Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 85 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:
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION. 1938.
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE. AMARTLLO. TEXAS
SECTION R PAGE TWENTY-NINE
A Murder in Palo Duro Canyon
By INEZ CHRISTIAN DOSHIER
One of the tragedies Imprinted In
the minds of pioneer settlers o£
Armstrong County, and cowboys of
the J A ranch, was the coldblooded
murder of J. A. Moore. He was not
only shot In the back by a com-
panion whom he trusted, but with
a gun that had Hen borrowed
from Moore's very best friend.
Moore, a middle-aged bachelor
had filed on a claim a few miles
north of the Palo Duro Canyon,
in the west part of Armstrong
County. He made his living, as did
several of his neighbor home.'lead-
ers, by cutting po.sts in the canyon
and marketing them in Amarillo.
Posts were in demand at the time,
for that was the era of fence build-
ing in the Panhandle, and it meant
a welcome livelihood for those
itiuggling for a foothold in a new
an * undeveloped country.
Moore had planned to use the
profits from the sale of posts in
improving his claim. He also had
considerable savings in the care of
Ridin' for Fun
A postman's holiday was what
those cowpunchers took. When they
had a day off, as the old cowboy
said, they'd ride the wild horses.
"A good way to train a horse,"
Bill Gates, old-time range hand
from Midland, related, "is to ride it
on the trail whaje it has (o poke
along after the herd. It doesn't get.
run or perked and get:; gentled this
way. And it learns how to watch
cows."
A cutting pony's step, he expand-
ed, will quicken when it approaches
the herd. After he has cut out a
cow, he will return slowly and delib-
erately until he nears the cattle,
and then he will dart in again.
• • •
"A cow pony will swerve so
suddenly," Bill said, "when he is
going after a cow, that you have to
'->ep your eye on his head so's not
to get thrown off . Did you ever
notice how a barefoot bov gels on a
horse? He forks his big toe over
the horse's knee joint. An older
boy will 'breast' a horse.
"They used to call a rodeo a car-
nival," he enlarged on the subject
of riding horses. "We would enter
the contest with our ropin' horses.
We used to rope big steers an' tie
'fm down. Sometimes It would crip-
ple 'em, so the humane society put a
stop to that.
• • •
"They once brought fifty steers
five or six years old, from Shaffer
to Midland for ropin'. We would
catch the rope on the horns, bring it
over the steer's back and then ride
away from him and trip 'im. Some-
times it would throw the steer as
high as ten feet in the air; some-
times it would break his neck or leg;
an' sometimes in fallin' he would
run a horn into his side.
"You can't tie a steer with a brok-
en neck because of the way he
threshes about. Once I tried it; I
Cldn't know what w:as makin' it so
hard for me.
"They stopped steer ropin' in 1898
—at least., the last they had in Mid-
land was in December of that year."
John Romans, Washburn: "Good-
night. would go in a corral full o'
fightin' cattle, let a big steer charge
him and then jump to one side, hit
Mm with a pole on the back an'
bring it down. Not afraid of any-
thing."
his nephew In Collin County, Tex.,
his former residence. When a
neighbor was in need of money,
Moore very often wrote to his
nephew for the amount needed, and
loaned it to the neighbor. A kind-
ly deed of this sort played the ma-
jor part in his untimely and tragic
death.
Moore had received a letter from
the nephew saying he was sending
$50 as Moore had requested him
to do. Since Moore could neither
read nor write, he had his neighbor,
J. T. Baker, to whom he was lend-
ing the money, read the letter to
him. In their presence was a young
man by the name of Hutchinson,
who had recently been hired by an-
other neighbor to help with the
post work. Hutchinson overheard
the reading of the letter. Maker mis-
read the letter, calling the $50 five
hundred. There evidently was noth-
ing in the letter that indicated the
money was to be loane.1 out, for
Hutchinson's actions later proved
that he believed Moore to have the
$500 in his possession.
