My Tribute To Steve Latta

You Just Never Know How And Friendship May Get Started. This Story Is About A Feller That I Learn To Like, Against All Odds. You Ever Had A Feller Wanting Argue, And He Really Didn’t Have A Clue About The Subject At Hand? I’m not trying to pick on Steve Latta, but using this as an opportunity to show that you can actually have a bruh-haha on Facebook on live to see another day. My post about staking out a dog by cattle guards brought the crazies out. I wasn’t giving my opinion about the practice. I simply stated what … Continue reading My Tribute To Steve Latta

The Many Names Of A Plain Ol “Cattle Guard”

A cattle grid (by British standards) – also known as a stock grid or krud knocker in Australia; or a cattle stop in New Zealand. A cattle guard, a vehicle pass, a Texas gate, or stock gap as they know all around the United States. I think I like Krud Knocker the best. Highways aren’t the only place that you’ll see a cattle guard. Sure didn’t need to stop a train to open the gate! Most cattle guards are made from pipe but if railroad rail is available, it makes a good sturdy cattle guard. Continue reading The Many Names Of A Plain Ol “Cattle Guard”

Trying To Figure Out The History Of US 281 Running Through Burnet County.

I referenced several sources including newspapers, other written sources and maps to ascertain the history of the main highway that now takes us from Wichita Falls to Brownsville. I am only speaking to the stretch as it extends through Burnet County, as it gets much more complicated trying to talk about the entire stretch as it goes from Canada to Mexico. The photo below is a 1919 map. It doesn’t show an actual road extending from Blanco to Lampasas. (Probably just trails at that time) This map doesn’t show a road from Blanco to San Antonio either. The next two … Continue reading Trying To Figure Out The History Of US 281 Running Through Burnet County.

Ronald “Ronnie” Gene Lewis – Sophomore Class Favorite

Marble Falls High School – 1967/1968 I had no idea what the quote below the photo meant, so I looked it up. Here is the full poem. Now, I still don’t know what it means, but I never did really understand poetry. https://www.facebook.com/groups/729839877052650/permalink/773138669389437/ Continue reading Ronald “Ronnie” Gene Lewis – Sophomore Class Favorite

BANG! BANG! BANG! …HE SHOT HIM DEAD

By James Johnston On August 4, 1949, celebrating the wild west got a little too real in the Big Spring rodeo arena that was once just off 11th Place immediately west of today’s Howard College campus. Most of the 2,500 fans missed the drama of the night at the roughshod wooden bleacher arena, but the script of the night would be one of the most unnerving dramas in the Big Spring Rodeo’s history. In 1947, bad blood had started between bad-ass 38-year-old Henry Preston (Buck) Jones and 32-year-old Herbert Frizzell when Jake Monroe had dragged Frizzell into a conversation over … Continue reading BANG! BANG! BANG! …HE SHOT HIM DEAD

Grandma May

She was Judy Maybelle Clark Linebarger. She was my Great Grandmother. When I was a kid she lived with her daughters. It seems like she kind of moved with the seasons. It wasn’t because she wasn’t happy one place, but rather because she enjoyed all of her girls (all 4) and choose to spend her later years with each. At least that’s the way it seemed. The time I remember her the most was when she was staying with my grandmother Ruby in her home in north central Austin. Grandma May was a lady that never complained and was always … Continue reading Grandma May

Back When I Used to Go Visit The Gynecologist

Don’t let the title confuse you. I didn’t have a sex change procedure or anything like that. In fact back then, I don’t think I’d ever heard of such a thing. It was about 1986. I had a big project one time in Southwest Austin that took me though the property of a well known Austin doctor of female parts. I guess after what he had been looking at all day, a nice trip out on his farm was something he deserved. He would want me to show him what we were doing and explain how we were we going … Continue reading Back When I Used to Go Visit The Gynecologist

Long Distance Calls

The younger folks probably have a hard time grasping that a call from Marble Falls and Burnet was long distance, and it cost money. In the early to mid 1960s we would listen to the radio station out of Burnet. Big Jimmy Palmer got in a habit of calling up to the radio station for contests they were running and to request songs to be played. He got carried away with it and ran up a pretty good phone bill, at least for those times. I’ll tell you for sure that Hannah Cox, his momma laid into him. I don’t … Continue reading Long Distance Calls

OVER THE HUMP

This is a story that was written by Carol Chapman for the February 1995 issue of Texas Monthly. It is a story about Howdy Fowler (yes our own Angora Chronicles Friend – Howdy Fowler aka Tejas Redd) “Howdy told me once that this adventure is the single greatest highlight of his life and to have it captured on the pages of Texas Monthly – Don’t get much better than that”. Now Here Is The Texas Monthly Story: THE REAL REASON THAT camels are called ships of the desert is that riding them can make you seasick, declares cowboy evangelist Howdy … Continue reading OVER THE HUMP