CATTLE DRIVES IN THE 1870'S Now we think of Ft. Worth as the major Cattle City because of the stockyards, rodeos and parades they have there. But Denison was the major cattle trading centers in the SW during the late 1800's. They had cattle pens all over the place and boy did they smell. Herds of thousands of Texas Longhorn Cattle are trailed to Denison each year. The cattle are sold to other buyers who will drive them on the trail to the northern markets. This will go on for at least two more years until the railroads are completed in this area. My name is Elhanan Blalock and it is Sept 1872. I am going to tell you about 2 cattle drives we have made this year and we are about to start our 3rd drive. We have been buying Texas Longhorns that have been driven from the San Antonio area up to Waco, across the Brazos River through just West of Dallas and on to Denison. Denison is a big cattle stopover and market place. It is the last stop before crossing the mighty Red River into Indian Territory. In the Spring of this year, 1872, (this is my wife's picture), Sarah Harriett Ford, Cooper, Blalock who stayed home to take care of the farm while my 3 step daughters Minerva Jane (19), Sara Caldonia (16), and Sarphona Angeline Cooper (13) and myself came to Denison and bought 250 head of longhorns to drive up the Shawnee Trail back home to Benton County, ARK. Cattle in Denison cost us $7.00 a head. In ARK they will bring $10.00 a head. The 1st trip took us 7 weeks. We were lucky that we didn't have any stampedes, we just had to watch out for snakes, fight the sand fleas when we bedded down for the night, the wind, rain and cold weather, and swollen rivers. We had to wait 3 days to cross the Canidian River before it returned to normal. Actually it was a welcome break. It gave us time to rest up. The grass was green and the cattle wanted to move slow and graze. When we left the Shawnee Trail at Talequah Indian Territory we ran into a little Indian trouble but for 8 head of cattle the Indians let us through with safe passage. They even helped us with the herd by showing us a shorter trail than we had planned on taking. We did not have a wagon, just pack horses, so we could go places a wagon could not go. After seven weeks on the trail, we left the cattle in pens at Garfield, AK. Just 3 miles North of our farm on Sugar Creek. Home was a welcome site. We sold the cattle quickly. It sure felt good having money in my pockets again. After a couple of weeks at home, 1 asked the girls if they were up to another cattle drive. The two youngest ones were eager to go, but the older one took a little persuading. Seems like she had become acquainted with a certain good-looking fellow just a few days before. But she finally came around and caught the excitement the other girls had. Now this is not your everyday crew of drovers. Drovers is what we called cowboys who were on the cattle drives. Sleeping in the open every night in all kinds of weather, cooking on an open campfire, bathing in creeks and rivers when every possible. Horseback 10 to 12 hours every day and then night watch in 4 hours shifts. This was tough on men, but the girls seemed to thrive on it. I led the way leading 2 packhorses, Minerva Jane and Angeline rode flanks and Sara brought up drag along with her little 22 rifle. June 1, 1872 we headed back to Denison, TX. The Red River was flooded so we took the ferry across. Old Red River was a mile wide in places. We knew we couldn't get any cattle across until the river went down, so we went near Bells to Pink Hill to visit our old friends and relatives. Henry Ford and his family. They operated a tavern at Pea Ridge, Benton County, and AK during the Civil war. We also saw John P and Hannah (Ford) Washbum. John P. told us about a young Dugan boy being killed by Indians and about Millie Dugan seeing some Indians scouting around her house and hearing their turkey calls to each other. He said Millie got her Daddy's gun down from the wall and shot one of the Indians when it came near her home. She then chopped his head off and put it on the gatepost as a warning to the other Indians. After this the Indians stayed away for a while. John P's dad Samuel and family had come to TX in 1836. Samuel was shot and scalped in 1838 near what is now Whitewright. Mary and 9 of their children, including John P. had moved back to Benton Co, AK until the Indian problems settled down. John P. married Hannah Ford, a relative of my wife's first husband. This is John P Washbum's old 50-caliber cap & ball muzzle loading Hawker Rifle. It is the same kind of gun Buffalo Bill used to shoot Bisons.