Hutchinson had worked a day or
i so at the derrick—an apparatus used
' to pull posts from the canyon floor
—which was owned by his employer,
! Barringer, along with Baker and
j Moore. He was greatly impressed
| with the scenic beauty of the can-
yon as he viewed it from the cap-
iock, but^ being an inexperienced
hand, he was not allowed to work
I below.
Moore maintained a dugout near
ihe foot of the derrick for his
convenience at canyon work. He
| stayed here during the week, but
on weekends went out to his claim
on top, or to secure supplies. On
his return to the canyon camp one
Sunday morning he went by Rar-
1 ringer's. The young man, Hutchin-
son, spoke of his eagernesr to ex-
plore the canyon, and Moore in-
vited him 'o join him, saying they
i would make a day of it.
The two were on foot; and en
route to the canyon, they passed
; the home of Baker. The Baker j
! family had company, and the men j
were sitting by the corral fence
visiting when the two arrived.
Hutchinson asked to borrow a gun,
i saying they might find something
! to shoot. Baker loaned them his
Winchester, and the men soon went
out of sight into the breaks.
♦ * •
That evening before the Baker
company had left, Hutchinson re-
turned alone. The men were sitting
; around outside as they had been
during the morning. Hutchinson re-
turned the gun. and seemed in a
hurry to press on. They asked him
if he had seen anything to shoot,
and he replied that he had not,
| and left. They thought little of the
incident, and of Hutchinson's re-
turn alone, for it was a custom of
Moore's to remain in the canyon
after a trip out.
The uxt morning the Bakei fam-
ily was astonished to see a caravan
of wagjr.;> and horsebackers stop-
; ping at their front gate. It proved
to be the sheriff. John P. Wilson,
j the first sheriff of Armstrong
■ County, and a posse of men with
young Hutchinson in handcuffs.
Baker was informed that Hutch-
: inson, on returning to the Barringer
| home acted so nervously and talked
! so incoherently concerning the day's
happenings, an the whereabouts of
j Moore, that Mr. and Mrs. Barringer
i became suspicious. They pretended
they had to go to King's (a mile or
more awayj to sit up with a sick
baby, and they took Hutchinson
along. On arriving at the King
home, the suspicion was whispered
around and after observing Hutch-
inson a while King took his Win-
chester down from above the front
door and Arrested him. Barringer
went for the sheriff.
The settlements were sparse but
the word had traveled fast, and
quite a posse was made up. They
asked Baker to join them In search
of Moore whom they felt confident
had been murdered.
Frightened, weak, and nervous as
Hutchinson was, he did not brejik
down and admit his guilt until the
group escorted him down the long,
narrow trail to the bottom of the
canyon. They followed the tracks
for miles as the two men had
traversed the canyon the day before
—Moore's tracks always in the lead.
Coming on to a gulch piled with
brush and fresh dirt, they were con-
fident it would reveal what they had
suspected. Making a hurried ex-
cavation they found Moore's body,
his cap covering hU> face. The body
was taken to the creek where the
blood was washed off. An ugly bullet
hole was found in the back of the
head—how little did Baker imagine
ills good friend would die by a bullet
from the gun borrowed from him
for a pleasant day's outing!
The men went to Moore's dug-
out, and found it had been ran-
sacked. The money which Hutchin-
son thought Moore possessed had, of
course, been loaned to Baker Hutch-
inson's brutal plan had profited him
no gain, which partially accounted
for his nervous state at the time of
his return.
The 'ong limbs of the cottonwoods
and cedars tempted the group to
string Hutchinson up. but they de-
cided to let the law take its course
Had they known he would have re-
ceived a life sentence instead of
death, they probably would have
hung him. His parents testified at
his trial that he had never been
of sound mind and thus he'escaped
the gallows only to die in prison a
few years later.
*
Moore's body was wrapped in a
blanket from his own bed and
brought out on the derrick. It
grieved Baker to see the body taken
out in such a manner, for in work-
ing with Moore, he had heard him
say so many times, while watching a
load go up the derrick, "My, how I
would hate to ride that thing out."
There was no other method, and so
the men had to bring him out on it.
