Amon Giles Carter by Bea Tifton

 

Last month I blogged about the Amon Carter Museum. This month I would like to focus on the man himself.

Amon Giles Carter was born on December 11, 1879 in Crafton, Texas. After his mother’s death in 1802, Carter moved to Bowie, Texas, and became a traveling salesman.  Carter moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and took a job selling advertising space in 1905. He helped finance and run the Fort Worth Star, a new newspaper. When the Star was almost bankrupt, Carter purchased its competitor, The Fort Worth Telegram, and combined the two papers in 1909. The Fort Worth Star Telegram enjoyed the best circulation of any paper in the South from 1923 until just after WW II.

In 1922, the newspaper created WBAP, the oldest radio station in Fort Worth. In 1948, it created the first television station in Texas, WBAP-TV. Carter refused to let the stations include Dallas as part of their station identification.

Amon Carter is credited with coining the phrase, “Where the West Begins” to describe Fort Worth. He was a fervent advocate for Fort Worth and he hated its rival, Dallas.  Carter is reputed to have taken a sack lunch to Dallas whenever he had to visit on business so he would not need to spend any money there. 

Carter was incensed when Dallas was selected as the site for the Texas Centennial Celebration in 1936. He was determined to best Dallas, and he hired legendary Broadway producer Billy Rose to produce what was billed as “The Show of Shows” for Fort Worth. Casa Manana was built in a cow pasture.  The theater included the world’s largest revolving stage and could house 4, 0000 guests. A moat surrounded the stage, and the stage curtain was a wall of fountains. 

The showgirls were dressed in skimpy costumes that were quite controversial for their time. The show was a rousing success until the entire theater had to be dismantled for WW II materials. 

Carter died of a heart attack in 1955. He was a larger than life figure, gambler, businessman, drinker, cigar smoker, and Fort Worth supporter who is still revered and remembered in Fort Worth today.

 

HOW TOUGH WERE THEY? By E. Ayers

 The women who dared to go west were tough. They had to be to survive. It might sound exciting, but I wanted to give everyone a glimpse of what it took.

Fortunately, most women were still young, but not all of them. Youth has advantages. Just as today, most 18-30-year-old people have great stamina. They need it.

Most traveled during the summer months. Using a northern route probably made the most sense. How long can you stand being outside in the dead of summer? Add some mosquitoes, other bugs, spiders, snakes, poison ivy, poison sumac, and whatever critters roam the area. Toss in passing through tornado alley, and maybe a hurricane that made landfall, add a few violent thunderstorms, hail, flash floods, and imagine doing it in long skirts with sweat pouring off your body, into your eyes and soaking through your clothes. Long sleeves somewhat protected your arms from bug bites and the sun. Those bonnets with the big brims kept the face somewhat shaded. But anyone who has been outside consistently, such as an outdoor job, knows that you can tan right through your clothes when exposed to the sun for hours.

But didn’t they get to ride in the wagon? It’s shaded and somewhat protected. Actually, no. The wagon was packed tight with belongings. The wagon wasn’t pulled by a bunch pretty horses. They were pulled by oxen, AKA cattle. Oxen or ox is just another word for cattle that have been trained to do things like plowing. Oxen is plural and ox is singular. They didn’t use bulls. They used castrated bulls and cows. A castrated bull is much gentler and less apt to get excited. But frequently cows were used because they could be milked and provide a source of milk and butter.

Many a woman took the milking bucket and hung it under the wagon’s backend, and the constant sloshing would eventually turn the contents into butter. I wonder how much dirt got into it?

The women and children walked their way west, often while carrying a child in their arms. Without bathrooms, everyone was forced to use the great outdoors and privacy was a problem. You didn’t dare wander too far from the wagon train. So, the women would form a circle around the woman who needed privacy to relieve herself, and while facing each other, they would lift the front of their skirts high over their heads, shielding the woman from any prying eyes. I call that Yankee ingenuity. Anyone who has ever done survival camping knows how to dig a latrine. But I’ve never it found it referenced in my research. Just these wonderful circles that the women used to protect themselves. I do know that chamber pots did exist and could be used when the wagon wasn’t moving.

