Friends of Pecos

Sunday, September 28, 2008

SHEFFIELD/IRAAN PART 3.


















Jeez, my pictures are all jumbled up...sorry about that.
We crossed the Pecos River on the way to Iraan and went over this cool, old bridge.
We passed the entrance to Ft. Lancaster but did not stop....and we should have.
Then you climb up this BIG hill and can stop and look back over the valley....GREAT VIEWS and the butterflies were out.
Iraan is about 18 miles from Sheffield, population 1,238....it is 115 miles from Pecos.
We arrived just in time for their High School Homecoming parade....it lasted about 10 minutes.
The wagon picture was the Ft. Lancaster float.
What a hoot!
Half the population was watching the parade and the other half was IN the parade.
I didn't like the feel of Iraan as much as Sheffield.
---------------------

I'm cold.
It's 55 degrees here this morning.
We've only had the A/C on once in almost 2 weeks and this week will more of the same....50's at night and 80's during the day.
I gotta go make snake heads-n-tails for our Ft. Davis sale next Saturday.
And I'm painting a flower pot to enter in the Pecos County Fall Fair on Friday.

Thanks fer bloggin'.
Love mary

SHEFFIELD/IRAAN PART 2.







These are pictures of the old TYC in Sheffield. Photo #1 is the faculty housing there....nice huh? It was kinda creepy because the place is all closed down and no one was there. It closed in March with a staff of 60 and 17 students...what a waste of our taxes!! I was expecting Gene to try and break into the gym to look around. George was with us and was looking for a place to put his trailer when he moves there in January. They are re-opening the place then.

M.D.P.

SHEFFIELD/IRAAN PART 1.






The drive to Sheffield was nice. We stayed off of IH 10 completely and took the back roads. I'm getting used to taking a pee behind mesquite bushes. You can easily see if a car is coming...photo #1.
There were alot of blooming yellow wild flowers and the cedar was blooming big time.
We saw alot of hawks and buzzards...and not much else.

We came upon an area of at least 10 acres...probably more that was open and flat and surrounded by little mountains. You could see alot of sticks and debris washed up on fences etc.
This was not a wash, draw or creek...it went on for MILES.
It was a huge flood prone area and it sure did....flood...but was dry now.
Hundreds of goats were enjoying the new grass when we went by.
Photo #2....these old electrical poles are all along the road and are low enough to check by horseback. We were surprised that the glass insulators are still on them.
Photo #3....Coming into Sheffield: I liked this sign. It sits in front the vine covered trailer in Photo #4.
Sheffield has a population of 600.
I liked it but don't want to live there.

M.D.P.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

WE BOUGHT A STOVE/OVEN!!


Which is no big deal to most folks.
But we haven't had one for 2 years, 4 months and 7 days....so it IS a big deal.
It's nothing fancy but is fine for what I wanna cook....holiday baking and turkey.
Got it last Friday and so far, all I've made is corn.
Boy...it sure almost didn't fit in the space.
It's the standard 30" width and the space is probably 29.9"

The Friday before last,all the local schools got out at 1 p.m. so everybody could travel to a stupid high school football game.
That's dumb.
The Pecos Eagles have lost all 4 games thus far.

The 1st. Saturday in October Gene and I are going to try and sell some bottlecap snakes, bottlecap tables and small glass art at the Ft. Davis Flea Market.
Wish us luck!

Hurricane Ike really messed up the Galveston inmate place. I don't think it was an actual TYC but now they are moving those guys out to Sheffield. It's all run by Iraan ISD now so I don't what the hell to call it. So anyways, there's a big move around of staff once again in Pyote. I guess George may be moving to Sheffield earlier than his Jan. 1st. date. Some of the Pyote guards are moving over there also.
Gene's the only P.E. teacher at the Pyote school so he's safe.
George, Gene and I are driving over to Sheffield this weekend to look around. George is looking for a place to put his mobile home.
It's a pretty drive and we are going to take the 60 mile scenic route thru the rock ledges....I hope I remember to take my camera.

We haven't had the A/C on for about 10 days....COOLAH!! It's been in the 50's at night and 80's during the day...it was in the 70's but not anymore.

I guess that's all the little Pecos news bloggers.
Love, Mary

Thursday, September 11, 2008

WHOSE BOOBS ARE THESE?!



HAHA....they are mushrooms in our yard.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning it was raining hard....the dogs "no likea".
Tonight it is pouring rain.
It's going to drown my cactus!
What's up?
Is it the end of the world?

It's 9/11.
I feel like some rural folks are forgetting...or don't care.
We had our flag out today as did the rancher and his wife across the street.

I've been working everyday.
I hate small town football.
The Pecos Eagles have lost their first 2 games....they rarely win....but people continue to be rabid fans.
People continue to stream in the store....especially in the afternoon as soon as school is out.
People continue to wait until the last minute and then get annoyed when we are sold out of what they want or that we can't press down their name onto the back of a t-shirt while they wait.
People continue to let their ill mannered kids run wild in the shop.
People continue to talk on their cell phones while I attempt to wait on them.
Doesn't EVERYONE in town have a Pecos Eagles t-shirt with their name on it yet? Don't all the little girls in town have a cheerleader outfit yet?
I come dragging home every night....sweaty, tired and cranky.
Homecoming is at the end of October...it'll be busy again then.
And it's always busy at Christmas time....I monogram everything that's monogrammable.

I need to make a new section in my blog called "Only in Pecos".
Only in Pecos will ya see a spent shotgun shell on the ground by your car...it was at Needleworks...well, it IS dove hunting season. Peggy wondered why I was surprised.
Only in Pecos will you see 2 ladies chasing a rooster around your front yard....the dogs were having a FIT!

A customer told me it's going to be a early fall and a cold winter here.

