Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 62 of 264
two hundred sixty four pages : ill. ; page 23 x 18 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
ac
PAQg BIX—SECTION B
AMAfllLLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE, AMARILLO. TEXAS
OOLDKN ANNIVKHfcARV EDITION, 1938.
Magnetic Polk
It was purely accident that led to
the establishment of the Frost Mo-
tor Company In Amarillo.
Take the word of no less a per-
son than William Frost himself. It
was In August of 1924 Mr. Frost
was on his way to the South Plains
from an extended trip to the Pa-
cific Northwest.
He stopped off in Amarillo over-
night, and his own words, "twice
up and down Polk Street that eve-
ning convinced me Amarillo was the
place I was looking for."
The next day he bought the
Buick-CadiUac business here from
Charlie Dixon. An hour and a
half sufficed to clinch the deal, and
Mr. Frost was the owner of a
new business located at Third and
Polk Streets, the site of the pres-
ent Rule Building.
On January first, the business
was moved to its present site at
507-9-11 Tyler Street.
Prior to entrance into business
here Mr. Frost had been in the
automobile business in Ranger and
Breckenridge.
The present business deals In
Buick motorcars, and Mr. Frost has
a large used car lot across the
street from his retail sales of-
fices.
He looks with optimism on the
business conditions in the Pan-
handle, and says he is dead cer-
tain this country is in for another
prolonged and confidence-restoring
era of prosperity.
Drama on
Street
Birthday, Too
j
Louis Meyer, too, is celebrating
his fiftieth anniversary.
The year of his birth is coincident
with that of Amarillo's beginning.
A half century ago, a handful of
settlers formed the town that is now
Amarillo. On July 5 of the same
year, Louis Meyer was bom in the
Baltic Province.
The present owner of the firm of
Meyer & Meyer, men's clothiers
and tailors, came to America in
1907—"during the money panic." he
remembers—landing at New York.
Going to Cincinnati, Ohio, he found
employment in the tailoring busi-
ness.
"One of the first things I did
after getting settled," he says, "was
to make application for citizenship
papers."
After two years in Cincinnati,
young Meyer went to St. I/iuis, then
migrated to the Southwest, locating
at Albuquerque, N. M„ where he and
his brother, David Meyer, engaged in
the clothing business.
In was in 1921 that Louis Meyer
came to Amarillo and decided to
open a business here. Amarillo's
population then was less than one-
third its present citizenship.
Mr. Meyer first opened a tailor-
ing business at 512 Taylor Street,
and two vears later the store was
moved to'613 Polk Street. In 1929.
Mr. Meyer occupied a new home at
Eighth Avenue and Polk Street, and
two years later he moved his grow-
ing business to its present location.
The firm still is engaged in tail-
oring and handles men's clothing
and furnishings, and has six em-
ployes.
"My original faith in Amarillo has
been substantiated," says Mr. Mey-
er, and it is my intention to spend
the remainder of my years in this
city. My entire interests are in
Amarillo and the Panhandle terri-
tory."
t
gome of them suspected there wan
gold there—or perhaps beyond.
Once more the politician got the
upper hand of the explorer. The
general called two or three of his
trusted aides to his tent.
"My friends," he began per-
suasively, "you know and I know
that there is nothing to stay here
for. We know that to return to
Quivira would be a waste of time.
Perhaps we could divide the valley
of Quivira into estates for the men,
but it is so distant from New Spain
as to be all but worthless. You
know and I know that if we don't
get back soon, others will be ap-
pointed to fill our places in Mexico,
and we'll be out in the cold. We
have estates and families to care
for.
"We know all this, tout the army
doesn't. They are impatient to set
out for Quivira. It is hard to
abandon one's illusions of gold. But
we must. And here's what I want
"Go among the men and tell them
that there is nothing at Quivira.
Tell them that there will be other
expeditions, probably to richer lands
than this. Make them dissatisfied
with this God-forsaken country up
here. Pass out some petitions for
them to sign, asking me to lead
them bark to Mexico. You can see
my position. I can't, afford to give
up this expedition on my own re-
sponsibility. But if toe majority
petitions me to return, what can I
do?"
