USA > Texas > A twentieth century history and biographical record of north and west Texas, Volume I > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117
It was about this time that the subject of this review, who is usually known as "Sug" Robertson, started for Western Texas and en- tered upon his career in the cowboy camp. For ten years the lad was almost continually in Friends of Mr. Robertson attempted in vain to dissuade him from entering into the trans- action, depicting to him the dangers to which he would be subjected from unprincipled men who infested the district and lived entirely off the cattle herds. Mr. Robertson, however, per- severed in his plans and started for the Pecos with determination to win. Soon after arriving at the camp he located the headquarters of the rustlers in a secluded spot in a bend of the Pecos river. Mounting his horse and armed with a rifle and revolver he rode alone into the the service of R. K. Wiley, who proved to be a wise counselor and lifelong friend. He showed unusual aptitude for the range and soon was placed in charge of men of twice his age. When eighteen years of age he made his first ac- quaintance with the trail and took a herd of one thousand cattle belonging to his older brother, R. P., over the Chisum trail from Cole- man county, Texas, to Coffeyville, Kansas, one of the leading railway shipping points to eastern markets at that time. Mr. Robertson had eight men in his charge and succeeded in camp. "As I approached," said Mr. Robertson,
164
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
in relating the experience, "half a dozen of as ugly looking men as one would meet in a year on the frontier sprang to their feet and threw their guns down on me. I waved my hand as a friendly greeting and rode forward into camp. There I was invited to dismount. I talked to the men, saying I had paid all I had in the world for the cattle and had come out west to try to make some money. I told them I was not there to suppress cattle stealing as long as they let me alone, but I proposed to keep my cattle and if necessary would go to any length with that object in view." At the close of the talk a beef was killed and a fine supper was served in the rustlers' camp with the new cattle manager as the guest of honor. Many interesting subjects were discussed at the campfire and finally a bed was brought out and the guest was invited to occupy it for the night. Mr. Robertson has generally accepted as true the statement that there is honor even among thieves, but in this instance he determined not to be over-confi- dent and carried the bed thirty or forty yards out into the prairie, where he slept that night with his gun beside him. In the morning an appetizing breakfast was served and the vis- itor then started for his horse. The rustlers, however, would not permit him to get it, for he might see the cattle that had been carefully herded in the underbrush. So the horse was brought to him to the camp and before he left his new acquaintances assured him they would not interfere in any way with his cattle and if he experienced trouble from any other band they would assist him in obtaining redress. For three years, during which time he was in charge of the herd, the cattle were not disturbed by thieves. At the close of that time the cattle and ranch were sold, the original indebtedness was discharged and Mr. Robertson found himself in possession of fifty thousand dollars.
In 1882 Mr. Robertson settled at Colorado, where he now makes his home, and began ranching extensively in Mitchell and Nolan counties. In 1893 he bought a herd of cattle which he placed upon the range in Eddy county, New Mexico, and Gaines county, Texas. Here the Hat brand originated. In 1895 Win-
field Scott, of Fort Worth, purchased an inter- est in the business and the firm of Scott & Robertson has for eleven years been conduct- ing one of the greatest cattle ranches of the plains, covering an area of forty miles square in New Mexico and Texas. Since that time many improvements have been made on the ranch of one million acres, of which Mr. Rob- ertson has been the active manager. Several neighboring ranchmen sold their interests to the firm and fifty thousand dollars was ex- pended in watering the range, as there was no surface water on the entire area. The outfit required the employment of forty men upon an average during the year and the use of five hundred saddle horses. The headquarters of the ranch were at Monument, New Mexico, and eight small ranch houses were erected at as many locations. The system of monthly re- ports was instituted and the work was soon placed upon a profitable basis. Owing to the encroachment of the small settlers the public lands included in the range are gradually being abandoned by the firm and it has been decided to lease no more land on the Texas side of the line. The firm of Scott & Robertson have es- tablished a ranch in Dawson county, Montana, one hundred miles north of Miles City, to which eight thousand cattle were shipped in the spring of 1903. It is proposed to continue ship- ments each season until the entire herd has been transported to the northern range.