John P. Washburn's 50 caliber, flintlock

When the Red River finally receded back within its banks and was safe to cross, we went back to Denison to buy cattle and start our 350-mile drive once again. This time there were more cattle at Denison to be sold and they were a little thinner and cheaper. We bought 420 head at $6.25 a head and started back to ARK. We ran into some trouble crossing even small streams where so many cattle had crossed ahead of us. Most of them were boggy. We would make it across with most of the herd and then have to go back and rope some of them and pull them out of the bog. We lost about 5 head in the bogs and a few strayed off at night. Again at Talequah the Indians were waiting on us once again. This time we gave them about 10 head of cattle for safe passage. We finally made our way back to Garfield with over 400 head of cattle. Now it is Sept, 1872, and we are back in Denison once again to buy more cattle to drive to ARK. This will most likely be our last cattle drive. There are rumors about a railroad being built soon to haul the cattle. I don't know what the future holds for the cowboys, but I am sure it will be easier in the future to get cattle from one place to another in a shorter time. A little about some equipment the cowboys and cowgirls used: These chinks that I am wearing may look funny to you, but they are not "little" boys chaps. They are called Chinks. They are lighter and cooler than the regular chaps, but still protect your legs from the brush and thorns. This rope is a lariat rope. It plays an important roll in pulling cattle and wagons out of bogs on swollen streams and river crossings. It is also used to catch our horses each morning and used to catch and tie up a cow that needs doctoring. The spurs help direct and encourage our horses on to a faster pace. Some horses can be directed with a light touch, but some need to be told in strong actions or heavy gouges that they need to straighten up and do what they are supposed to do. The saddle is a comfortable and safer way to ride, than bareback like the Indians rode. With the saddle you have strings to tie and carry ropes, slickers, canteens or anything else needed. The saddle horn is used to tie you rope to when pulling a steer out of the bog or just catching it out in the open. The Indians mostly rode bareback. They would wrap a rope around the Horses stomach several times then put their knees and feet in between some of the wraps of rope and the horse. NOT THE WAY YOU WILL SEE THEM RIDING ON A THING OF THE FUTURE CALLED TV AND AT THE MOVIES. A Little Past and Looking into the Future Now I would like to tell you about some of the clothing and saddles the cowboys and Cowgirls used or will use in the future: Hats and long sleeve shirts were very important to the cowboys. They protect you from the sun, rain, hail, and brush during the drive. The saddles I have with me today are saddles of the future. Not anything like the ones used by the earlier cowboys. This saddle is a young boys work saddle, heavy and strong enough to rope a 1000-lb cow. This one will belong to a teen-age girl who will be a barrel racer. It is solid but light. This saddle will belong to a cowboy who needs a work saddle (say in the 1960's). It is heavy and strong enough to rope cattle with and also be comfortable. There will be parades in the future. This saddle is a sample of what they will be riding in the parades of the future. Light and comfortable, but NOT for roping. Sherman is now a striving city as it was established in 1848. Now in 1870 Sherman even has a brick courthouse. The Civil War has been fought and many of yours and my ancestors lost their lives in it. The South is just now getting back on its feet after the Civil War. In. 1858, the first stagecoach came through Sherman. It crossed Red River at Colberts Ferry where the coach had to be rolled upon a wooden ferry and a man used long poles and a rope to guide the ferry across the water to the other side. Someone had to hold the horses to keep them on the ferry. They sure didn't like the movement of the ferry and several times tried to jump off into the water. The stagecoach came to Sherman, Whitesboro, Gainesville, and then continued on to other parts of the Southwest. It is hard to believe the railroads will be in Sherman within the next 2 years. Sherman and this area are growing. With more people there was a need for schools for the children and jails to lock up the disorderly people who visited the saloon too long. The first school was built in 1849. Elhanan Blalock is buried in Blalock Cemetery on Posey Mountain near Beaver Lake, Benton County Ark. Now as my real name of Ray Houston, let me tell you a little about some of my ancestors who helped settle this part of Texas. My father was Willie G. Houston, son of John G. Houston and Sara Caldonia Cooper (Houston), the 16 year old girl who actually rode drag on the 3 cattle drives. Sara Caldonia and John G came to Grayson County to stay in 1893. Her mother was Sara Harriett (Ford) (Cooper) Blalock, wife of Elhanan Blalock. Sara Harriett's mother Minerva Jane (Middleton) Ford is the one who made this suite in 1836. The cotton was grown on their farm and Minerva Jane corded, spun, and wove the cloth from which she made this suit in 1836. John B. Houston was a son of Anthony Houston, who was a cousin of General Sam Houston. This makes General Sam Houston a distant cousin tome.