J. A. Moore was among the first
to be buried in the little new ceme-
tery northwest of Claude. At this
writing 4fi years have passed, and
there is still evidence of the Moore
dugout. Near the dugout is a huge
rock, which serves as a natural
monument to Moore, for it bears this
Inscription;
J. A. MOORE. MARCH 27, 1892.
It was so inscribed on the day and
by those who found his murdered
body.
Note: The writer Is. grateful to
the following persons for supplying
details for the above story: Maude
Baker Bennett, Horace Baker, Mr.
and Mrs. J. H. Grimes, all of Claude,
Tex.
Sans Benefit of Clergy
Scotty Balfour, who died at Tas-
cosa before the turn of the century,
voted and held county office many
years without taking out naturaliza-
tion papers. He was county clerk,
county judge and tax assessor, and
spent most of his life in the Pan-
handle in public office.
It was many years before he was
naturalized.
He was a devout Catholic. When
he died, there was no priest in that 1
part of the country to conduct his !
funeral. The grave was dug in the
sands along the Canadian River; j
they were so loose that the grave
was 15 feet long and 10 feet wide !
when it was finished.
The pallbearers, mostly cowboys,
walked into the trench with the
coffin.
After it had been filled with sandy
loam, an old Indian fighter, a friend
of Scotty's, stepped back, doffed his
hat, and said:
"Scotty, you old , you had a 1
hard time in this world; better luck '
in the next."
G. O. P. Pioneer
The G. O. P., as H. E. Exum is
familiarly hailed by his Democratic
friends, is no less popular among
members of the opposing partv than
among his own. In fact, some dis-
gruntled "long ears" say that Hugh
wouldn't make such a bad represent-
Providenfial Hail
Gus Lee, negro cook on the T
Anchor Ranch, had put up coined
beef. The cowboys tired of it. Sam
Wise said. "I'm going to kill one
of Mrs. Truby's chickens and let her
think the hail did it.' In almost
no time at all a severe hail storm
blew up and killed several of Mrs.
Truby's chickens and guineas, and
I the outfit had chicken and guinea
(or a week. (Truby was a nester
who later moved to Clarendon.)
ALTON IN REVERSE
Halfway Postoffice was between
Ochiltree and Glazier. Frank Ham-
| ilton and wife served as postmas- :
j ters. For some unknown reason
i they asked that the name be changed
| to Alton, but since there was an-
other Alton in the state, the name
j was reversed by the Postal Depart- j
i ment and became Notla.
HIGH EXUM
ative in the White House should the'
Democratc party split to let a Re-
publican have a chance; or. better
still, perhaps send him up on the
other side of Mason-Dixon to invite
his colleagues to "come down and see
us sometime."
Mr. Exum is active politically.
He is a member of the Republican
State Executive Committee and vice
state chairman.
Hugh Exum came to the Plains as
a child with his parents who settled
at Mobeetie in 1889. He has crossed
the Amarillo townsite when cow
trails were its principal landmarks,
but he did not settle here [>erma-
nently until 1918. Mobeetie was open
range country when the Exums went
there, and Fort Elliott was garri-
soned with soldiers as protection
from Indians.
Being a cowman. Mr. Exum trail-
herded across the Plain - many times,
finally going to Montana in 1901
where he ranched five years before
returning with his bride. Sarah
Louise Earnest, to his ranch at Mo-
beetie. H" had been manager for the
Shelton Ranch in Montana.
In 1913 the Exums moved to Chan-
ning, in Hartley County, where Hugh
was manager for the extensive XfT
Ranch, the Bravo and the JJ's where
40,000 head of cattle were run. In
1318 he closed out the X1T ana came
to Amarillo as secretary for the
John M. Shelton I/>an Company,
which was liquidated in 1923 at the
death of Mr. Shelton. From that
dato until 1930 Mr. Exum was man-
ager of the Shelton Estate.
Then, from 1930 to 1933. Mr Exum
was manager H>r S. B Burnett,
the 6666 Ranch, estate. Since that
time he had been managing his
own ranch of 50.000 acres in Hard-
ing County, New Mexico, where he
runs about 1500 head of cattie.