On account of reckless management, inflated prices and an unhealthful boom in cattle in I884-86 considerable disaster met the cattle- raisers and Mr. Robertson, between the years of 1883 and 1886, lost heavily on account of go- ing security for friends. He met the emergency, however, and has not only recovered, but has far surpassed the limits of his original holdings. For eight years, beginning with 1888, he bought and shipped range cattle on a large scale and as representative of a large commission firm he placed one million dollars, of which he never lost a dollar. His transactions in shipping range cattle amounted to at least fifty thousand head. From his Texas ranch eighty thousand cattle of various grades have been shipped to
165
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
market and the famous Hat brand has become well known in Montana, the Dakotas and in fact in all the great markets of the country.
Mr. Robertson has given his aid and co-oper- ation to many enterprises which have felt the stimulus of his activity and have profited by his sound judgment. In 1893 he became a stock- holder in the First National Bank of Colorado, Texas, and was elected its vice-president and a member of its board of directors and in 1899 he became president of the bank, which has a 'capi- tal stock of one hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of eighty thousand dollars. In 1900 George B. Loving developed a plan for the ab- sorption of many cattle ranches in Northwest- ern Texas by a New York syndicate and Mr. Robertson was selected as one of the apprais- ers. He visited a number of the ranches and when the plans of the trust failed to materialize Mr. Robertson purchased one of the ranches in Crosby, Lynn and Lubbock counties, com- prising one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres. This is still owned by the firm of Rob- ertson & Scott, supplying range for ten thou- sand cattle. Mr. Robertson also had a ranch of twenty-five thousand acres. in Borden county, which he recently sold. He has also owned two wide-awake publications, the West Texas Stockman and the Weekly Clipper, both of which have been eminently successful.
On the 30th of May, 1877, Mr. Robertson was married to Miss Emma Lenorah Smith, of Runnels county, whose father was a stock farmer of Texas. For years she lived with her husband upon the ranch far out on the plains and she has ever been an ideal wife and mother. Four children have blessed their home: A. L. Robertson, now twenty-three years of age, who is one of the promising young cattle dealers and business men of the state ; Pinkie, a daugh- ter twenty years of age; A. B., a youth of ten . years, and Poole, seven years of age.
Mr. Robertson had no opportunities for at- tending school in his early years and learned to read by studying newspapers in the light of the campfire when a cowboy and mastered writing by laboriously copying the bills of camp supplies made out by the merchants at his own
request in order that he might have a model. He has, however, a high estimate of the value of education and his children are being pro- vided with good facilities in this direction. Per- haps no better indication of the character and purposes of Mr. Robertson could be given than by quoting from his own words as he spoke of the cattle industry of the southwest. He said : "I have been a ranchman, not a feeder. I believe in a man sticking to the business he understands, but it is evident that the day of the great range is passed and concentration and improvement of herds is the order of the day. The general government ought to devise some plan of leasing the arid and semi-arid land fit for nothing but pasture and of benefit to no one as long as it is open to the public. Men who have foresight will not run the risk of placing large herds upon the public range with so-called settlers arriving and taking up the land. The lease laws should be so drawn up as to prevent a few men from leasing the whole country but should be drawn up on the good old democratic principle of the greatest good to the greatest number. I have faith that the problem will finally be worked out success- fully. The time is coming when the land will in many wide districts be utilized for hay and forage crops. Water will be put upon many waste places and cattle will not be obliged to . travel so far to water, thus saving flesh which is now walked off in traveling from food to water. Cattle are about as high bred for the fange as they should be. The highest bred cat- tle are not a success on the open range, as they are not as hardy or as prolific as cattle of lower breed.
"West Texas is as yet undeveloped. We are just learning of the value of land which for many years has been regarded as a desert. In fact, the immense plains country will yet be recognized as the most valuable part of the state. Even in one of the dryest seasons we have ever known good forage crops have been raised. The time is at hand when men with money to build reservoirs will recognize the op- portunities presented on the staked plains and the flood waters will be utilized for irrigation.
