Meixner Family History #22 - Epilogue Part 5

                                                         Granddad's Cowboy Years

It's difficult for me to think of Granddad as a cowboy, since my only remembrances of him are when he was in his 80s,.  But that is what he was in his early years in Concho County.  He moved west like many others were doing at this time to follow the opening of the frontier in Texas and to take advantage of the opportunity that it offered.  He worked on large ranches riding the herds and working the cattle, breaking horses, etc as recounted in post #20.

A couple weeks ago I made a trip to Bell County and several other places and met one of my cousins.  I most likely met him before, but this was before I started getting into my family history and before I knew all the people and relationships, so that may be why I really don't remember our prior meetings.  His name is William Rudolph (Bill) Schleede and he lives on a farm in Bell County.  His current place is located just a short distance from the farm where he grew up which is also the farm where Theresia and her second husband Rudolph Schleede lived from 1892 until his death in 1911 and then her death in 1932.  His grandmother (who is also my great-grandmother) is Theresia (Eigel) (Meixner) Schleede and his grandfather was William Rudolph Schleede.  His father was also named William Rudolph so he is the third one to carry the name.  I had a wonderful visit with Bill and I will write more about that visit in a later post.  Bill related a story to me that is relevant to granddad's cowboy days.  

In 1901 a young man by the name of M.P. McElhannon started his practice as a doctor at Belton in Bell County.  Bill told me that my granddad, Harmon, broke a horse for Dr. McElhannon.  (This is the process of taming a wild horse down to the point you are able to mount and ride it without it bucking you off.)  This was the first horse the doctor owned and was the horse he used as he began his practice as a doctor in Bell County.  He practiced in Bell County for many years and was a well respected and well known doctor in that area.  I found it interesting that "cowboy" Harmon helped him get started.

Cowboys Breaking In Horses.

http://uair.arizona.edu/item/294498, Photograph of cowboys breaking in horses on the Empire Ranch [ca. 1890-1900]. Empire Ranch -- Portfolio Box: (2) [Vault] Special Collections, http://www.library.arizona.edu/

Cowboy Breaking in a Horse.  Painted by Fredrick Remington.

http://www.wpclipart.com/American_History/commerce/commerce_2/Cowboy_breaking_a_horse__Remington_1893.png

When granddad got to Concho County my dad stated in his book that:  (He) "...worked for Sam Henderson, who had some fifty sections of land (32,000 acres) in his spread." (1)  and later he said "Papa worked for an old time family by the name of D.E. Sims.  Mr. Sims lived on the Concho River and his spread took in the present site of the Painted Rocks.  Dad worked for the Sims family for quite a long time .  He was a friend to the family many years as we lived in Concho County." (2)

Granddad Harmon Meixner in his early years.  Picture shared by my cousin Claudia Brown.

Working on a large ranch was lonely work.  It meant hours spent riding in the blazing sun, freezing cold or driving rain and watching the heard or looking for strays.  Cowboys found various means of diversion to liven up their day and to entertain themselves.  Granddad said "one day he and his buddy were riding along and came up on a huge badger.  They got off their horses and took their quirts with them. (A quirt is:  "a riding whip with a short handle and a rawhide lash.")  One would hit the badger with a quirt and get him to chase him, then the other one would run up and give the old badger a good lick with the quirt and the badger would turn and chase him.  They would finally wear the badger out." (3)

Badger.  Somehow this guy doesn't look like he would be that much fun.  

http://theshroom.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/advice-column-ask-a-honey-badger/

Cowboys worked in all types of weather and all types of conditions both day and night.  ..."often while driving the cattle at night a storm would be raging.  He said that the lightening would play back and forth on the tips of the horns on the cattle." (4)  I guess this would have been static electricity.  I think that would be quite a sight on a dark stormy night.  Sounds to me like St. Elmo's Fire.  * (See my reference below about St. Elmo's Fire.)

