Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 72 of 264
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PAGE BIXTEEN—SECTION B
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE, AMARU,LP. TEXAS.
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION. 1938.
When the City Was Rough and the Gunman Ready
By ROY RIDDLE
The wagon was loaded, and Spot
*nd Beck switched their tails in
mulish Impatience. The father and
the mother and their two young
■on* stared sorrowfully, but only for
a moment, at the little Collin County
log cabin. That had been home,
and they were leaving it—perhaps
forever. Ahead, though, lay the al-
most fabulous Panhandle and what
promised to be a lucrative contract
with the Port Worth <fc Denver Rail-
road—building rock culverts on the
grade from Clarendon to Polsom,
N. M.
Suddenly the father remembered
that he had forgotten something. He
sprang from the wagon and ran
round to the back of the cabin. In
a second he returned with four raw
Skins—two 'coori and two 'possum.
"Maybe we can trade these for
something we'll need," he said.
The next night, in Port Worth,
the skins were exchanged for a bon-
net for mother, a hat each for the
boys, who up to then had never pos-
sessed such, and an extra large bag
of candy for them also. The first
barber pole they had ever seen and
their subsequent, efforts to acquire it,
hart brought this miracle about. The
Inference is plain—they had mistak-
en it for a huge stick of candy.
Thus did Lewis Cuip and his
family beprin in 1R86 their trek to the
Panhandle. It was long and ardu-
ous, and not without its near-trag-
edles. Mrs. Gulp's clothing caught
fire from the camp fire when they
were, fortunately, only a few miles
out of San Saba. She had to re-
main there a month, recovering from
her Injuries, while Lewis Ciup and
the boys drove on. The boys were
Guy Culp, the subject of this story,
and his brother Si. now a resident of
Nevada. They were seven and six
years old, respectively.
In the Spring of 18B6 they passed
through old "Raelown." the mother
row reunited with thf>m. "Rag-
town" was not the original site of
Amarillo, but a sort of supply camp
for the railroad crews.
• * *
Mr. Gulp recalls an incident short-
ly thereafter about which many con-
flicting stories have been told. That
was the last Boot Hill killing in old
Tascosa, about which he is not sure
but which the records show occur-
red March 21, 1886, when four men
lay quite still after the smoke had
cleared. As Mr. Culp remembers
It:
"We were camped in a grove of
rottonwoods on the river near Tas-
cosa. Suddenly that, night we were
awakened by a lot of gunfire from
the town. We talked excitedly about
It. wondering just what could have
started all that shooting, and then
father decided to go in and find out.
We met a man on the street and
asked what all the fuss had been
about. He just motioned to us and
aid, 'Come here, and I'll show you.'
We followed him across the street to
an adobe house, and inside it,
stretched out on the floor, were
four dead men. I think that was the
Boot Hill killing you hear so much
about."
At Folsom, their work completed,
they tarried a while in camp. Then
the track crews, one from Denver,
snd the other working behind the j and
frrade crew the Culps were with, met
snd the Fort Worth <te Denver was
a reality. An unfortunate incident
occurred that day.
'The track crews had been paid
find laid off, but they hung around
camp, seven miles from Polsom. The
track boss had driven into Folsom
that morning. Before he left he
pave the cook instructions not to
feed the crews, since they had been
paid and laid off. The tnen just
milled f round until noon, grousine
n lot about the whole thing, and
then they demanded to be fed. They
gathered at the car diner. There
was a cook's flunkey who got a little
excited and barred their way with
a bread knife. The cook reinforced
him with a meat cleaver and the
flunkey slipped out to the bunk car
and got a 30-30. He climbed on top
the car and started shooting. He
was very wild and excited. Bullets
flew everywhere. My mother grab-
bed us kids and crouched behind
the cookstove In our tent with us. A
shot struck our dog and killed him.
When that flunkey got through
shooting there was one man dead
and another badly wounded.
"Naturally, those track men were
pretty hot about it. They started
hunting for that flunkey, but he hid
out. Later, my father found him
somewhere about the camp and
nailed him in a big bacon box. Then
he loaded him into a wagon and
drove him Into Folsom. When they
got to the edge of town he let that
fellow out, and you can bet he made
t'acks."