Coronado's aides did as they were
instructed. At first there was
grumbling, but at last a majority
BACK IN 1907, when the word Thespia n was an indispensable adjunct of the dra-
matic critic's trade, this storied edifice went up. It cost .$60,000 and was rated
by some as actually a $100,000 structure, because materials were cheap then. It's
name is suspended before its entrance, and most resident's will instantly recognize
it as the old Grand Opera House.
It came down some time after the
fire on the night of Nov. 28, 1919,
Thanksgiving Day, which sent Its
1,800 patrons filing into the street
in commendably orderly fashion,
thanks to the showmanship ot Ross
D. Rogers, operator and manager of
the theatre then and future mayor
of Amarillo.
The flames then destroyed lt.s
beautifully ornate furnishings—it
was said to be superior to any
theatre in either Dallas or Fort
Worth when first constructed—and
gutted the building. This was a
severe loss to all concerned, but
perhaps the first regret experienced
by the patrons was that the blaze
had interrupted the film perfor-
mance of Mabel Normand In
"Mickey," a classic of that day and
said to be on a par with "Birth of
a Nation," both of which were ex-
hibited as road shows at top prices
in the old theater.
Yet, even more drama was to be
enacted before the curtain was rung
down on its ruins. The following
March a severe duster blew up and
began to rock its skeleton-like walls.
Green Brothers Furniture Store lay
perilously underneath one swaying
wall. Finally, the wind had its way,
and brick and debris hurtled onto
the little structure beside the ruins.
A girl in the store was injured when
the roof of the smaller, helpless
building caved in, and a man was
severely burned whpn he heroically
held off her, with bare hands,
a red-hot stove!
The old Grand Opera House had
Never Turned
Hungry Away
By HERBERT M. TJTWMONS
Old-timers in Amarillo and on
the Plains remember Jack Floyd,
the restaurant man. In his last days
ho said to me, "Timmons, I'll have
to answer for lots of things up yon-
der, but there Is one thing I am
proud of, I never sent any man
away hungry. It was none of my
business how down and out a fel-
low was, or how much he was to
blame for his condition. If he was
hungry, I fed him."
Jack Floyd came west in the early
days, worked as a cowboy, a freight-
er, but soon he was the owner of a
meat market In Clayton, New Mex.
It was about 1889 that the market
burned, a total loss.
Jack had no insurance, so he
came to Amarillo for a fresh start.
Soon he met J. L. Smith, a man who
was quick to recognize his integrity.
Smith staked Jack Floyd to a small
restaurant in Smoky Row, about
where the Rule Building is now
located.
... . . , . , . . .. | The business grew, until Jack was
gold he sought he brought to the abl„ ,0 purchase hL, competitor's
Tflrtlfivip n ry 1 f t* 1 hi f mnWn f Kntvi < Wn * 1
place and add the equipment to his
own to care for his tradp. Stockmen,
cowboys and freighters, as well as
town people, patronized Floyd. If
they had money they paid, if not
Jack charged it. But there were
many men who came along with no
Included a negro, a half-breed In-
dian and two or three natives who
had been with the expedition since
it left New Spain, set off once more
on the trail to Quivira. Although
accounts differ as to his reception
among the Indians there, it is like-
ly that he lived a short time in
peace among them. Then, an-
nouncing his intention to visit an
enemy tribe, the Indians of the vil-
lage which had received him fol-
lowed him out onto the prairie. The
friar recognized ominous signs as
the party approached. He urged his
attendants to flee, then dropped to
his knees in prayer. As the Port-
guesc and his companions watched
from a far-off rise, the friar sank
to the ground, his body pierced with
arrows.
Padilla's native followers asked
permission to bury him there. They
raised a crude cross above his grave,
and there—somewhere in the prov-
ince of Quivira in the upper reaches
of the Texas Panhandle—Friar Juan
Padilla, martyr of the Corondao ex-
pedition, lies today.
Friar Luis, a lay brother of the
expedition, chose to remain at Cl-
cuye. His fate is not recorded.