Let's get right to Radio Hotline:
For Sale:
Elephant decorations.
A divorce package. (Huh?)
Pantyhose $15.
Wanted:
Pig pen supplies.

I guess that's all.
This isn't much of a blog.
Sometimes that's just the way life be!
Love, Mari

Sunday, September 7, 2008

TEXAS RANGERS VISIT PECOS.











1. J.H. Wilson memorabilia and gunfighter Sam Bass quilt. J.H. Wilson was made an honorary Texas Ranger in 1985. He had a ranch in Pyote was the THE Best Friend of any and all Texas Rangers...he could never do enough for them. He had an AMAZING collection of guns etc...including a gun belonging to Pancho Villa. The quilt pictured was made by Louella Seay, wife of Texas Ranger Joe Seay. Sam Bass wandered into her tent and politely asked for food and water and TOLD her who he was. She fed and watered the much sought after gunfighter....and then he admired the quilt she was making. He gave her a silk hankerchief and the story goes that she worked it into this quilt that is pictured.
2. One of about 10 or 12 lamps in the Orient Hotel (AKA museum) dining room....wish they were mine.
3. One of the memorial Texas Rangers Cross'...see text photo #8. They have planted 300 of these so far and are always researching...looking for graves of deceased Texas Rangers.
4. Part of yesterday's program.
5. Texas Ranger's text....what they're all about.
6. Ol' Texas Rangers enjoyin' the ceremony in the museum courtyard.
7. Texas Rangers book display...for sale at the museum bookstore.
8. Texas Ranger Memorial Cross Text...what it's all about.
9. Knives, guns, badges etc.
10. Ol' Rangers still enjoyin' themselves.

So...as always....I missed the BEST part of this celebration. It was Friday evening in the old number 11 saloon....which is part of the museum. It was built in 1896 by Texas Ranger R.S. Johnson...he added the Orient Hotel in 1904. The hotel was known as the best hotel between Ft. Worth and El Paso. There was a deadly shoot out and everything in the saloon...the bullet holes are still there. Anyways...there's nothing more fun than "bellyin' up to the original bar". The opportunity is infrequent.They have receptions and parties in the saloon every now and then. I was just too exhausted to attend Friday night....but I heard that it was QUITE the wingding!! OH! I missed lots of good eavesdropping I'm sure.
These retired Texas Rangers are SO proud and stalwart folks!
They are going to open an interactive Ranger museum in Kerrville...it will be hooked up to a different Texas public classroom once or twice a week.
Love, mary

Friday, September 5, 2008

PUTNAM, TEXAS.






I just needed to stretch my legs last weekend...and saw this derelict, old main street and pulled off the road to take some pictures.
WHAT IS THAT MUD HOME TO SOME CREATURE??? The best idea so far is a crawfish hole. Anyone? Anyone?

In 1880 this town was known as CATCLAW....I love that name!

Putnam was supposed to be a resort in 1910 for mineral waters.
Instead it turned to fruit raising and oil production.

J.H. Burkett discovered the original papershell pecans near there.

Population:
1890-250
1940-487
1980-116
1990-103
2000-88

All I know is that I wish I owned that neon sign in that closed up building.
MDP

THURBER, TEXAS....EAST OF ABILENE.










It was the largest town between Ft. Worth and El Paso--yet it was owned by a single company.

It was the most important mine site in Texas. A major manufacturer of paving bricks. And located near the oil field that helped make Texas a worldwide giant in petroleum production.

It was one of the first Texas cities to be totally electrified. And one of the first towns in the country to be totally unionized.
And by the 1930's....it was gone.

It is now home of the W.K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas.

For 30 years Thurber was the state's major mine site for coal.
It produced 3,000 TONS of coal everyday.

In 1897 the company added a brick factory...it was a big success, and Thurber brick paved hundreds of miles of highways and streets in Texas.

Every home had running water and natural gas.
At it's peak of production, approximately 10,000 people lived in Thurber...today the population is 5....yeah, 5 people...not 5,000.

In 1917, William Knox Gordon, company manager at Thurber, brought in the McClesky discovery oil well in nearby Ranger, Texas. This event had an enormous impact on Thurber, the state of Texas and perhaps the outcome of World War I. Petroleum of this field helped to fuel the allied war effort in europe. In one year, the Ranger field yielded twice the wealth of the California and Klondike gold fields.

Soon, railroads were running on the plentiful oil, reducing the need for coal. The mines and the brick kilns were closed. The company changed it's name to the Texas Pacific Coal and oil Co. and moved it's base of operations to Ft. Worth. By the late 1930's, Thurber was a ghost town.

A city that was owned by one company....and home to 18 nationalities.

I stopped there for lunch last weekend...the food was great! It was the Smokestack Restaurant, opened in 1971 by the Bennett Family. I accidently brought home a fly!!!!!! While I was eating, a table of 13 arrived... all wearing camo shorts....kids, dads and Granpa...gee, maybe I should invest in a pair for Geno.
For me...this town was a place where I went in about 1970 to visit a religious commune...the Children of God had a place about 6 miles from Thurber.

I was in Eastland, Texas visiting my boyfriend. His family lived on Lake Leon....near Eastland. I took a quick turn thru Eastland and not much looked familiar...but I remembered that I caused quite a stir there every summer as the "hippie from San Antonio" in my halter tops...sans bra...and backless sundresses...the local cops followed us EVERYWHERE! My boyfriend graduated as valedictorian in a class of 47 people. For me....at that time...the place was a freaky HOOT!

I also saw signs last weekend for "Hillbilly Haven R.V. Park" and exits for Noodle Dome Rd. and Stink Creek Rd.....where I saw a crop duster trying to kill himself.

That's your history lesson for today...and interesting it is.

Love, Mary