As they worked the heard of cattle the "cowboys never yelled, whistled or made any kind of unusual noise because if they did they would have a stampede.  That meant that the cattle would run and then scatter everywhere.  It would take days to round them up again.  For the most part the cattle were roped, marked, and worked right out in the open prairie.  Fences were few and far between.  It was a very common thing to ride for fifty miles without opening a gate." (5)

Description: Photograph of four cowboys on horseback in front of a column of cattle in an open field. Behind the cowboys and cattle are two small, wooden houses.  Creator: Mugg, Kilo

Harvey Patteson & Son Photographers. [Field of Longhorn Cattle], Photograph, 1952; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth44331/ : accessed March 18, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

Cowboys Herding Cattle, Photograph, n.d.; digital image.

(http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth44466/ : accessed March 18, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Cattle Raisers Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

A couple more interesting stories that I got from my dad's book were granddad's stories about snakes.  I would guess you had to become somehow reconciled with snakes when you were living as close to nature as they were back then.  Remember the snakes in the rafters dropping on to the beds that I told about in post #12?

"... the cowboys were riding the range several miles from the ranch house and the bunk house.  They were living in a tent.  One morning they got up and ate their breakfast and then proceeded to roll up their bunks.  Dad discovered a large rattlesnake had spent the night with him.  The snake was under his bed roll and was mashed rather flat.  Dad said that he could not bear to kill the snake after he had been so nice and hadn't bitten him. He got a long stick and carried the snake a good way from the camp site and let him go." (6)

Another story went like this:  "As dad first started riding the range, he would notice the old cowpokes spying a rattlesnake and simply ride up close - drop the reigns to his horse.  Then he would walk, or I had better say, ease over to where the snake was coiled and gently raise their cowboy boots (these boots had a long heel) high over the snake and come down with the heel of the boot on the snake's head and kill him."

"Dad said that he was riding the pasture by himself one day and he noticed a rattler coiled up which gave him a chance to try and do what the other boys had been doing.  He got up to the snake, raised his foot high and came down toward the snake's head.  He missed the snake's head and the snake grabbed his pant leg.  He said that he took off at a high rate of speed.  He just didn't know when to stop running.  A morning or two later, he was going after his horse and one of his bridle reigns dropped down and made a hissing noise and he took off and ran for a hundred yards.  He thought that a rattler was about to get him." (7)

Rattlesnake.  You aren't going to catch me trying to stomp on one of these things!

Mitchell, J. D.. Rattlesnake at bay, Photograph, May 25, 1917; digital image, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth64950/ : accessed March 18, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Victoria College/ University of Houston-Victoria Library, Victoria, Texas.

"Dad said that one time while working for Mr. Sims, it came time for him to do his washing.  He took his clothes and went down to the Concho River to do his wash.  Dad said that it was a moon light night and he was stooped over washing his clothes in the clear water and all at once he heard a rumbling noise.  At once he became aware that the 'river was coming down', (an expression used to indicate that a head rise was coming down the river).  A roll of water was coming down the river about four feet high.  He lost no time in grabbing his clothes, at least those that he could quickly grab, and get out of the river.  He lost most of his clothes, but he saved his life." (8)  This was not an unusual occurrence on the river.  When you got a heavy rain upstream from where you were located the water would quickly fill the river and it would go down stream as a wall.  ** (Isaac Cline recounted a similar event on the Concho River.  See the link to this very interesting story below about "The 1885 Hail Storm, Concho County, Texas".)

After years of being a cowboy, granddad finally decided to settle down.  Or maybe it was the fact that he met this pretty lady named Alice Armistead and fell in love and she decided it was time he was going to settle down.  Either way, granddad and Alice started their married life in December 1905.  Their first home was on the Trail Ranch which was located about two and a half miles south of Paint Rock, TX.  (9)

Grandmother Alice Meixner in her early years.  Picture shared by my cousin Claudia Brown.

I'm sure granddad was still a cowboy for his entire life but his marriage did start a new phase of his life: Marriage and Raising Children.  I'll talk about that next time.

