roong Barns Room Additions
Custom Ceilings New Homes
Ofce 817-596-7791
Cell 817-597-0430
Country Club Estates
100 Country Club Parkway, Mineral Wells
940-328-1165
Monday-Friday 9-5:30 Sat. & Sun. 10-3
W/D Connections, Range & Refrigerator
BEST LOCATION...BEST PRICE
FREE MONTH RENT! FREE MONTH RENT!

HOMES
C/H & A
Carport
3 BR House
*$609
4 BR House
Fireplace
*$729
DUPLEXES
C/H Unit Air
1 BR Duplex
*$369
2 BR Duplex
*$389
3 BR Duplex
*$479
First National Bank
Albany/Breckenridge
Strawn Branch
P.O. Box 338 254-672-5211
Strawn, Texas
Servi ng Mi neral Wel l s & Surroundi ng Areas For Over 20 Years
Submersible Pumps Pressure Tanks Repair & Service New Pumps
940-325-7293
Lic#5009
S i Mi l W l l & S di A F O 20 Y
FREE ESTIMATES
Personal - Fri endl y - Servi ce
400 N8fk0l $lf00l Nl0f8l N0ll8, 1K 0 940JZ11Z f8K 940JZ4ZZ4
#08lll 800
8 F8ll N0fk
0l0 6l888
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Mini Storage & Climate Controlled
Controlled Access & Security Lighting
940-328-6060
3101 M.H. 379 Mineral Wells
(On Corner of S.E. 25th Ave. & South Loop)
Assortment of Sizes Available
SECURITY
STORAGE
First Month
1/2 PRICE
Climate Controlled
Only
Voted #1 Flooring in Palo Pinto
County
To advertise on this
page call Mary Jo at
940-229-9941
NAPA Auto Parts
Two Locations
Mineral Wells
940-325-9564
800 S.E. 1st Street
Weatherford
817-594-2736
1512 Ft. Worth Hwy.

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