• « *
In the Fall of '88, when they re-
turned to this part of the country,
Mr. Culp was not yet nine. "I cer-
tainly was surprised," he says, "to
find a town here. I remember that
so well because about that time a
young girl by the name of Dora Mc-
Cray was drowned in Amarillo
Creek. It took a long time to find
her body. They had to have grap-
pling hooks made at the blacksmith
shop before they could fish her out.
She and another girl had ridden
their horses down to the creek and
gone swimming."
A good part of Mr. Culp's later
life, with the exception of about
eight years he worked with various
cow outfits, has been spent within
a stone's throw of where he now
conducts a small cafe and rooming
house, just across the tracks from
the Rock Island station. His father
settled in Amarillo in 1888 and en-
tered the construction business —
l building rock foundations for the
! heavy piers of water tanks. In 1889
: H. B. Sanborn, one of the founders
; of the Frying Pan Ranch, gave him
! a lot where the J. I. Case building
i now stands. Lewis Culp built a
I three room house there for his fam-
| ily, and there in 1892 he died of
pneumonia, superinduced by wounds
he received in the Civil War, in
which he fought with the rank of
sergeant in an Ohio regiment. For
several months thereafter Guy Culp
and his brother sold newspapers, the
old Fort Worth Gazette, along "The
Bowery" and "Smoky Row." Mr.
Culp recalls many incidents which
occurred in both sections, and which
now have become almost legendary
with older residents of Amarillo.
"Smoky Row," he declares, was by
far the toughest district. It ex-
tended from where the Rule Build-
ing now stands to approximately the
| Rock Island tracks on Polk Street.
| Let Mr. Culp, a youngster then who
naturally was impressed by the al-
most daily shooting scrapes that
took in that section, tell you about
some of them:
"Its first tragedy was In 1888
when Jim Gober, the first sheriff of
Potter County, killed a man in back
of Charley Eyler's saloon. The next
killing was when Charlie Hensley
killed John Sealey in back of Jack
Ryan's saloon.
"I was selling papers and shining
shoes about then. I was in Jack
Ryan's shining a cowboy's boots—
plumb to the tops for a dollar. When
the shooting started, like everybody
else, I dived under a table. But that
cowboy just sat there and never
budged until they carried Sealey out.
Then he called to me to come out
finish the job or he wouldn't
pay me what he had promised. Well,
I did, and he gave me the dollar and
then walked out of there as cool as a
cucumber. I guess he knew I was
as scared of him as I was of the
shooting."
Bert Clisbie ran a livery stable,
which was later purchased by W.
H. Fuqua, at one end of "Smoky
Row." In 1890, Mr. Culp recalls, one
of Clisbie's stage drivers was killed
by a man at Canyon. The man, he
says, tied his horse to the stage
and then drove the frightened pas-
sengers on into Plainview, drew up
in front of the postoffice, mounted
his horse and rode away as if noth-
ing had happened.
♦ ♦ ♦
. "Then," continues Mr. Culp, "there
was the Texas Ranger named Frank
Martin. He was an occasional booz-
er. He took on a big load one day,
shot up the street, went •into a
restaurant and laid his guns on the
counter and invited the proprietor,
whom he didn't care for at all, out to
fight. Martin nearly beat that man
to death, and was working on him
with a meat cleaver when bystand-
ers interceded. Then Martin picked
up his guns, walked out and down to
Fuqua's livery stable where I was
working along with Old Red Headed
Jackson. Martin pulled out a gun
and ordered Jackson to saddle him a
horse. Jackson hesitated and Mar-
tin shot into the ground at his feet
and cursed him. Jackson went into
the barn to saddle a horse. I was
just sitting there, saying nothing,
and the ranger didn't seem to see
me at first. Then he spied me, and
grinned and said, 'Why, you ugly
little cuss, I've a good mind to shoot
you just for being so damn' ugly.'
I just grinned back, all the time eas-
ing out of the buckboard I was sit-
ting in, and said, 'No, you ain't, Mr.
Martin, 'cause I ain't done noth-
ing.' I slipped back into the barn,
Jackson brought the horse and Mar-
tin rode away. . . . Whew! . . .
When Captain McDonald found out
about that spree of Martin's be fired
him."