166
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
There is absolutely no soil in any country of the world that is more productive_ than that of West Texas if water is supplied. All varieties of timber grow readily in this region and I ven- ture the prophecy that in years to come the staked plains will be the most densely popu- lated district of Texas. The country is level and unbroken and there is less waste land on the plains than in any other region of similar size I have ever seen. The climate is not too hot in summer and if wind breaks are built, as they will be, the winters will present no serious obstacles to settlements. It is a stock farming country and will take its place permanently as the richest stock farming district of America."
Mr. Robertson is a brilliant talker, a fine story teller and is always the center of a circle of admiring friends at gatherings of cattlemen. He was personally acquainted with many of the pioneer cattlemen and regarded John S. Chisum as the prince among them. He re- lates many interesting incidents concerning the early days. He said: "Nobody now knows what a stampede is. In 1871 I was working at the Flat Top ranch in Coleman county, Texas. This ranch lay on the trail leading out of Texas to New Mexico and Arizona, striking the Pecos at Horsehead Crossing and passing through one stretch of ninety miles without a drop of water. The ranchmen for a radius of sixty or one hundred miles engaged me to watch the herds and cut out the strays. My business was practically that of cattle inspector of to- day. John Chisum had several herds en route to New Mexico and led the way with a herd of six thousand stock cattle and a man named Adams followed at a distance of eight miles with a herd of three thousand four or five year old steers. These cattle stampeded almost every night, for they had acquired the habit of stam- peding. The first stampede was caused by a horse coming in from the second relief stepping into the opening at the top of a McClellan saddle which was lying on the ground. The horse's foot was caught and he started to run. The strange noise made by the saddle as it struck the ground started the stampede. The provision wagon was quickly demolished and
one man was knocked down and had his hip thrown out of joint. I had gone along with the herds for several days and at the eighteen mile crossing of the Concho river I decided to turn back from the large herd. Mr. Chisum, being informed of the troubles which Adams was un- dergoing, concluded to ride back with me. He thought he determined the cause of the stam- pedes. When we reached the steer herd Mr. Chisum directed Adams to bed his cattle for the night and when they got to the bed ground he would go out and look them over. I ac- companied him. After riding through the herd for twenty or thirty minutes he called Adams and pointed out the cause of the stam- pede. It was a steer with extremely wide and crooked horns with one eye and narrow be- tween the eyes. Mr. Chisum ordered that the steer be cut out, driven down the river and killed. This order was obeyed and there were no more stampedes on that trip."
The field of action into which Mr. Robertson was thrown very early in life was one of the most remarkable the world has ever known for the development of character. Surrounded by none of the luxuries of civilization, brought face to face with the stern problem of existence and obliged literally to win his way to any po- sition he might reach, he early learned the great lesson of self-reliance. He found that persever- ance wins and that the faithful performance of duty day after day will insure the attainment of every worthy ambition. Hopeful in disposition and gifted with magnetic qualities that insure leadership, he has been a source of inspiration to his associates and a leading factor in the growth of West Texas.
C. A. O'KEEFE. In an analyzation of the life record of C. A. O'Keefe we note a strong purpose, a ready adaptability to conditions and a correct estimate of his own powers. Never over- rating his ability but utilizing his business ca- pacity to the full and developing his latent ener- gies and talents Mr. O'Keefe has thereby made for himself a creditable position as a representa- tive of the stock raising and dealing interests of Texas. He came to this state in 1868. He
167
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
was born in Cleburne county, Alabama, February 26, 1852. His father was Thomas O'Keefe, a native of North Carolina, who died during the early youth of his son, who left home when quite young. The father was an only child and the grandfather was a native of Ireland. On leav- ing that country he crossed the Atlantic to America and settled in Virginia, where he was married. Later he removed to North Carolina, where he died soon afterward. Thomas O'Keefe removed from North Carolina to Georgia and after his marriage, which occurred in the latter state, he went to Alabama, which at that time was just being opened up to civilization, the treaty with the Indians having been recently' made and peace established. The O'Keefes were among the first families in the state and Thomas O'Keefe aided largely in the reclamation of the wild district for the uses of the white man, re- maining there up to the time of his death. His wife bore the maiden name of Sarah West and was born in Wedomee, Randolph county, Ala- bama. She still survives her husband and re- sides at Heflin, Cleburne county, Alabama. By . her first marriage she had four sons and after losing her first husband she wedded James Bell, by whom she had three daughters and one son.
