land of our fathers - the story of the bravo ranch
DESCRIPTION
A Ranch Story: The Bravo Ranch, originally part of the fabled XIT ranch, had been in the Shelton family since 1915. Jack Shelton, an articulate man in his 80s, realized that he was the only one who knew much of the family history and ranching legacy. If he didn’t record these things, who would? He found us and together we created a beautiful book, filled with breathtaking photographs and compelling family stories.TRANSCRIPT
Jack Shelton
Land of OurThe STory of The Bravo ranch
Fathers
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Land of Our FathersThe Story of the Bravo Ranch
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produced by:Tell Studios Inc.
www.SaveYourHistory.com
Copyright © 2009 by Jack Shelton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying
or recording without permission of the publisher.
Land of Our Fathers: The Story of the Bravo Ranch reflects the opinions, feelings, and memories of Jack Shelton. The stories and conclusions are
matters of personal opinion, not necessarily fact, and are in no way intended to be hurtful to any individual or group.
Tell Studios Inc. has not made any attempt to verify the accuracy of any of the information in this book. The opinions expressed within
these pages do not necessarily reflect those of Tell Studios Inc.All photographs, unless indicated otherwise, are courtesy
of the Shelton family and Jeanne S. Archer.
Layout by Marion Johnson / The Memory Works, LLCCover design by Nikki Ward / Morrison Alley Design
printed in the United States of America
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Pro l o gue
My eyes slowly open in the darkness, and see . . . nothing. Not a ray of lightstreams into the cozy bedroom in this 125-year old ranch house, though
only lacy curtains cover the windows. Clouds conceal any moonlight, and weare too far from another ranch house to share their light. The blackness is total.
“Breakfast is at ten minutes to six,” Joan Shelton had cheerily said thenight before. I can smell the bacon frying now in the kitchen, a few doorsdown the hall.
Branding day on the Bravo Ranch has begun.Jack Shelton, the 82-year old patriarch of the Bravo, sits on a stool at
the kitchen bar as I enter the breakfast room. His sons, Malcolm and Jim,are already eating alongside their sons, Neil, Kirk, and Joe. Wearing an apronand a friendly smile, Joan serves the bacon, cinnamon rolls, fried eggs, fruit,and orange juice to the early risers. Jack nods in my direction. “You’re thelast one up,” he notes with the faintest of smiles.
After breakfast, the men push back from their plates and saunter in theearly morning darkness to the saddle house. They adjust their leather glovesand remove their saddles from the racks, tossing blankets and saddles overthe backs of their horses. Perfectly coiled ropes are attached. They’ll be essen-tial for the work the men will be doing later.
Other than the fluorescent lights, the scene could be identical to thatexperienced years before by Jack and his father.
Jack no longer saddles a horse for the day’s activities, but he still keeps awatchful eye, and plans to be at the pens when the cowboys arrive to brandand doctor the calves. Wearing a weather-worn Stetson hat with a fewinsignificant rips here and there, Jack holds hot coffee in his Styrofoam cupand quietly observes every detail. “A few years back, I turned the operationsof the ranch over to Malcolm,” he explains. Adding with a grin, “But I’m atthe ranch several days every week and manage to offer a helpful hint fromtime to time.”
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Promptly at 6:30 a.m., horse trailers pull up outside the corrals adjoin-ing the saddle house. The workforce more than doubles as cowboys fromneighboring ranches and nearby Nara Visa, New Mexico arrive at the Bravoto lend a hand. With a camaraderie deeply rooted in the knowledge that sur-vival depends on helping one another, they shake hands and toss insultsabout each other’s cowboying skills. One of the “boys” is a woman from anearby ranch, as capable and experienced as any of the men.
As the sun begins to brighten the horizon, Jack watches the cowboysand sighs, with a faraway look in his eyes. Perhaps he’s remembering similarscenes from days long ago when he first visited the Bravo in the 1920s as ayoung boy. “Many things about ranching have changed,” Jack reflects. “Butso many have remained the same.”
Turning in my direction, he elaborates, “My family and friends haveencouraged me for years to write down the history of the ranch. The chil-dren are starting to nudge a little harder. ‘Dad, at your age, you better get itdown,’ they tell me.”
He is fully aware of the truthfulness of their words. “There are so manythings that I know that no one else does,” Jack continues. Memories fade ifnot recorded.
The Sheltons are proud owners of a living legacy and a rich and impor-tant history. They have a story to tell and a message to share. But mostimportantly . . . there are those waiting to hear it.
This is a chronicle of the Bravo Ranch and the Shelton family, its histo-ry, and their legacy.
—Jeanne S. Archer
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15 JACK SHELTON
John M. Shelton (in front) on a touring bus in Washington, D.C.
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SEVEN
Every rancher who’s ever tightened a cinch in predawn’s darkness learns toexpect the unexpected. Horses have minds of their own, and Mother
Nature — especially in the Texas Panhandle — can be very fickle. Over time, many Bravo hands have suffered horse-related injuries, but
only a few have been severe. One unlucky (or careless) cowboy was kicked bya horse in the chest, which resulted in multiple broken ribs, but the cowboywas back on the job soon enough. Hand Ray Sidle wasn’t as fortunate. Atage 70, he fell from his mount, and suffered a punctured bladder and brokenpelvis. Jim Shelton rushed him to Amarillo where Ray recovered, but onlyafter a lengthy hospital stay.
When Jack was seven, he endured an arduous fall as well. He and BettyJim were horseback riding when Jack tumbled off, slamming his head on ahard patch of ground. He was raced to Amarillo with a broken collarbone,broken left shoulder, and total hearing loss in his left ear. The collarbone andshoulder mended nicely, however the hearing loss was permanent. “That’sthe only serious wreck I’ve ever had,” Jack said. “I’ve had lots of sprainedlegs, backs, arms, and blows to the head, but nothing else requiring medicalcare.” Jack doesn’t know if his grandfather ever had any serious mishaps. Theworst injury he remembers affecting his father was a broken ankle. “We werevery fortunate.”
Ten years after Jack’s “wreck,” a young hand dismounted to open a gatefor eight other cowboys. When the hand remounted, the horse threw theboy, kicking him in the face before he hit the ground. He was losing a lot ofblood, so Jim sent someone galloping back to headquarters for a car. At thehospital in Tucumcari, doctors determined Jack had the same blood type, sothe hand received a transfusion from Jack. If everyone hadn’t reacted quickly,the boy would have died.
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JUST PART OF THE JOB
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MAKING THEIR MARKS 70
Tools of the trade
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