Year: 2018

 

Carving a life out of the Texas frontier took extremely brave and strong people, both men and women. History has definitely highlighted the achievements of the men, but behind every one of them, there was a woman sharing the same hardships. They had to be wife, mother, cook, seamstress, doctor, barber, and on top of all that, when the men were away for extended periods, they had to do all of his chores as well. This post is dedicated to all of those unsung heroes without whom the Texas frontier would never have been settled, but in this post, I will be highlighting an amazing woman who did achieve a fair amount of notoriety in her time.

During the early to mid-1800’s, the cattle industry began to boom in Texas, and while many cattle barons were made along the way, several women made there mark as well. The title “Cattle Queen,” was given to several different women, and in their own way, each of them certainly earned the name, but as I searched the histories of the amazing women, I found one whom I believe deserves the title more than anyone else. Not only did Elizabeth “Lizzie” Johnson operate a cattle business, but she was involved in every aspect of building her cattle operation, matching and even surpassing the successes of her male counterparts.

Lizzie Johnson was born in 1840 and moved with her parents to Texas at the age of four. Her parents were educators and her father owned a school along Bear Creak in Hays County. After graduating from Chapel Hill Female College in Washington County, she began teaching at her father’s school. Lizzie went on to teach at several other schools in the Austin area before eventually starting her own school in a two-story house she bought in Austin. During the 1800’s, it was very uncommon for women to buy property, but it was almost unheard of for one to run their own school. It was considered well and good for women to teach children, but the difficult work of administering the curriculum was a job for men.

Lizzie was not only smart and hardworking, she was ambitious as well, and she began writing articles for magazines and working as a bookkeeper on the side to make extra money. While keeping the books for various ranchers, she began learning all she could about the cattle business, and Lizzie was a remarkably quick study. With the extra money she was earning, she began investing in land and cattle, building a herd that would have been the envy of any rancher. Most stockman of the day were more than content to hire a team of drovers to move their cattle to market, but not Lizzie, she accompanied her cowboys up the Chisolm Trail not just once, but several times.

During the 1870’s, Lizzie fell in love with Hezekiah Williams, and on June 8, 1879, the couple were married. While all evidence suggests that she really did love the man, Lizzie the business woman was not going to risk losing all that she had built. She insisted that they sign a prenuptial agreement, ensuring that her assets were completely separate from his. Ever the tough businesswoman, on cattle drives she even directed that her cattle were to be physically separated from those of Hezekiah.

Her business acumen was only matched by her husband’s lack of it, and while she was considered an iron lady when it came to money, she never failed to bail him out when his ventures inevitably failed. Once, while conducting a land deal in Cuba, Hezekiah was taken hostage, and Lizzie paid the $50,000.00 ransom, proving that her love for him would always win out over sound business.

When Hezekiah died in 1914, Lizzie took it very hard, and when commenting on the $600.00 coffin she bought, she said, “I loved this old buzzard this much.” After her husband’s death, she lived the life of a miserly hermit and rarely left the small apartment she lived in above one of her buildings. Lizzie Johnson died on October 9, 1924, leaving an estate valued at more than $250,000.00. She not only invested in land and cattle, but also diamonds and other jewels apparently, because while cleaning out her various properties, her heirs found stashes of both.

Elizabeth Johnson was a strong woman who broke down many barriers of her day and not only survived in a tough world, but also thrived. While speaking of amazing women, I want to thank the amazing woman in my life. Most of what you see at Under the Lone Star is due to my wife, who works tirelessly every day to make sure that my writing efforts see the light of day. I had a crazy dream to be a writer, and she has done everything she can to see that dream come true.  To her, I again say thank you!  Until next time, saddle up, get out there, and enjoy all that the great state of Texas has to offer.

©03/05/2018

 

Hey, friends. We’re only a month into 2018, but it’s already been a busy year at Under the Lone Star, and while we have great things planned, none of it would be possible without you. Thanks as always for your readership.

Have you ever wondered how Texas went from lawless wilderness to becoming the economic powerhouse it is today? It happened the same way the United States went from being just thirteen British colonies to a global superpower, because men and women of vision risked everything to achieve their dreams. One such man is the subject of today’s blog.

Christopher Columbus Slaughter was born in Sabine County, Texas on February 9, 1837, and claimed to be the first male child born of marriage under the Republic of Texas. He was born less than a year after Texas won its independence from Mexico, and he certainly was not one to squander this hard-fought freedom.  History doesn’t reveal where Slaughter got his drive to succeed.  Perhaps it was from his parents, or maybe it was from the scores of settlers he saw pulling a living from the land despite the dangers faced on the Texas Frontier. No matter where it came from, he hit the ground running and would eventually become one of the richest men in Texas.

As a child, young Christopher worked cattle with his father, and by the age of twelve, he was helping the family drive a herd to their new ranch in Freestone County. He became such an expert at crossing the swollen Trinity River that he hired out to drovers moving cattle to Shreveport, and by his late teens, he had saved enough money to buy out his uncle’s interest in the family herd. As a natural entrepreneur, Slaughter learned everything he could about the cattle business, and observed that the Brazos River stock was superior to their own herd, so he persuaded his father to relocate their ranch further west in Palo Pinto County. There they developed a thriving trade selling cows to Fort Belknap and the local Indian Reservations.