* • •
While Coronado failed to find the
Indians a gift that made them the
most feared warriors of their day—
the Spanish horse. Extra horses,
brought to the Plains to carry home
the gold of Quivira, were turned
loose as excess baggage. Some wan-
dered off and were lost on the prai-
ries. Indians stole others. They
multiplied rapidly, and the Indian
quickly adapted them to his uses
money or any prospect of ever hav-
ing any; all were fed and sent away
with renewed hope. Some found
work and later returned to pay and
become regular customers. Too many
forgot, but Jack fed them all.
As soon as Jack Floyd was able,
he brought his parents to Amarillo
and provided a comfortable home for
them until their death. He also
made a home for his younger broth-
er, Bruce, and for his nephew, Jack
Oxford.
Jack Floyd became Justly popular.
When Amarillo was Incorporated he
was a member o' the first city com-
mission, and later was tax assessor
for two terms. Believing in strict
democracy, however, he refused a
third term.
When the Hogg-Clark race for
governor was on, he was elected a
delegate to the state convention.
After election the delegates were In-
structed to cast the vote for Clark.
Jack was a'staunch Hogg man, so
he bolted- The result was that the
delegation went to convention unln-
structed.
In later years Jack Floyd suffered
many business reverses, and died in
only moderate circumstances. His
last business was a second-hand
store located where the Amarillo Gas
umpany building now stands, but
even there Jack always kept a pot
of coffee and something to make
sandwiches for any unfortuante one
who came along. Jack Floyd never
sent any man away hungry.
at, last sunk inio a heap of broken
brick and rubbish, all that remained
of Its former splendor. It was
eventually disposed of to make room
for another structure, the Black-
burn Building at the corner of
Seventh and Polk Streets,
300 years later, he found the Iowas,
Will A. Miller, father and son, captains should be in command. The
were leaders in organizing the idea was dropped, and in April of
group of citizens who brought the 1542 the army had broken camp
Grand Opera House into being and started back to Nejv Spain.
Others variously associated with the 1 There was little discipline. Coio-
old theatre building and its site,
SKSfcf&SSaw^£Si'-- o„. Ih, Llann
common knowledge. Some of the
grandees were so upset they tried to
regain the petitions bearing their
signatures, but Coronado, still feign-
ing serious illness, refused to leave
the tent in which he had secreted
t.hem. It is recorded that he kept
the documents in his mattress.
Some suggested that a company
of troopers remain at Tiguez to hold
the country until the viceroy should
establish a permanent garrison, but
dissension arose as to which of the
John Snider: "Some cowboys wpre
out one morning shooting 'just for
Cheyennes and Apaches mounted on j Instance,' at tomato cans, at any-
swift and sturdy Spanish horses, : thing, and one man killed another,
descendants of those brought to the j The hair of the fellow that did the
Plains by the soldiers of Coronado. | killing turned white overnight."
were a Mr. Barnett of Clarendon.
G. T. Oliver of Amarillo, Mayor
Ross D. Rogers and his partners,
Dye and Ford of Plainview, J, Ray,
C. B. Jonhson, Walter and C. J.
Blackburn, and Mrs. C. J. Black-
burn, present owner of the Black-
burn Building, all of Amarillo.
nado was forced to swallow his
pride aiqp curry favor with his com-
THE GRANDEE AND THE INDIAN
Newsman Slavs
Fifteen years ago a newspaperman
of Fort Worth arrived in Amarillo
for an overnight rest on Rn intend-
ed automobile trip to Oregon.
But it, snowed that day in Ama-
rillo and H. E. Bozeman was delayed
just long enough to become attached
to Amarillo. So, like many others,
Mr. Bozeman simply stayed on un-
til he landed work—and he has
been here ever since.
Today Mr. Bozeman is owner of
the Bozeman Printing and Letter
Service, a firm which deals in the
usual printing business and special-
izes in multigraphing, addressing,
and mailing form letters.
At first Mr. Bozeman worked for
the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce.
