William Curry Holden - A Ranching Saga: The Lives of William Electious Halsell and Ewing Halsell

The Lives of William Electious Halsell and Ewing Halsell

BY WILLIAM CURRY HOLDEN

Foreword by Steve C. Lewis

Drawings by JOS CISNEROS

MAVERICK BOOKS / TRINITY UNIVERSITY PRESS
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Published by Maverick Books, an imprint of

Trinity University Press

San Antonio, Texas 78212

Copyright 1976, 2019 by Trinity University Press

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, by Steve C. Lewis

The author and sponsors of this book are grateful to more than a hundred persons who have given valuable information, either oral or written, or both, which has been utilized factually or interpretatively in preparation of the manuscript. He especially appreciates the untiring and efficient work of Isabelle H. Howe, the chief researcher, Frances Scott, part-time researcher, and Jeane Riggs, student assistant. The writer is deeply indebted to his wife, Frances, who has given invaluable assistance as interrogator, making eighty hours of tape recordings with persons scattered throughout five states. She has also read the manuscript three times, the original pencil draft, and before and after the final typing. Newton 0. Robison of South Gate, California, furnished scores of pages of his firsthand factual experiences on the Spring Lake ranch during the 1930s. The author is beholden to Gladys Workman, typist, who mixed considerable editing with her typing.

Our gratitude goes to all who contributed useful information. They are listed in alphabetical order as follows: Captain Alfred Y. Allee; Kling L. Anderson; Ida McMurtry Barnett; Tom Bell; Mrs. Ina Boggs; A. E. Bradshaw; Paul Brady; J. Walter Browers; Elgie Brown; Tom Burckhalter; D. Burns; Bob Cage; Red Caldwell; Helen Campbell; 0. B. Campbell; Holman Cartwright; Judge Glenn Chappell; Glenn Christian; Wayne Christian; Price Clark; Bill Clayton; Maurice Cohen; Bob Cotton; Herb Couch; Gail and Denny Cresap; Charley Dailey; Duval Davidson; Fred Davis; Gilbert Denman, Jr.; Christine De Vitt; Chuck Drummond; Fred Drummond; R. C. Drummond; Don D. Dwyer; Bill Eden; Odie B. Faulk; Joe Finley, Jr.; Joe Finley, Sr.; Lucile Wood Francis; Simon Freese; H. M. Galloway; Lupe Garza; Bill George; Sothoron George; Irene Gibson; Eva Gillett; Russell Gillett; James E. Graves; Fenton Gray; Walter Gray; Max H. Grossenbacher; Jim Hacker; Franklin Halsell; Mrs. Furd Halsell; George Halsell; Glenn Halsell; Mrs. H. H. Halsell; Cleve Hamilton; Clyte Harlan; Jack R. Harlan; Kelly Hartley; Robert Hartley; H. 0. Hodson; Clare Halsell Holmes; Wallace Hough; Paul Howe; Maita Hughes; Amos Jackson; Helen De Vitt Jones; Joe Jarboe; Clarence Stafford Kornegay; George Kuykendall; Mrs. Lester La Grange; Mrs. Otis Langley; Tom Lasater; Bob Love; Ed Lowrance; Russ and Marg Magee; John Mahoney; Hugh McClure; Billy McCluskey; Eva Halsell McCluskey; Bill McDaniel; Jean Holmes McDonald; Judge Lacey McKenzie; W. E. McMurphy; Herb McSpadden; Robert McSpadden; Dr. Merton Minter; Jess Moore; Ronnie Moore; R. D. Morrison; Ruth Morrison; H. 0. Murrell; Johnny Murrell; Larry Murrell; Mary Murrell; Oma Pearl Murrell; Phelps Murrell; T. V. (Red) Murrell; A. B. Nelson; Gus Parrish; V. M. Peterman; Guy Pickard; Jim Pond; Emerson Price; Jane Price; John Rice; John Robertson; Albert Rodriguez; Joe Rodriguez; Frank Rogers; Mrs. Frank Rogers; L. M. Rommann; Bean Salinas; Ken Sawyer; Arch Sequichie; Allan Shephard; Fred Shield; Tom Simmons; Mrs. L. E. Slate; Mike and Jane Snedden; Anne Snyder; Etta Lee Stevens; Vinita Tatum; Jay Taylor (Amarillo); J. Taylor (Carrizo Springs); Gene Templeton; Jim Templeton; Leonard Traylor; Doc Vann; Edna Waldrop; George R. Waller; Mrs. Roger Willet; Emil Weilbacher; Grady and Katheryn York; Terry Thrift.

This narrative concerns the life stories of two men, William Electious Halsell and Ewing Halsell. It does not purport to be an analytical study of the ranching enterprises with which both were extensively involved. Their cattle operations are treated in such a way as to constitute a backdrop before which each character plays his part.

Sources prior to 1900 which have been used include newspaper accounts, legal documents, a limited amount of correspondence, and oral reminiscences of members of their families, friends, and acquaintances. After 1900 the same sources were continued, but the principal depository of data has been the Halsell Collection of records. These are replete with correspondence and statistical accounts. From about 1920 the Collection is complete, and contains ample material for a number of theses and books in history, economics, and animal husbandry.

While the voluminous records of the Halsell Collection were being researched, the author and his wife, Frances, made several trips following the trails of the three generations of the Halsell family, from the time the family entered Texas in 1854 to the present. One of these journeys took us to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Here we met Dr. Odie B. Faulk, one of our old students, of whom we are justifiably proud. Dr. Faulk is now head of the History Department of Oklahoma State University. He personally put us in touch with the proper staff members in every department who had researched and published on every aspect affecting ranching in Oklahoma, especially within the old Cherokee Nation. We conversed with specialists concerning the geology, the flora, fauna, weather, economic factors, and history of the region. We left the campus with an arm full of reprints and other data. To all the staff members who so generously helped us, we are profoundly grateful. The same is true for the staff in the Archive Building of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

We visited all the places and the ranches associated with the principals of this chronicle. All-day gatherings of old hands, friends, and neighbors were arranged, in the Ewing Halsell tradition, for us. Delicious food and convivial drinks were provided in Kansas City, Vinita, Big Creek ranch, Muleshoe for the Spring Lake ranch, the Farias ranch, and in San Antonio. We interviewed more than 150 people who have known either W. E. Halsell, Ewing, or both. In all, we made eighty hours of tape recordings, which have been transcribed. This mass of material has been drawn on to add a human dimension to the book.