Glimpse of the Past, The JA Ranch
The old ways—the old cowboys—are endlessly intriguing to me. In working on another project, I had the opportunity to view some archival footage of the JA Ranch and an interview with their longtime employee and cowboy legend Tom Blasingame. The old footage is from the 1940s and while I’ve haven’t been able to pinpoint when the interview was done, from the trucks and fashion, it appears to be the 1970s or 80s.
The 1940s footage was especially fun. Most of the footage was of dragging calves, roping horses, branding colts, and catching wild cattle. The fashion was somewhat different, but not drastically. The work was very similar—the biggest difference being it seemed there was actually more help. I think with trucks and trailers, fewer men can get more done today. But the way they worked—roping, branding, etc.— hasn’t changed much in the past 80 years.
Perhaps my favorite bit of footage was no more than 20 seconds long. It showed two different cowboys bent over a bedroll receiving a “chapping” for some unknown transgression. A chapping is administered by whacking someone across the backside with a pair of chaps—usually for breaking camp rules.
The Tom Blasingame interview, on the other hand, was a delight. The woman who conducted the interview was a bit out of her element, but Blasingame was gracious and understanding. He lived alone in a camp in the bottom of the Palo Duro Canyon. He had to be in his 70s or 80s. He told some of his personal history and why he enjoyed the life he lived. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from what he had to say:
- “I was born in the horse and buggy days. I’m not mechanical minded, I can barely drive car. It’s all the life I’ve ever knowed. I never thought of anything else.”
- “I never have got my fill of horseback riding. I love to ride a horse, get out on the range and ride. That’s the main reason I work cattle is to get to ride a horse.”
- “Nowadays we don’t work near as many cattle as we used to, so we don’t make as good a horses as we used to. They don’t get to work.”
- “It’s in a cowboy’s nature to want to ramble. I think about a lot of the places I’ve been and I think I might like to go back, but I get to thinking I’m pretty old, so maybe I ought to stay put.”
- “I’ve never amounted to nothing, but I’ve done what I wanted to do. As long as I’ve got my horses and can ride everyday, that keeps me perked up.”