In addition to his ranching in-
terests Mr. Exum is active In de-
veloping gas properties in Kansas
He is president of two companies,
the Tri-Statj? Gas Company and the
Fin-Ker Oil and Gas Production
Company.
Despite his o'her interests lie says
that the cow business Is the best
and that he has made most ot his
wealth thereby. He Is one ol many
cowmen who have faith in the cat-
tle industry on the plains. And
he ought to know, for he 1* cer-
tainly the typical cowman ol the
Texas plains, big in every sense of
the word, strong and virile And.
incidentally, he can swear like the
veteran cowboy. Which is not at
all to his discredit, for swearing is
as characteristic of the plainsman
as are his handclasp and geniai good
nature.
For 49 years Hugh Exum has been
in and around Amarillo, from the
j time when there were only a few
j scattered houses, on through the
j days when what city there was was
| down around the Bowery, <7h until
today when he has seen the cow
trails give way to one of the best
| lighted thoroughfares in the United
! States. And yet, Hugh is still the
j cattleman of the early days, the
type that has made the history of
our High Plains, And so he is
; hailed by Republican and Democrat
: alike—this G. O P. below the Mason-
j Dixon Line.
POST HOLE DIGGER AND PRINTER
IN THE Of.l) DAYS
J. S. Talley, sheriff of Ochiltree
I County: In 1908, when there was
only 500 people in the county, all
! had cattle, everybody paid their
detts. When anyone borrowed they
| paid it back. Taxes were one-tenth
: what they are now. There was little
farming and few law violations."
W. T. Twyman: "John Cross and
Ed Stephenson saw a young buffalo
away from the herd. John said.
Let's run 'im; we may never get to
run a buffalo again.' Goodnight
saw the buffalo running and said,
'That's the wildest buffalo in the
herd. I guess we'll have to kill 'im '
. John and Ed just kept quiet
about what they had done."
(Continued From Page 28)
Tascosa, Panhandle and Crosbyton.
The Crosbyton paper was printed
one page at a time by John W. Mor-
rison, and while Bob Edgell was pub-
lishing the Clarendon Banner his
brother, John Edgell, was publishing
the Vernon Gut.rd.
"I know something about the pa- 1
pers of the Panhandle." said Mr •
Martin, serious foj the nonce.
Quite by accident Mr. Martin
while publisher of the Benjamin Ex- I
change, became the "Walter Winch- I
ell of tin West," before that clevei
columnist was born.
"I announced the birth of a girl
several days before the girl was
born." he explained "In the regulai
newspaper manner I also announced
! the birth of Wade Holman of Ama-
rilo."
j Mr. Martin put a fence around thp
' first 10 acres ever fenced in Has-
! kell county where he saw antelope
. bound across the courthouse square
The printer drifted to Mineral i
| Wells, where he made enough money j
to buy a shop at Wichita Falls. The
shop was moved to Memphis, where i
he published the Hali County News '
One of Mr Martin's e«rly associ-
ates was Lockn<"for whom a Plains
town was named
In Amarillo the pi inter got out
one issue of his nev paper in the
building on the lot where he Capi-
tol Theater row and-. He rented
a lot at the southeast corner of
Fourth and Tar ior for $2 a month
and built a house on it
"Every time I offered to buy 'hat
I lot the price was raised, but I never
■ did pay more than $5 a n'onth rent
I on it," he said
One of Mr Martin ■ first custom-
ers for job printing in Amarillo was
George Ha yd en who «t that rime
was in the drs- and transfer busi-
| ness.
Mr. Mar ;n is a feature writer -
1 windfall. He is full of copy a most
i colorful charac'er. But he kept in-
I sisting, "Don't write so much about
me."
Mr Martin is proud of the fact
that he was the first to submit his
ad copv for this anniversary fcii-
, Hon and also first to take an order
for a copy to be sent out of town.
The pioneer printers shop Is tilled
with models and carvings a nobby
which probably accounts for his
growing old gracefully He writes
poetry, too. and one of his prized
poems is "Ode to the Cowboy."
"There was nothing wild and
wooly about West Texas and the
stories about the 'rootin'. tool in
i cowboys are fiction." he declared.