Remember the oxen that were dragging a heavy wagon for miles, it wouldn’t be fair to them to add another 100 pounds to their load. But maybe at night, a chamber pot would provide a family a slight reprieve.

Often the family slept in the open under the wagon. Sometimes they would stop during the heat of the day and hide from the sun under the wagon. Then travel into the evening.

Women faced another problem. Their monthly cycle could be beacon call to wild animals or uncastrated male animals traveling in the wagon train. A wolf or coyote could smell the blood and were drawn to it. Even today zoo workers are often given other jobs to avoid problems with their charges during their monthly cycle.

Did they really circle the wagons? Yes. By circling, they created a fence and could turn the oxen loose to graze, etc. The first wagon became the next day’s last wagon And the number two wagon became the first wagon. And every day the wagons switched positions. Kinda adds a new meaning to the first shall be last. They considered no one privileged. Obviously, the first position had less dust, etc. Often the wagon trains only managed 8 miles in a day and on a good day, they might manage 15 miles. So the first wagon took off and traveled for hours, then quit as the last wagon was taking off.

Scouts rode ahead of the wagon train. What were they actually looking for? American Indians and French trappers or anyone who might want to rob or do harm to the wagon train. By the 1850’s, there were virtually roads called trails to the west, and some of those roads are now super slabs of major highways, such as the Bozeman Trail is now Interstate 90. Scouts also were looking for food, and a good place to stop for the night.

Women were tough. They got pregnant. They got sick. They had to keep going. They lost children along the way to miscarriages and disease. They lost husbands. They faced all sorts of challenges, impossible odds, and they kept going! Weak women did not survive!

I think today more than ever, the United States recognizes our heartland, ranchers’ wives, etc. have a strong, tough, self-reliant attitude. I admire the women who have a little dirt under their fingernails and don’t back down when facing adversity. They’ll sit with their favorite mare while she gives birth, even if that means it’s 3 AM. They have no problems climbing into a tractor by day and wearing pearls and heels to church on Sunday. Maybe it’s in the DNA.

I happen to think the women who settled the west were strong. They survived the odds. Somehow that has been passed down through the generations. I know quite a few women who live in the west on ranches and some that were raised on them but now live in suburbia. I love writing about robust women, and those who took chances.

Would I have survived the wagon train? I doubt it. I probably would have died in childbirth, considering I was lousy in that department! In fact, if I lived back then, I wouldn’t be alive. Modern medicine has saved me from the clutches of death a few times. I’m late getting this up because I’ve had a couple bouts of dental surgery this past week. I happen to like our modern world. I’m not freezing to death because it’s cold outside or baking in our hot, humid summers.

If you want an honest look at what women went through, read A Rancher’s Dream. She went from Texas to Wyoming and wasn’t pretty. But along the way, she found love.

Did We Cause the Dust Bowl? by Cora Leland

Did We Cause the Dust Bowl?

By Cora Leland

 

 

 

 

When a young blacksmith visited America in 1837, he learned first-hand about how hard the new residents of the grasslands of America were working, and that the plow they’d ‘inherited’  caused the need for hard work, but also caused many of the problems the settlers endured.

 

With some research, John Deere found that settlers needed a plow quite different from the ones they or their parents had farmed with in Europe.  In the mid west, farmers had to struggle, day in, day out, with the thick roots of prairie grass systems they found under the soil.  

 

The long-bladed plows then in use were hard to manoeuvre and very difficult to get mended, because steel was in short supply.   Some experts even say that the invention of the short-bladed steel plow cured Americans of the debilitating grip of the Financial Crisis of 1837.

 

New studies signal that the ecological problems of the 20^th century caused the dust bowl. Further, not all these changes are man-made, and some didn't even originate in America.  And these problems continue. (For example, the nuclear testing and deforestation that’s taking place all over the world.)  Though it’s certainly true that the development of the Great Plains from miles of empty prairie to potent farmland was spectacular, it did not cause the Dust Bowl.  