Mr. Culp was twelve then, and
ripe to run away from home. He
and a companion, Guy Williams, son
of the city constable, found an old
mule straying in an alley. They
gathered a few provisions, mounted
the mule and set out. But they
didn't get far. The bony old mule's
back discouraged bareback riders.
So they returned to Amarillo and
after considerable maneuvering
managed to acquire some harness
and an old water sled. They loaded
the sled and took their seats, and
once mere set out to see the world.
Near Amarillo Creek they encoun-
tered a herd of Frying Pan cattle.
"Skillet Bill" Johnson, the wagon
boss, spied them from a distance
and started after to investigate
such a queer caravan. Catching
up, he drew rein and asked them
EVEN AT THIS DISTANCE the cominp figure of one
of Amarillo's earliest physicians, Dr. C. F. Randall,
looms impressively in deserted Polk Street. Dr. Ran-
dall was a big man, some who knew him recall, and
early and late he was to be seen dashing across coun-
try in his buggy to attend some patient at one of the
ranches in this section, or striding across Polk, as he
is doing here.
His widow, Mrs. C. F. Randall, lives in Amarillo at
1015-B Taylor Street.
The picture, looking north from the corner of
Sixth Street, was made in 189S. The Bivins Building,
with the flagpole, is in the left background, and in
the left foreground is the Isaacs Famous Dry Goods
Store from which the Famous Heights Addition to
the city gets its name.
a few questions—principally about
the old mule, which somehow in-
trigued him. Where did they get him?
. . . Didn't they know that was
stealing? . . . And wasn't there a
law In this country which with dis-
patch and efficiency took care of
horse thieves? . . . Their very
serious and profuse explanations
abetted them nothing. The sol-
emn-faced "Skillety Bill" roped their
mule and led them, sled and all, to
the Frying Pan camp. A summary
trial was ordered. "Skillety Bill,"
now a personage in the role of de-
fense attorney, pleaded their cause,
while "Dwarf" Peppers, a bona fide
carnival dwarf turned wagon hand,
vehemently deprecated it. Another
cowpuncher was appointed judge.
The trial waxed hot. "Dwarf" said
prqtty bad things about horse
thieves in general and the defend-
ants in particular. Defendant Culp,
forgetting the imminent danger of
hanging in his angry resentment of
these charges, offered to whiD the
prosecutor, who seemed Just about
his size—maybe a little smaller. But
the defendant Williams had had
enough and burst into tears. That
ended the trial. The captors set the
captives free—they had been bound
t< the end of the wagon nv their
own trace chains to add insult to in-
jury, and defendant Williams struck
out afoot for home. The acquitted
"horse thief" decided to stick around
and partake of the chuck that was
about ready. That got him his first
job with a cow outfit. After 10 days
of following the chuck wagon, lie
was sworn in by the Frying Pan
boss when "Dwarf" left to take a
job with a carnival.
Until he was 21, Mr. Culp worked
for various ranches, mostly as chuck
wagon cook. Some of the men he
worked under were Jim Wise of the
Frying Pan, Wallv Peacock of the
L. S. and Campbeil Fountain of the
B. T. Ware Ranch. "Skillety Bill"
Johnson, incidentally, was a former
sheriff of Canadian. In 1894, Mr.
Culp was wrangling horses. He quit
the range in 1900 and took a job
railroading—with the Pecos Valley
Line. A few months later he mar-
ried—in Carlsbad, N. M. and then
went to contracting—hauling sand
and gravel for W. H. Fuqua and ex-
cavating for house foundations of
his own. In 1906 he went into the
restaurant business in the old "Bow-
ery" district. Since that time he
has owned and operated various
cafes and lunchrooms. He lives with
his wife at 218 North Polk. Of this
marriage two children were born,
Samuel Culp and Mrs. Leon Easley,
both of Amarillo.
Mr. Culp is still quite rugged and
hearty at 59, and in his eyes and
speech are written quick reminders
of the early rough-and-tumble days
he knew so well.
Built on Faith
Faith in the future and a travel-
ing salesman's vision of Amarillo as
a great distributing center are re-
sponsible for one of the city's
rapidly growing companies.
Incorporated under Texas laws in
April of 1921, Amarillo Paper Com-
pany, now located in its own
spacious quarters at 700 Grant
Street, opened for business, June 21,
1921, in a warehouse of the Arm-
strong Transfer & Storage Com-
pany.
