TBT - Mema Visits Uncle Will's Ranch

The following is a story Ben's mother sent me recently containing memories from her childhood.

Cleo and her brother fishing at Uncle Will's.

A time of excitement in my early years was our visit to Uncle Will’s ranch in Texas. Uncle Will was my grandmother’s half brother and lived on the old family ranch in San Saba, Texas, the same place where grandmother was born. I was about 4 or 5 when we all took the Greyhound bus to Texas to visit them.  The bags were packed the night before and we were up before day the next morning.  Mr. Mack who ran the bus station came to get us in his car.  At the bus station, Grandmother discovered she had left her glasses at home so Mr. Mack took her back to get them.  I remember so clearly worrying that she would not get  back in time and miss the bus.  Also, I knew which direction was west – where the sun went down- and when the bus maneuvered from street to street in cities along the way and wasn’t heading ‘west’, I was terrified we wouldn’t get to Uncle Will’s ranch.  I am sure my mother tried to explain to me the reason the bus had to go in other directions sometimes, but in my stubborn nature, I was convinced I was right and we were lost!  Oh, how I worried!  To my great delight, we reached Texas after a day and night on the bus.  In the bus station at San Saba, Texas, there were big cow horns mounted on the wall and everyone wore cowboy boots and very big hats.  How exciting!  Uncle Will came to get us in his pickup truck.  He had to make several trips to get us all out to the ranch.  There were horses, plenty of long horn cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, a windmill, a dog, a fish pond, and it was heaven!  Aunt Julia welcomed us with open arms.  I was allowed to sit in front of Uncle Will and ride his horse. 

We went back to visit several times over the years.  On our visit when I was 9, my brother and I were allowed to take fishing poles and fish in the pond.  Aunt Julia insisted I wear one of her big sun bonnets to keep the sun off my face.  Her daughter Christine lived not far away and let me sit in her lap and steer her truck as we went to her house to pick up something.  I loved doing this and was eager to go.

Christine’s son, Joe Allen, was about 17 at the time.  He let us tag along with him whenever he was at Uncle Will's.  He would hoist me up on his horse and away we would go.  We got to go rabbit hunting with him and his friend one night.  To do this, one of the big boys drove the truck across the huge pastures shining the headlights on big jack rabbits.  The other big boy stood in the back of the truck leaning over the cab with his gun and shot the rabbits.  Us little kids sat in the back and rolled all over the place laughing till our sides ached as the truck bounced over the grassy pastures.   The boys shouting “There’s one!  Shootem!” I’m sure my mother would have had a fit had she known how dangerous this was.  It was pretty dark, but you could see the outline of mountains in the distance.  This sounds barbaric but had to be done periodically because the rabbits multiplied so fast and dug holes in the pastures.  The cows stepped in the holes and broke their legs.  Anyway, that was the logic Joe Allen explained to us and it sounded pretty good to me.

Another exciting adventure at Uncle Will's was the ‘round-up’.  He had rented his ranchland to an owner of a huge head of Brahma cattle to graze for a while.  It was time to round them all up so they could be taken on to market.  Now Brahmas are big cattle with long horns, known for their ill tempers, not the type of animal you would want to charge at you.  So, as you know, the most exciting thing for a child is to be safe in an experience with a bit of danger.  We were allowed to again ride in the back of the pickup truck where a ranch hand had a big sack of cow feed.  Out over the range we went while they called to the cattle.  We didn’t roll and tumble on that trip.  If we fell out, we had been warned, the cows would trample us and we might be killed. The tailgate on the truck had to be down to let the cow feed flow and we kids were sternly warned to stay put or else we would have to ride in the cab.  The cow feed was spilled out periodically from the back of the truck making a trail.  As soon as the cows realized it, they started following the truck.  Faster and faster the truck went and faster and faster the herd of cattle came. By the way, there was a huge bull in the herd as well.  We kept a sharp eye out for him and when he was spotted, we feared he would charge right into the truck.  Now, that was exciting to be a part of! They were led through the range right up to the fenced in area, at which time the truck turned abruptly and the fast moving cattle went right into the coral.  And just like that, the whole thing was over.  We relived that adventure a thousand times.  Each retelling, the tale got bigger and bigger, the cows came closer and closer to us in the truck. We saw their huge brown eyes more clearly and could feel their breath and almost touch their big sharp horns.  It was more and more dangerous!  Well, except when we were telling our mother about it.  Then it was just a little ride in the back of the truck with nice cows following behind.

I really loved Uncle Will and Aunt Julia.