Maxwell, Faye 1998-07-16

Faye Maxwell talks about growing up on the JA Ranch, Texas.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Faye Maxwell

Additional Parties Recorded: None

Date: July 16, 1998

Location: Amarillo, Texas

Interviewer: David Marshall

Length: 55 minutes

Abstract

Tape 1: Father: William Thomas Blackwell, went by the nickname Boy all his life, b. 1898, Paternal grandparents, Father (again), 13 siblings, 3 sets of twins, All brothers worked on ranches, Started working on ranches at age 13, Worked at the JA Ranch 50 years, Physical description, Close association with brothers, Faye Maxwell, Siblings,the JA Ranch at the Graham Place camp, Teacher, Location of school, Number of students, Description of school house, Water, Heating with a wood stove, Source of wood, Church, Held in the school house, Traveling lady preachers, No Sunday school, Clarendon, Texas was the nearest town, Ranch kids bussed to school, near Claude, Texas, Monkey Runs School, Husband and wife were teachers, Students, Self-sufficiency at the line camp, Mother’s garden, canning, Cattle slaughtered at line camp, Bought staples in town once a month, Mother raised chickens and hogs, Smoke house at the line camp, Graham Place Line Camp, Neighbors, Number of cowboys, Mother fed the cowboys, Self -sufficiency at the line camp (continued), Mother made their clothes, Shoes ordered from Sears catalog, Mail, Ordered chickens by mail, Graham Place Line Camp (again), Heated with a wood stove, No electricity until the 1940’s, Telephone, Battery operated radio, no television, Wind up phonograph, Many cowboys played instruments, Types of musical instruments, Dances, Parents move to headquarters, Mother cooked for all the cowboys, Thanksgiving gatherings, Trips to town, Once a month to pay the grocery and go to movies, Candy from the grocer, Went to town dances when older, Pushing the car home through mud when it rained, 4th of July in Clarendon, Texas, Father (again), Rodeo, Horses on the JA Ranch, Each cowboy broke his own, Horse for the kids, Father (again), Responsibilities on the ranch, Wagon boss, Work on the wagons, Dad seldom home, Cowboys’ teepees, Visiting dad on the wagon, Taking care of horses, Horses on the JA Ranch (again), Number of horses each cowboy had, Cowboys horses, Father (again), Work clothes, No guns, Wildlife, Varmints, Dad bit by rattlesnake, Treatment for snake bite, Mother killed rattlesnakes with the shotgun, Rattle collection, Cowboys using snake skins and rattles to make things, Cowboys, Early start each day, Cowboys’ breakfasts, Faye cooking for the cowboys when her mother was away, Breakfast Non-stop work in the kitchen, Lunch, Supper, Cowboys’ meals on the trail, Depression made little difference on the ranch, Pets, Monday wash day, Gas washing machine, Double use for wash water, Mother made the soap, Kid’s bath time, Outbuildings, Smokehouse, Outhouse, Barns, Making noise when approaching the barn, Sand storms, Seeing it coming, Breathing, Drifts, Dust in the house, Darkness, Heavy Rains, Creek rising, Chickens in the rain, Varmints (again), Coyote, Big cats, Childhood games, Stealing sticks, Baseball, Annie Over, Play house, Mud pies, Dolls, Swings, Swimming, Creek, tank, Children’s chores, Girl’s chores, Boy’s chores, Radio Programs, Story about Snooks Sparks, No hunting on the ranch, Oldest brother’s work on the wagon, Livestock killed by lightening, Grass fires, Father’s opinion of Mrs. Adair, Montie Richie, Englishman taking over the ranch, Good cowboy, Ninia Bevins (?), Number of line camps, Fence repair, Tornadoes, Clarendon, Texas in 1940 or 1941, Claude, Texas, Response to storms, People from the ranch that are still around, Snooks Sparks, Fish Wilson, JA Ranch Reunion, General reminiscence of ranch life, Mr. Goodnight’s no drinking or gambling rule, Montie Richie continued the rule, Brothers, Cowboy fatalities on the ranch, Prairie dogs, Holes and horses, Cowboy fatalities on the ranch (again), Cemetery, Cattle breeds, Buffalo herd, Ranch had the herd for 100 years, Slaughtered one to eat sometimes, Let out of school to see the herd when it came near, Cattle breeds (again), Brands.

Range Dates: 1898-1998

Bulk Dates: 1932-1940

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