W. R. Pumphrcy and Blanche
(Mrs. W. R.) Pumphrey were in
charge.
Mrs. Pumphrey had charge of the
office and purchasing while Mr.
Pumphrey was the entire sales
force.
Blanche P. Pumphrey, who is
secretary-treasurer of the company,
has been in the paper business 28
years, hr.ving had 11 years ex-
perience in the line prior to com-
ing to Amarillo.
In the beginning, a shipping
clerk, bookkeeper and truck
driver completed the personnel of
AMPACO.
The secretary-treasurcr was born
on a farm near Oklahoma City.
When 16 years old Mrs. Pumphrey
began her life's work, accepting a
position in a wholesale paper house.
W. R. Pumphrey, president, is an
Iowan by birth and Texan by
adoption. His selling experience ex-
tends over 30 years, more than half
of which has oeen in the Panhandle
of Texas and New Mexico.
From a force of only five, in-
cluding the founders, Amarillo Paper
Company has grown steadily and
now has 26 employes, augmented
each summer by several college
boys, who assemble school supply
orders in the packing department.
Ray E. Minner. svho is vice presi-
dent and sales manager, has been
with the company seven years. One
of Amarillo's most civic-minded
young men, Mr. Minner takes an
active interest in the Chamber of
Commerce, cuwanis and other or-
ganizations.
W. L. Jooslrn is senior repre-
sentative in Lubbcok; Ted Evans
is a junior salesman there.
W. Noel Evans, Ed Bestic and
Randy Appling handle the city
sales.
Ben M. Scott and E. M. Benesch
are territorial salesmen.
W. R. Pumphrey represents his
firm in the oil field territory.
Within three years after It was
established Amarillo Paper Com-
pany needed larger quarters and
was moved to the Herring Build-
ing, 312 East First Avenue, from
the warehouse at 101 Pierce, Street.
Within a second three years the
business had expanded so the com-
pany purchased a lot'at 700 Grant
Street and erected a three-story
modern building.
Even with this enlarged home
the company has a leased ware-
house here In addition to a com-
plete line of merchandise at Lub-
bock to meet, the requirements of
the South Plains.
Amarillo Paper Company oper-
ates a complete printing depart-
ment, including stereotyping, type-
setting and printing. The depart-
ment does no commercial printing
whatever and is used exclusively by
the company in their own mer-
chandising. In addition to the ser-
vice it renders I lis department
saves its customers freight from
distant points on printed wrapping
paper, boxes, bags and other stock.
Clifford Aldredge is the superin-
tendent.
Despite prices lower than in 1937,
Amarillo Paper Company has shown
an increase every month so far this
year. In fact, the figures show the
largest gain >n any one year since
1926, Amarillo's brom year.
News Vendor
Not the oldest nor the largest
business concern In Amarillo but
one of the most "up-to-date" is the
Lone Star News Stand.
This business, which is operated
by Mrs. Mary Ruth Burns at 118
East Seventh Avenue, across the
street south from the postoflice. re-
tails virtually every kind of maga-
zine, newspaper or other periodical
demanded by the trade in Amarillo.
Upward of 400 different weekly
and monthly magazines and a large
number of southwestern and eastern
newspapers are on sale at. all times.
Besides, a full line of cigars, clgarets,
| tobaccos, candies, soft drinks and
stationery is handled.
This business was opened on
j April 1, 1931, at the present loca-
tion by Mrs. Ethel Davis. It was
| purchased last October by Mrs.
J Burns, the present owner and man-
' ager.
Not Panicky
Back in the days when Fllteenth
and Jackson was the end of the
street car line, Wolf Herring came
to Amarillo.
And today his business is the
only furniture store in Amarillo
which has been under the same con-
t,|r-"Mis ownership and management
for more than 30 years.
Wolf Herring was in Michigan In
191 and there was a panic. Back
In those days a depression was a
hollow in the ground.
"Both Amarillo and Oklahoma
City were well advertised at that
time, but I'm glad I chose Ams-
rlllo," says Mr. Herring, who pre-
dict this city will more than double
In size within the next half cen-
tury.
When Wolf Herring came here
'"Carles Wolflin was running a dairv
in what is now Wolflin Addition, but
what was then "away out In the
country."