* Wikipidia's description of St Elmo's Fire:  Physically, St. Elmo's fire is a bright blue or violet glow, appearing like fire in some circumstances, from tall, sharply pointed structures.  St. Elmo's fire can also appear on leaves, grass, and even at the tips of cattle horns.  Conditions that can generate St.Elmo's fire are present during thunderstorms, when high voltage levels are present between clouds and the ground underneath. Air molecules glow owing to the effects of such voltage, producing St. Elmo's fire.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire        

** This is a facinating story about an incounter Isaac Cline had in Concho County with the river "coming down".  Isaac Cline was with the cavalry at the time.  He would later become famous as the meteorolgist for the U.S. Goverment at Galveston when the great hurricane hit  in 1900.  Read the story at this website:   http://www.texasescapes.com/MikeCoxTexasTales/Chilled-Catfish-of-Concho-County.htm

References:
(1)  Meixner, Robert Harmon, Sr., Memoirs of Robert Harmon Meixner, Sr. July 10, 1910 - June 13, 1994. Unpublished. Compiled by Margaret Avis Meixner, pg 12.

(2)  Ibid, pg 13.
(3)  Ibid, pg 15-16.
(4)  Ibid, pg 16.
(5)  Ibid, pg 16.
(6)  Ibid, pg 17.
(7)  Ibid, pg 18.
(8)  Ibid, pg 14.
(9)  Ibid, pg 27.

My Paint Rock Excursion

"Hundreds of Indian Pictographs are found along a Rock bluff overlooking a once widely-used Indian camp ground.  One mile northwest of Paint Rock on U.S. Highway 83, the site is easily accessible..."  This is a quote from the brochure of "Paint Rock Excursions".  This tour takes place on the Sims/Campbell Ranch in Concho County.

Brochure for "Paint Rock Excursions".

D.E. Sims came to Concho County in 1876 and by 1886 he had amassed some 14,000 acres of land and had built a large ranching operation.  His ranch spanned the area just north of Paint Rock, TX along the Concho River.  This area included a rock bluff that was home to over 1500 Indian pictographs.

I knew that my granddad, Harmon Meixner, worked for D.E. Sims in the late 1800s and early 1900s and that my father, Robert Harmon Meixner, worked for Mr. Sims' son, Benjamin Victor Sims, during the depression years (probably around 1930-32).  So for those two reasons I had wanted to visit the Sims ranch for some time.  When I discovered a site on the Internet about tours to the pictographs, I decided a tour would be a great way to be able to visit the ranch and to see the pictographs as well.

The current owners of the ranch are Kay and Fred Campbell.  Kay inherited a portion of the original ranch owned by her grandfather, D. E. Sims, that included the area around the pictographs.  After varied careers, Kay and her husband decided to move back to the ranch when they retired several years ago.  A small snapshot of the family tree looks like this:  Dunlap Edward Sims married Ella LeCompte and had five children.  They were Orland LeCompte Sims, Dunlap Sims, William Sims, Benjamin Victor Sims, and Walter Sims.  Walter died at the young age of 14.  Benjamin Victor Sims married Ellen Hartgrove in 1920.  They had four children:  Dunlap Sims, Benjamin Orland Sims, William McKinnie Sims, and Cora Ellen Sims.  Cora Ellen Sims was called "Kay" by the family and has been known by that name ever since.  She married Fred Campbell and this couple, Kay and Fred Campbell, are the current owners of the ranch with the Indian pictographs.  I explained the family a little so you can see the relationship my family had with the Sims family.  (1)

Photographs of the Sims family at the Visitor's Center.

On Feb. 19, 2013 (which is also my mother's birthday - she would have been 96) I met for lunch with my sister, Oneta, my brother Harmon and his wife Tanya, and my brother Jack and his wife Bobbie in Ballinger, TX.  After lunch and a nice visit, we headed to the Sims/Campbell Ranch in Concho County to tour the pictographs.

Here we are at a restaurant in Ballinger for lunch and visiting before we head out for the tour.