 

These grasslands were soon America’s breadbasket, the agricultural belt capable of feeding the world.   But this lightning-like change was just  one tiny factor among many much bigger ones. 

 

For example, the settlers used no artificial fertilizers, but the farming concerns did, the ones that came later, around 1950 (the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch)  They added high levels of nitrogen and phosphate to the soils from their use of artificial fertilizers.  (Just for the record, the settlers and pioneers to the American West lived during an era of continuous stability, the Holocene Epoch.)

 

The mid-20^th century ushered in huge spikes of damage, including plastic pollution, aluminum and concrete particles, and increasing doses artificially produced nitrogen and phosphate to the American soils.

 

But the people of the 1950’s on have encouraged the growth and development across the world of many kinds of animals.  For example, the barnyard chicken has been a continuing source of food and economic development.  (Many a new farmer’s, rancher’s or homesteader’s family survived on the proceeds that came from their chickens.) 

                                            Chickens to the Rescue

 

In the 19^th century, some newcomers couldn’t provide a separate coop, so they housed their chickens in another building.  They were vigorous, but the harsh climate and changeable farming conditions made their grip fragile for surviving on the plains.   

 

Just to note a few examples, the storms of insects such as locusts, that flew in clouds to vanquish the settlers’ entire crops came at will.  These infestations seemed to follow no schedule, and had no apparent reason for occurring.   The extreme climate, with the scorching sun, then below freezing snows that devastated whole herds of cattle seemed to be more than a poor person could continue for very long.

 

 The Pioneers' Great Resilience 

Note:  I’ve had sudden computer problems this morning, and only half the article is here.  Tune in later for the rest!  Thanks.

 

 

 

CACTI By Cheri Kay Clifton

 

Having transitioned from our Florida home to our Nevada home for a few months, we not only must acclimate to a three-hour time change, but also to a change in scenery. Instead of views of beautiful tropical beaches, our views are now of awesome canyons and desert landscapes full of multiple species of cacti. I must say, as a western author, I feel right at home!

Although there are hundreds, if not thousands, of cacti, I will write about a few that are indelibly linked with that of the American Southwest and often seen in western films.  The majority grow in the southern parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.  The word, “cactus” is derived from a Greek word, “kaktos,” meaning prickly plant.

Saguaro Cactus

The Saguaro Cactus is the largest of all the other cacti in the United States, growing to heights of 50-60 feet and weighing 2000 pounds. The Saguaros have a relatively long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. Some Saguaros never produce arms and are called “spears.”  The arms help increase the productivity, as they lead to more flowers and fruit. A saguaro is able to absorb and store large amounts of rainwater, then use the stored water as needed. This enables the cactus to survive during periods of drought.

Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree, also known as the “yucca palm,” grows mostly in the Mojave Desert of southwest California and Nevada, as well as a small area of Utah and Arizona.

The Joshua Tree National Park is located in southern California. Mormon pioneers are said to have named this species “Joshua” tree because it mimicked the Biblical prophet Joshua waving them, with upraised arms, toward the promised land. Natural stands of this picturesque evergreen grow nowhere else in the world. Its height varies from 15-40 feet, take 50 years to mature and can live 150 years.

Prickly Pear Cactus

The American Southwest wouldn’t look the same without the Prickly Pear cactus. In 1995, the Prickly Pear was named the official Texas state plant.

The cactus is more than landscaping for the people of the American Southwest and Mexico. It is a source of food and can save one’s life if ever lost in the desert. The plant bears fruit that can provide small amounts of fluid and a good amount of nutrients. These fruits are sold in stores under the name, “tuna.”  During times of severe drought in the days of the Old West, the Texas cattle would use the Prickly Pear for survival, munching the entire plant, spines and all.

So, authors of the American West, next time you write about the desert landscape in a story, don’t just call that plant, “cactus,” give the reader a better visual by calling it by its proper name.

Hope you'll visit my website and check out my books.

www.CheriKayClifton.com

Happy Trails To You,

Cheri