Opinions

Fri
23
Oct

HOOD’S TEXAS BRIGADE HONORED WITH CAPITOL MONUMENT

Submitted by Edgar on
by Bartee Haile
 
A monument honoring the courage and sacrifice of Hood’s Texas Brigade was dedicated on the grounds of the state capitol in Austin on Oct. 27, 1910. In the fast-paced weeks following secession, the Confederacy called upon its westernmost member to furnish 20 infantry companies. Texas responded with 32 combat-ready units, local and county militias that eagerly marched off to war half a continent away.

 

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Fri
23
Oct

Another Good Man Gone

Submitted by Edgar on

I had just finished bein’ on an Extension program in the Herington, KS sale barn. I was standin’ in the auction ring afterwards tryin’ to answer a few questions and shake hands with the local stockman. My veterinary lecture, as usual, had been more humorous than informative.

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Thu
15
Oct

Header or Heeler

Submitted by Edgar on
If you saw a team roper with his hand behind his back, could you tell if he was a header or a heeler? I have done an extensive study on this very problem with a grant funded by the Pro Rodeo Ex-Wives Collection Agency and the TRA (Team Ropers Anonymous) Halfway House. Here are the results of my findings: Headers are more likely to have their hair styled rather than cut. Heelers get their hair cut biannually and usually need a shave.
 
Thu
15
Oct

RICH RANCHER’S SON CHARGED WITH DODGE CITY MURDER

Submitted by Edgar on
by Bartee Haile
 
Clutching a suitcase in one hand and a satchel full of cash in the other, Mifflin Kenedy on Oct. 15, 1878 caught the train for Dodge City where his bad-seed son was accused of killing a popular female entertainer. As the owner of the Laureles Ranch, a quarter-of-a-millionacre spread near Corpus Christi, the Pennsylvania Quaker and former sea captain had money to burn and already had spent a sizeable part of his fortune buying Spike’s freedom. But the young hell-raiser’s past escapades could not compare to the world of trouble he had gotten himself into in the Kansas Cowtown.
 
Thu
08
Oct

The Fall Run

Submitted by Edgar on
I was ridin’ pens for Horton in the fall of ‘91. It was early October and the run had just begun. He was buyin’ calves like crazy ‘cause the price was on the rise And you couldn’t see his pupils for the glitter in his eyes! He bought big ol’ soggy weaners...soaked up virus like a sponge!
 
Thu
08
Oct

FUGITIVE MEXICAN GENERAL GIVEN A HERO’S WELCOME

Submitted by Edgar on
by Bartee Haile
 
On Oct. 7, 1911, Gen. Bernardo Reyes stepped off the train at the San Antonio station to a hero’s welcome as hundreds cheered the arrival of the former presidential candidate turned shadowy conspirator. During his 45-year rise up the ranks of the Mexican military, Reyes earned widespread respect for his honesty and ability, two traits not usually associated with the corrupt officer corps. He even managed to play the part of Porfirio Diaz’s right-hand man without being tainted by the unpopularity of the detested tyrant.
 
Fri
02
Oct

Round of Applause

Submitted by Edgar on
There’s not a piece of black rubber around their saddle horn. Their nylon rope is as limp as boneless chicken. It rope hangs from a rope strap girded in a way that allows them to have it loose and in the air in less than a second! It is the equivalent of a pistolero, strapped down tight, loaded and cocked. They probably shod the horse they are riding, they wear light leather gloves. The bat wing chaps are broken-in andwell-scarred. The long-sleeved shirt was put on clean this morning. A piggin’ string is looped through the gullet.
 
Fri
02
Oct

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE KEPT TECH WAITING THREE DECADES

Submitted by Edgar on
On Oct. 2, 1925, the day after Texas Technological College opened its doors, the Matadors played the McMurry Indians to a scoreless draw in the first football game in the history of the South Plains school. From the very start Tech had its heart set on joining the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Rice, Baylor, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian as the eighth member of the Southwest Conference organized in 1914. With that in mind, Ewing Y. Freeland, an assistant at SMU, was hired as athletic director and head football coach.
 
Fri
25
Sep

“MR. TEXAS” PRESERVED THE LONE STAR PAST

Submitted by Edgar on
by Bartee Haile
 
Four days after receiving the Medal of Freedom from fellow Texan and U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, J. Frank Dobie lay down for his afternoon siesta on Sep. 18, 1964 and never woke up. The future folklorist was born in 1888 on the family ranch south of San Antonio. The closest community was six miles away, the Live Oak County village of Dinero. To some the Brush Country of his birth and upbringing was a bleak wasteland but not to James Frank Dobie.
 
Fri
25
Sep

About Horses I’ve Known

Submitted by Edgar on
About horses I’ve known…My first was named Maggie. A Standard bred. I was in the 3rd grade. Father gave me an old cavalry saddle, split down the middle, light enough I could lift it. It was so uncomfortable I rode bareback. I went to a one-room schoolhouse with six grades. I was the only kid in the 3rd grade! Our house was on one side of the horse pasture and the schoolhouse was on the other. I rode Maggie to school and walked home.
 

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