The ranch is a mile northwest of Paint Rock.  To get there just head north on Hwy 83 out of Paint Rock, TX, cross the bridge over the Concho River, and look for a brown sign on the left that says "Indian Pictographs".  Turn in at the dirt road and proceed to the Visitor Center.

As I traveled up the dirt road that day, I saw what I considered typical pasture land for livestock but then the next thing I saw were two not so typical buffalo off to the right.  These are truly beautiful animals.

Buffalo on the Sims/Campbell Ranch.

I had called ahead of time and talked to Kay (Sims) Campbell by phone to set up our appointment.  (Making an appointment by phone is the preferred way to set up a tour.)  I had a wonderful visit with Kay by phone.  I found that not only had our father and grandfather worked for the Sims family but that the Meixner and Sims families had been lifelong family friends.  In fact Kay told me a bit of family history I had not known before.  She told me my uncle Victor Meixner was named after her father, Benjamin Victor Sims.  This is the same Ben Sims my Dad worked for during the depressions.

The Visitor's Center on the Sims/Campbell Ranch.

As we approached the Visitor Center I was excited about finally meeting Kay in person.  As it turned out my experience exceeded my high expectations.  Kay welcomed us warmly.  We had a nice though brief meeting with her husband, Fred Campbell, before he headed out to take care of ranch business.  Kay is a very warm, friendly, and interesting person.  Her knowledge about the pictographs and the various Indian tribes that painted them is extensive and her unique presentation was witty and charming.  I thoroughly enjoyed her account of the Indians that roamed the area, her discussion about current interpretation of the pictographs, and what part the pictographs played in the Indian's spiritual ceremonies.

Kay (Sims) Campbell showing a picture of the Concho River and the cliffs where the pictographs are located.

The family listening to Kay's presentation and passing around artifacts she showed us.

She also gave us an informational demonstration of how the Indians probably made the paint that was used in painting the pictographs.

Kay's presentation of how the paint was made and a demonstration of pictograph painting on her arm.

Our time at the visitors center took a little longer than it normally would because we talked about our two families and the relationship they have had over the years.

After her presentation, Kay gave us a brochure titled "Along the Trail".

Along the Trail brochure.

We then proceeded to our cars to drive down to the cliffs and view the pictographs.  I jumped at Kay's invitation to ride with her to the cliffs so that I could continue our visit about our families.  We had a great visit riding down to where the pictographs were located but I was shocked and saddened to hear that one of her sons had passed away suddenly just the week before.  Yet, here she was welcoming us and making sure we had an enjoyable experience just a few days after this tragic event.

Upon arrival we departed our cars and worked our way by foot along the line of cliffs.  Kay pointed out and explained the various pictographs and gave us great insight into each one.  Be sure to refer to and follow along in the "Along the Trail" brochure.  It also gives a good explanation of the paintings.

Kay pointing out the pictographs to the family.

A small sampling of the many pictographs.  The last two photographs of our family group were taken by Kay (Sims) Campbell.

Upon completion of the tour we returned to the Visitor's Center.  We took pictures and examined the various artifacts, arrow heads, and pictures on display and then it was time to go.

Top two pictures are artifacts and arrow heads found on the ranch.  The next two are family members checking things out and looking at pictures with Kay.

I could have spent several more hours visiting with Kay.  She is a living symbol of that pioneer spirit in Concho County.  She is a wonderful lady that gave a gift of what, to me, was a magical afternoon.  In addition to that, my generation of the Meixner family re-connected to Kay's Sims/Campbell family.  A connection that started over 110 years ago.

Here I am visiting with Kay (Sims) Campbell about our families before the tour (above) and after the tour (below).

I highly recommend a "Paint Rock Excursions" tour.  Set up a time with Kay and then take the day and drive down for the tour.  It will be well worth your time effort.

After we left the Sims/Campbell Ranch, we proceeded to the old house where my father grew up.  I will make a separate post about this experience.

References:
(1)  http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/mar/17/local-ranch-displays-history-citys-namesake/