"Cattlemen and cowboys were hon-
est. I never used to lock my print
shop."
Mr. Martin is the patriarch printer
of Amarillo!
Knight of 90's
Lythe A. Knight was destined to
plaj an important part in the de-
v lopment o! the Panhandle Plains
country. Over half a century ago
Young Knight arrlvec in Hale
County, where hr became foreman
of the Spade Ranch of which Dud-
ley Kudyer wa: owner. That was
lr 1886. He was 2" at. the time.
Fo"r year- later. November, 1890,
he became the second sheriff of Hale
County, an office he held until
1895.
Lythe Knight was first and last
a cattleman. Upon his 18.000-acre
ranch he ran many cattle and em-
io\erj a argc force of cowboys,
an,ong whom was the illustrious and
H te lamented Will Rogers of movie
fame.
Not only was this hardy pioneer
i outstanding ranchman, he was an
expert farmer, sowing every year
at least 3,000 acres of wheat, and
he never made a crop failure. He
was also a cotton planter, and he
bull, the first cotton gin in the dis-
trict. Alfalfa too, he demonstrat-
es as being a profitable op adapt-
able o these regions. The Panhan-
dir owes much of its agricultural
success to the untiring and expert
i efforts of this early pioneer.
V/ell known as was Mr Knight in
•he fields of ranching and farming,
iie was perhaps best known as a
hanker. In Plainview he organized
t,:.a First National Bank In 1900,
of which he wr.s president. Later
he be nne president of the Third
National Bank, also of Plainview,
In 1891 Lythe night married
Betty Lester who lived in Hale Cen-
ter The Knights had one daughter.
Bett:,, who was born at Plainview.
and became the wife of Robert Ma-
ione of that city.
Mr Knight was a member of the
Elks Lodge and the Masonic Or-
der in which he was a Shriner.
Death came to him at his home in
Plainview in 1924.
Bill Gates, Midland: "A cowboy
will *akc off his spurs and six-shoot-
er In a lightning storm because he
is at said the metai will attract light-
ning. Cowboys are superstitious
about this, and I believe It my-
self."
FOR 15 YEARS
It Has Been Our Pleasure
To Serve Amarillo and
Panhandle Folks.
CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT
HAS BEEN OUR GOAL
GOOD CLEANING AT
REASONABLE PRICES
Has Built Our Business
Scrvicc that takes pains with small jobs as well a
the larger ones is the kind that has made our busi-
ness grow. We take pride in the fact that many
of our very first customers 15 years ago are our
best customers now. Send us your clothing and
hats—you'll be pleased with the results.
CITY CLEANERS
AND IIATTERS
1311 Polk Street—Phone 7283
\
E. A. REGAL
COMPANY
D. CLARK REGAL
MEMBER
Amarillo Insurance Exchange
Texas Association of Insurance Agents
National Association of Insurance Agents
a
Established
in
1920
EDWARD A. REGAL
MEMBER
Mortgage Bankers Association of America
Amarillo Real Estate Board
National Association of Real Estate Boardi
FLHV. 1 RIXiAL
General
Assistant
CAT HK 111 NT: FRY
Real Estate
Dept.
Rl RDF.TTfc LAW
Loan.
Dept.
FRF DA < -11 F
Account ing
Dept.
MARY RUI NFIl
Accounting
Dept.
MARION GROSS
Insurance
Dept.
A DEPARTMENT STORE OF SERVICE
LOANS
REPRESENTING LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE CO.
MORTGAGE LOAN DEPARTMENT
ACCOUNTING
AUDITS—SYSTEMS—INCOME TAX AND BOOKKEEPING SERVICE FOR
INDIVIDUALS, CORPORATIONS AND ESTATES.
SIXTH AT HARRISON
REAL ESTATE
SALES—PROPERTY MANAGEMENT—RENTALS CITY RESIDENCE AND
BUSINESS PROPERTIES
INSURANCE
REPRESENTING RELIABLE STOCK INSURANCE COMPANIES
FIRE, MARINE, CASUALTY AND BONDS
PHONE 2-229
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/m1/85/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.