Christopher Augustus O'Keefe, whose name introduces this review, was a youth of fifteen years when he left home and came to Texas. He had never been away from home before and he was about a year in making his way to this state. He went first to northern Alabama, where he drove a team in order to pay his way to the Lone Star state. He left for Texas early in the fall but did not reach his destination until the next spring, when he arrived at Sulphur Springs, Hopkins county. Here he was first employed at driving an ox team for two months, after which he entered the employ of a man who had some cattle and with these cattle he made a trip to Shreveport, Louisiana, and to Jefferson, Texas, the latter place then being the head of navigation, from which point shipments of cat- tle were made to New Orleans. For a year and a half Mr. O'Keefe remained in that employ and then went to Wisconsin, where he had a brother who was working on the construction
of the Northern Pacific Railroad, having a con- tract for freighting. C. A. O'Keefe spent about four months in the north, covering the fall and early part of the winter, but not liking the cli- mate, he left there in December and returned to Texas, where he hired to a man to drive an ox team. All goods and commodities were then hauled from Shreveport into the interior of the country. His employer had several teams, con- stituting a wagon train, and Mr. O'Keefe worked with him for eighteen months. After several more moves he made his way to the head of Pe- can Bayou in the spring of 1877 and for about a year was employed by G. W. Waddell and Frank Byler, who brought a herd of cattle from the bayou to this place. He was afterward em- ployed by Hulum & Slaughter, who brought cattle out in the fall of 1877, Mr. O'Keefe enter- ing their service in the fall of 1878. The next fall C. C. Slaughter and Colonel W. E. Hughes purchased Mr. Hulum's interest and subsequent- ly Mr. Slaughter bought the interest of Mr. Hughes, after which Mr. O'Keefe remained with Mr. Slaughter as manager of his cattle interests, continuing with him in this important position for ten years. The Slaughter ranch was on the Colorado river at the mouth of Bull Creek and in 1882 Mr. O'Keefe purchased a sixth interest in the Slaughter herd, which was valued at seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The following year Messrs. Slaughter and O'Keefe purchased half interest in a ranch on the plains known as the Running Water ranch formerly owned by the firm of Morrison Brothers & John- son. They put cattle on the ranch which was the first on the plains, starting in with ten thousand head.
Later Messrs. Slaughter and O'Keefe entered into a contract with Morrison Brothers & John- son for five years, having control of the ranch and continued in charge of Mr. Slaughter's ranch as well. After selling his interest in both ranches to Mr. Slaughter he then entered into a con- tract with him to manage his ranch for five years, this probably being the largest ranch of the country. In Morrison Brothers and Johnson ranch there were eighty-seven thousand nine hundred acres and when the division of interests
I68
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
was made Mr. Slaughter took the land, while Morrison Brothers & Johnson retained the own- ership of the cattle. In 1886 Slaughter & O'Keefe sold to the Capital Syndicate on its organization ten thousand head of cattle from the Slaughter ranch. The Syndicate ranch start- ed on the plains with three million acres and Mr. O'Keefe delivered to the company their first cattle. By the fall of 1884 the range in this part of the country had become exhausted and the cattle were taken westward to the Pecos river. Mr. O'Keefe made a contract with the owners to bring the cattle back and organized twelve outfits with twelve men and four to six mules each for the purpose of hunting up the cattle and returning them to the eastern ranch. It required about two months for the expedition to accomplish its purpose. This was known as the Pecos drift.