The Herring Furniture store was
launched April 10, 1908. at 215
East Fourth Avenue, where the
space was only 18 feet wide and 25
feet long.
Today the Herring Furniture
Store at Seventh and Taylor occu-
pies two full floors, each 60 feet
wide and 140 feet long. The store
has occupied its present location
since a year ago last November.
In the complete stock are included
Lane cedar chests, nationally adver-
tised and a line from the Hickory
Chair Manufacturing Company, for
which the store is exclusive dealer.
At. the lime the Herring Furni-
ture Store was established there
were only I o other furniture stores
in Amarillo—Eakle's and Maddrey-
K"nyon.
The Herring Furniture Store
[ donned seven-league boots and kept
w"h Amarillo in the city's
growth from a sprawling country
"ow town to the metropolis of the
Panhandle And strange as it may
—m, the growth of both has been
no surprise to Mr. Herring.
-ring Furniture Store has
the <; ori will of its customers, and
nni proud of the fact that It Is
i'- only business of its kind In
Amarillo that has been under the
same continuous ownership and
management for more than 30
years," says Mr. Herring.
"Amarillo's future?" he echoes
he question. "Amarillo's future is
something I have had faith In a.I
through the years."
left a memory
Woods Coffee: "I stayed that
night at the cator's. An old Ger-
man traveler occupied a cot in the
same room. A skunk came into the
room after we got settled. The old
German was afraid it would bite
him, but I feared something worse.
I felt it trying to get under the
overs at my feet, so I took a bach-
elor's tuck with my feet and drew
the blankets over my face. Then I
lay there and let the skunk cra.wl
all over the bed, clear up to my
head. After a while he^ left, but a
skunk leaves a memory."
Growing With
Amarillo ...
We attribute the steady, con-
sistent growth of this store to
the fact that we feature only
QUALITY foods and meats st
REASONABLE PRICES . . .
a real desire to save you money
yet give you the best the
market affords. A store that
sincerely appreciates your
business and strives to serve
you satisfactorily.
Quality Food
Store
M. A. STONE, Owner
(23 Years in Amarillo)
1502 S. FILLMORE STREET
Phone 5634
INCE 1903, when first chartered
under International I ypographical Union, this
organization has grown with Potter County
and Amarillo. For these 35 years we have
enjoyed friendly relationship with daily news-
paper and commercial printing proprietors.
Guardian of fair trade practices, we feel
responsible in part for the progress of the
businesses with which we arc associated. We're
proud of the record that every daily newspaper
ever published in this community has afforded
true craftsmanship, hence the union label.
I his edition bears our hallmark Acquaint
yourself with the superiority of printing pro-
duced by union printers.
Amarillo I ypographical Union
No. 525
£
You've Heard Of
Us All \ our Life...
WE MADE YOLK
DAD'S CLOTHES
More than fifty years ago James
Bell founded the Bell lailors in
New York City, which later
established branches throughout the United States. Today, these
fine tailored suits are famous everywhere.
FOR MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS BELL'TAILORED SUITS have
been famous in Amarillo and throughout the Southwest for their
fine materials and good tailoring at low prices.
Now on the account of numerous requests WE ARE START-
ING OUR TWO FOR ONE SALE EARLIER THIS FALL THAN USUAL
. . . we have had more inquiries about our Fall Two For One Sale
than ever before, especially from young men planning on going
back to college soon.
HERE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE SEVERAL DOLLARS
ON YOUR NEW FALL SUIT. Come in and see the Many Fabrics.
TWO FOR ONE SALE
TWO SUITS
FOR THE
ONE PRICE
ALL NEW FALL WOOLENS
ALSO MEDIUM AND YEAR-ROUND WEIGHTS
AND
GUARANTEED TAILORED TO YOUR INDIVIDUAL
MEASURE...
BEWARE 01" IMITATORS! LOOK FOR THE niG
RED BELL. We arc the originators of The 2 Suits
I-'or The One I'ricc Sales Plan.
and
$3950
EXTRA HIGH
GRADE
WOOLENS
$4950
$5950
$6950
lit; vp Hw4 of Us Al! Your tiff
506 Polk Street
THE ONLY
EXCLUSIVE
MERCHANT
TAILORS IN
AMARILLO
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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/m1/72/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.