Life and adventures of "Billy" Dixon of Adobe Walls, Texas panhandle : $b A narrative in which is described many things relating to the early SouthwestDixon, Billy
History
Life and adventures of "Billy" Dixon of Adobe Walls, Texas panhandle : $b A narrative in which is described many things relating to the early Southwest
Dixon, Billy
Frontier and pioneer life -- Texas; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1866-1895
On Cantonment Creek we stopped at some seeping springs. A lone
cottonwood stood tall and gaunt among a few hackberries. I cut my name
on this lone tree. One of the men who was with me at that time was a
Frenchman, for whom we had no other name than "Frenchy," just as we
had single names for many other men in the Plains country. He was an
excellent cook, and I always thought he could broil buffalo steak
better than any other man I ever saw.
In returning to camp, we crossed Red Deer about where Miami, Texas,
now is, and camped at some water-holes. Heading northward we soon
struck the brakes of Tallahone, and followed the Tallahone down to its
mouth. This was a timbered creek with an abundance of running water.
Perch and catfish were so plentiful that enough to feed the whole camp
could be caught in a few minutes. Deer and wild turkeys were in sight
all along Tallahone, and there were numerous signs of beaver and
otter.
Here we crossed the Canadian at what for many years was the main
crossing in this part of the country, and followed along the north
side of the river to Adobe Walls.
During our absence from camp, Wright & Langton came down from Dodge
City with another outfit and built a sod house sixteen by twenty feet.
This firm bought buffalo hides and was engaged in general
merchandising. The business was in charge of James Langton.
The buildings were finished as rapidly as possible, and every man at
Adobe Walls who could be induced to engage in this kind of manual
labor was given a job and paid well for his services. Each building
had a big cottonwood ridge log, paralleled with smaller poles running
down the roof. The poles were covered with dirt and sod. For safety
and convenience in handling their stock, Myers & Leonard built a
stockade corral. This inclosure was made by setting big cottonwood
logs in the ground. The logs were hauled across the Canadian, from
Reynolds Creek, a distance of about six miles, and was a laborious
undertaking.
I had no liking for the monotony and restraint of camp life and was
impatient to be about my own business, which was to find a good
buffalo range and begin hunting. After remaining in camp two days, we
saddled and mounted again, to go up the Canadian as far west as Hill's
Creek. We crossed the river and followed the old Fort Bascom trail to
Antelope Creek, where we crossed over to the Arroya Bonita, on which
the LX Ranch afterwards established headquarters. The Arroya Bonita is
one of the prettiest streams in the Panhandle country, with a good
flow of water and lots of timber.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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