"I was kind of sold on the town," he
relates, "and I stayed here. You
know how you get excited about a
place. I began to extoll the advant-
ages of Amarillo to other people and
became sold on my own talk."
Mr. Bozeman started his present
business in February 1927. He began
in a modest way—two multigraphs
and two typewriters comprising his
entire shop equipment. Today there
are eight modern machines in the
shop, and six persons are needed to
take care of the business where only
two were necessary in the beginning.
The firm is located in the Black-
burn Building, where it has been for
the past seven years.
"Of course I believe in the future
ot Amarillo." says Mr, Bozeman.
"Why, I haven't been outside the city
limits over a half dozen times since
I first came here. And I intend to
stay right there."
A New Range Technique
Bill Gates, Midland: "At the
Dumbell we had two mounts apiece,
two strings of 12 horses each. We'd
use one string six weeks and then
come bark an' get another .
Nowadays, they've got to takin' cat-
tle to town in trucks. Soon, all
they'll need Is a prod pole and a
lantern to deliver Brandin'
methods are altogether different
now from what they used to be. Now
they corral the calves in a pen, have
the fire and brand right there. They
dehorn, brand, castrate, vaccinate
and mark 'em all at the same time.
Then they turn the calves out an'
the critters stand around awhile
wonderin' what to do next. Then
they go off an' find their mammies.
"In the old days before there were
fences, a man would round up his
cattle and cut them in two bunches
—straights and strays. The straights
made up the big bunch. All they
had to do was to rope and drag 'em
to the fire and brand 'em. It is easy
to tally that bunch, but in a stray
herd there are sometimes as many
as 25 different brands. A cowboy
would notice the brand of a calf's
mother, an' when he dragged the
calf to be branded he would call
the brand and sex to the tally man,
who divided 'em into steers and heif-
ers under each brand. Usually the
tally man could see for himself and
did not need the call. It Is remark-
able how few mistakes they made in
tallying. The custom was to work
the rattle In the moriiin' and brand
in the afternoon."
i
tContinued From Page Four)
Ysopete advanced and called to
them, and the stampede subsided.
This was Quivira—the end of the
rainbow for Coronado.
Strung along the Canadian breaks,
each located on the banks of a
creek flowing into the river, were
six or seven villages of grass huts,
perhaps from five to ten miles
apart. They were inhabited by a
tribe of natives who boasted about
the same degree of culture as the
Teyas. but with different customs
and different language. Unlike the
buffalo-hide tepees of the Teyas,
the Quivira homes were permanent
although crude. They were built
of poles thatched with grass, and
with no symmetry of design.
The people were large and well-
proportioned. but not as intelligent
as the pueblo dwellers of Tiguez.
It was mid-summer when Coro-
nado reached the settlements, and
he found the men dressed only in
breech-clouts and the women in
deerskin skirts. The women of
Quivira, Coronado later wrote his
king, were more like Moorish wom-
en than Indians.
The Quivira Tndians were hunters,
farmers and warriors. They culti-
vated corn and squash, and har-
vested plums, grapes and berries
that grew wild along the fertile
valley. Buffalo, as with all the
Plains tribes, was the principal
source of meat.
Gold and silver there was none.
The only bit of metal he found was
a piece of copper which one of the
village elders wore about his neck
on a thong. But Coronado strongly
suspected that it, had come from
the expedition—that one of his own
soldiers had presented it to the
Indian.
The general sent his men scatter-
ing to explore tha countryside, but
they found l o evidence of the
Quivira of legend. Coronado him-
self rode eastward along the river
until he came to what the Indians
mon soldiers to prevent a complete
breakdown of morale.
Thus the governor of NewGalicia,
the first white man to lead an ex-
pedition onto the High Plains of
the Southwest, returned to Mexico,
his gilt armor shining but his rep-
utation tarnished. Mendoza was
cool to his former friend. Political
largesse was withheld. And Coro-
nado, disappointed, disillusioned and
disgraced, retired to his estate in
New Galicia.