During the wars with the Comanche, he joined the Texas Rangers and took part in the expedition that liberated Cynthia Ann Parker. He continued to serve with the Rangers during the Civil War, providing much needed protection from those seeking to take advantage of the fact that all the troops had been moved out of the state to take part in the war. In 1861, he married Cynthia Jowell and together they had five children. After her death in 1876, Slaughter married Carrie Averill in 1877, with whom he had four children.

After the war, Slaughter led an expedition to Mexico in search of ranch land, but during the venture, he suffered an accidental gunshot that left him incapacitated. During his long recovery, he saw his fortune start to slip away, so in 1867, he organized a cattle drive to New Orleans. Along the way, he was able to make a deal for his herd with a packing company, selling them for thirty-five dollars a head and paid in gold.

Flush with cash, Slaughter began regular drives to Kansas City, Missouri, where he sold his cows for as much as forty-two dollars a head. With his fortune, he expanded his interests into cattle breeding and bought many acres of land in West Texas, including the Long S Ranch in 1877, which stretched from Plainview to Big Spring. Eventually he became one of the largest land owners in the state, and the largest tax payer. By the time he was done, he owned over one-million acres of land stretching across nine west Texas counties earning him the name “Cattle King of Texas.”

 

During the 1870’s, he diversified into banking, establishing both City Bank and American National Bank in Dallas. Christopher Columbus Slaughter was not only a rancher and businessman, but was also a devout Christian, and he used a large portion of his riches to help the church. He donated two-thirds of the cost for the construction of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, and he also contributed to the establishment of the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium, which later became Baylor Hospital.

In 1910, Slaughter suffered a serious hip injury that caused a steep decline in his health. Unable to maintain the rigorous demands of running his many businesses, he turned control of them over to his oldest son, George. On January 25, 1919, Christopher Columbus Slaughter died at his home in Dallas.

The history of Texas was built on the dreams and ambitions of ordinary people who put everything on the line to see their vision come to life.  It is these same types of visionaries that today are creating the history of future generations. What is dreamt today will become tomorrow’s reality. Until next time, saddle up, get out there, and enjoy all that the great state of Texas has to offer.

 

 ©02/05/2018

 

Hey friends, it’s mid-January here in North Texas. The temperatures are dropping, and as I write this, there is ice in the forecast. This can mean only one thing. It’s Stock Show time!! It’s that time of year when everyone in Fort Worth, from lawyers to stock brokers, from salesmen to school teachers, are, if for only a few weeks, cowboys. They dust off their Stetsons and boots, load the family in the pick-up, and spend the day immersed in a tradition that’s been going on for 122 years. That’s one of the reasons I love living in Cowtown so much. We’re a modern, cosmopolitan city, but we’re never too far from our wild west roots, and we embrace our history. After all, what is history, but tradition, and what is tradition, but the affirmation of what makes a community and its people who and what they are. The Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show is much more than a few weeks of family fun. It represents the Texas spirit and what is best about Fort Worth and our heritage. It is also the oldest continuously running livestock show and rodeo.

Starting way back in 1896, several prominent businessmen, along with local ranchers, and representatives from the Armour & Company and Swift & Company meat packers, wanted to find a way to promote the local cattle industry. The first stock show was held in October 1896 in a large field with only a few trees for cover from the elements, but it was such a success that it was held again the following spring. For the first several years, it was known as the Texas Fat Stock Show, and tents were added so that the people and animals would be a bit more comfortable. At first, it was strictly a Texas affair, which drew visitors and contestants from farms and ranches all over the state, but over the next several years, it would draw people from all over the country, and eventually the world.

In 1908, the Northside Coliseum was built to house the Stock Show, which not only provided a more substantial venue for the event, but just ten years later, it allowed for the most important addition to the Stock Show, the now famous Stock Show Rodeo. Among other innovations, it was the first indoor rodeo and the first to feature Brahma bull riding, and remains a huge draw for the Stock Show to this day.

In 1944, the Stock Show was moved to the Will Rogers Memorial Center where it remains today, and over the years it has expanded to include multiple cattle barns and such technological advances as indoor plumbing, heating, and air conditioning. In 1978, the name was changed to the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, and it just seems to get better every year. Today, the Stock Show includes horse and cattle shows, a world class rodeo with thirty-six performances, hundreds of vendors selling their wares, and a carnival midway with games and rides. I’ve been attending the Stock Show since the late 70’s and now it is my privilege to build that same tradition with my own children. I hope it comes to mean as much to them as it does to me, so that one day they will carry on the tradition with their kids. This year, the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show runs from January 12th to February 3rd, so pay a visit and see why Fort Worth, Texas still lays claim to the title of “Where the West Begins.”

Don’t forget to check out my video blog and photos from my recent visit to the 2018 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on my Facebook Page Under the Lone Star and until next time, saddle up, get out there, and enjoy all that the great state of Texas has to offer.

©01/14/2018