In 1889 Mr. O'Keefe severed his connection with Mr. Slaughter and bought a ranch to the east known as the C A ranch in Mitchell coun- ty, stocking it with yearling steers. In 1890 he purchased the old H X W ranch just be- low, and stocked it with yearling steers but sold both of these in 1892 and bought a ranch on the plains known as the Fish ranch. In 1896 he went to Mexico and purchased five thousand head of cattle which he shipped to his ranch and the next year sent back to Kansas. He retained the ownership of the Fish ranch until 1900, when he sold it to Swift, the celebrated Chicago pack- er. In 1897 he bought his ranch in Mitchell county, to which he has added by purchasing land from the small settlers who had located on state land and also by the purchase of rail- road land adjoining, his object being to get a large body of land together. He now has one thousand acres under cultivation, on which he largely raises feed. He has recently put twenty- eight thousand acres on the market, surveying it and selling it in one hundred and sixty acre tracts. He has thirty thousand acres altogether on the Colorado river, the stream running al- most through the center of the ranch, which ex- tends to the edge of the town of Colorado, so that the residence is just outside the corporation limits. He has three thousand head of cattle
all high grade and very nearly thoroughbred, it being the finest herd in the county. He has been buying males from the north but now has a small herd of males from which he will breed for his own use. He employs a number of men on the ranch and his place is, supplied with all mod- ern equipments for the care of cattle. There are two creeks, furnishing an unfailing water supply and also several springs upon the place. The Colorado river enters the pasture at the northwest and flows in southeasterly direction for about fifteen miles diagonally through his place. Mr. O'Keefe recently left his farm and moved to Fort Worth, where he will make his home in the future.
He was married March 3, 1891, to Miss Jo- sephine McMillion, of Mitchell county, and they have five children, two sons and three daughters: Gussie, Pattie, Joe Thomas, Alice and John David.
In addition to his other business interests Mr. O'Keefe is a stockholder and director of the . Colorado National Bank of Colorado, Texas. His business career exemplifies the truth of the old maxim that honesty is the best policy, and upon industry has based his success. He began life with- out a dollar and is to-day the heaviest taxpayer in Mitchell county. He has made good use of his opportunities, has been watchful of the advan- tages that have come to him and has so directed his efforts that he seems to have realized at any one point in his career the possibilities for suc- cessful accomplishment at that point. He is known as a cattle dealer not only through west- ern Texas but throughout the country. He is recognized as a leader with the ability to com- mand and instinctively inspires those who work for him with confidence in his own powers. His life is an exemplification of the possibilities of Texas, for in this country with no financial aid or family assistance he has worked his way stead- ily upward until he has won a most enviable position of which he may well be proud.
JAMES M. DAUGHERTY. Every human life contains a romance. Some lives have many romances. The story may read like a tale from far-off Arabia, or it may be tinged with experi-
JAMES M. DAUGHERTY
169
HISTORY OF NORTH AND WEST TEXAS.
ence of hardships that give to it a permanent practical value. All history is instructive, and biography is especially so, as it presents in vivid coloring the experience of individuals whose lives entitle them to a place in permanent record. The time is rapidly approaching when biography will be one of the essential subjects taught in the pub- lic schools of America. When that time arrives the period immediately following the Civil war will attract the attention of many students. This period brought to the front many men' who gained their first experiences in the war, and at the same time gained a knowledge of their own abilities and a confidence in themselves which is a more valuable possession to its fortunate owner than the mere acquisition of money. Nothing can prevent a young man from advancing in the world who is trained in self-reliance and equipped with a level head and worthy ambition. He attracts to himself the agencies and forces necessary for success, and he succeeds.
James M. Daugherty is one of the remark- able cattlemen of Texas who achieved success because he deserved it. Born upon the fron- tier, he grew up in the midst of a peculiar type of civilization which is no longer to be found on the continent. Too young to take active part as a soldier in the Civil war, he served as an ex- press rider on the Texas border, and by personal contact with men and conditions learned many lessons not taught in the books. He was one of the pioneers who marked out the trails to the north, starting, before the railway penetrated Kansas, into southwestern Missouri as his ob- jective point. Later he traversed the plains over all the great "highways," ranched in Colorado, western Kansas, New Mexico and Indian Ter- ritory, and finally the scene of his operations has shifted to western and southwestern Texas. There he owns and controls ranges aggregating 1,500,000 acres, and his herds amounting in total to fifty thousand graded cattle, give to him a position as one of the leading cattle owners of the United States. During the thirty-seven years in which he has been engaged in the in- dustry Mr. Daugherty has handled millions of cattle. For fourteen years, from a leased ranch of two hundred thousand acres in the Creek Na-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.