IV
But the story of the Coronado
expedition is not complete. There
is the tragic epilogue concerning
rejoined his forces, and as the army
had been exploring and gathering
food for the winter the Spaniards
made perament camp along the Rio
Omnrto Th . , the good Friar Juan de Padilla,
Grande. The plan uas to return whQ * ccompanlcd th, RPnera, and
to Quivira in the spring, conduct j his 30 horsemen to Quivira. While
further explorations and claim the the lust for gold was the motivat-
valley of the Canadian for the jng force behind the expedition, the
king. But it was not to be. : spirit of the Crusades still ran high
Early in the spring Coronado was I among the Spaniards. Born and j
told him was the last settlement of J racing on his horse with one of his! bred in them was the fervor to j
the tribe. And there it was that: captains when his saddle girth carry the word of God to the in-
the Turk met retribution. i broke. As hp fell the lunging horse! fidel, and while this consideration]
To the everlasting credit of Coro- : kicked him in the head. For days I doubtless was secondary among the
nado it must be recorded that he the general lay between life and
gave the Turk the benefit of the death in his tent. Then he began
doubt to the last. Not until he1 to mend slowly. And as he lay
reached the end of the trail to find
that not even a vestige of the
Quivira legend was true did he act.
there he thought of his good wife,
Beatrice, and his children down in
sunny Mexico. He thought of the
Then he had this garrulous but estates that needed his attention,
somehow noble martyr of the Plains : He thought of his post as governor
bold grandees of Coronado, there j
were those in the army who saw
the expedition as a great crusade in
the name of the church. Padilla
was one of these. He begged per- •
mission to return to Quivira with
the Indian guides who had brought
the general's company back across
tribesmen quietly strangled In his of New Galicia. Then he thought onld^^had^r^owe^^rcomm^nd
tent" : °f Quivira. He was utterly tired of lhese men of the church) hls ppr.
As for Ysopete, the only reward it all. And he made up his mind missjon wfls snught and granted in
he asked he had achieved. He; to go home. j the interer,t 0f harmony.
wanted to be back among his own But he knew the troopers at So the friar, accompanied by a
people, and was grateful to the least some of them—had their Portguese named Campo and a
Spaniards for bringing him home, hearts set on Quivira. He knew i motley group of attendants which
BUILDING
MATERIALS
Furnished
by
J. C. Wooldridge
Lumber Company
""V—
Has served
the Panhandle
since 1891
J.
C. WOOLDRiDGE
LUMBER CO.
Coronado spent 25 days among I
the Quivira villages. Then again
obtaining Indian guides he gathered
his troopers and started back to
Tiguez. He did not return to the
Palo Duro, but was led by a more
northerly and direct route to the
crossing on the Pecos below Cicuye.
Thence he immediately crossed t.he
valley to Tiguez where the army
waited.
It was mid-fall when Coronado
20 VEARS
in the same location!
Largest Srler{ion of
BAND INSTRUMENTS
In the Panhandl#
BUESCHER
TRt -TO.VF Rand and
Orchestra Instruments
SELMER REED
INSTRUMENTS
Th* World's
The KING'S Line
A Price Ranre In Reach
of All
BUNDY BRASS
The Best for Less
A Large Selection of
Good Used Reconditioned Instruments
On Hand at All Timei
INSTRUMENT REPAIRING
RE-PADMNO
RE-PLATING
LACQUERING
REEDS, MOUTHPIECES
and
ACCESSORIES
Amarillo Band House
E. L. SMITH JEWELRY and MUSIC
BAND AND ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENTS AVI) SUPPLIES
II# East Fifth Ave. Phone 71R0
AMARIIXO, TEXAS
"
12 Years of Service
Our Aim....
to give the best of service always
... to promptly supply every office
need with the same friendly help-
fulness that has characterized our
transactions in the past.
OA it**?
B. C. ELLIOTT
E. O. GREER
At your service with all types of office furniture, adding machinesv
calculators, stencil machines, typewriters, filing systems, stationery,
office supplies, etc.
EVERYTHING FOR EVERY OFFICE
508 TAYLOR STREET (Opposite Courthouse)
. AMARILLO
PHONE 2-2236
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/62/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.