The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 15, 1976 Page: 1 of 51
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rue Tulia Herald
Rex, Fowler Rodgers Met In Photographic Studio
THURSDAY. JULY 15, 1976
fMI Wftt’MHtff * •
FOUR SECTIONS
By LANA PAYNE BARNETT
Jumping down from the wagon, five-
year-old Rex Rodgers followed his father up
the path leading to a house sitting high
above the ground. As the elder Rodgers
approached the man sitting on the porch, the
young lad took a visual survey of the
surroundings. The prairie behind the house
was uninterrupted with the exception of two
canvas covered teepees with poles sticking
from the top. Looking back, his gaze came to
rest on the two men trying to converse in
tongues speaking different languages.
Eventually the man on the porch rose, picked
up a branch and began to draw a map in the
soil. A little more broken conversation, a few
more motions of hands, and the two visitors
reboarded the wagon. With a map imprinted
in his mind and determination in his heart,
Sterling McQueen Rodgers and family were
headed for the Panhandle of Texas. Leaving
behind them, standing beside a crude map
drawn in red soil, was the man who had
given directions, Lone Wolf, of Kiowa
County, Oklahoma.
In 1897, two years prior to this journey,
Sterling M. Rodgers, who later became
known as “Oklahoma Rodgers”, had come
to this country and liked what he saw.
Returning to his home near Oklahoma City to
sell land and buy supplies for the trip, he, his
wife and children, were ready for the move to
a promising new home on the Texas frontier.
Several days into the journey the travelers
spotted Red River. Wanting to be the first to
set foot in Texas, Mrs. Rodgers driving her
buggy, forged into the lead, crossed the river
and clinched the title.
Upon arrival of the family. Mr. Rodgers
obtained two sections of Patent land and two
sections of School land, then set about to
make a home for his family. The first
dwelling was a small cabin with a half
dugout. The underground lodging was
frowned upon and ignored bv Mrs. Rodgers
for the possibility of snakes was forever a
threat.
With the family growing, the need for
additional room prompted the building of a
new home. Lumber was available in Amarillo
but could be obtained at Estclline at a more
reasonable rate. This being the case, S. M.
Rodgers and sons headed east to purchase
materials to build the family home which
stands to this day. One of the few. but
gratefully accepted, compliments Rex ever
received from his father was after one of the
trips to Estelline. Rex had been hauling a
load of window panes up a treacherous trail
with such obstacles to overcome as climbing
canyon walls and trying to stay out of the
numerous prairie dog holes dotting the plain.
When the group finally reached home not
one pane was broken. For this his father was
thankful and told him so. On still another trip
up the canyon with a heavily laden wagon,
the going got so slow that S. M. had to “walk
the spokes” and his foot was run over in the
process. It took quite a spell for it to heal.
Eventually, after several trips and a lot
of manual labor, the homestead was fin-
ished.
Schooling was a problem in those early
days, especially for families secluded as the
Rodgers family. The first school attended by
the Rodgers children was in the upstairs
portion of the ranch house. Teachers for the
small population of students, which also
included a neighbor boy, were an aunt, Mrs.
Tinnin, and Maud Pyeatt. With the children
growing older and the parents wanting the
best possible education for them, a decision
was made to rent a house in Amarillo where
the children would stay in winter, work and
attend school.
Rex’s first job in the city was delivery
boy for The Daily Paragon and later for The
Daily Panhandle Editor and owner of the
latter was Pete Boesn. a man known about
town as “quite a dude”. It was evident he
had been schooled in equitation, and he was
always arrayed in a riding suit as fancy as the
mount he rode. In all probability the town
dude was not appreciated, for the mode of
the day was in much simpler taste.
Working his way up. Rex eventually
became assistant to the pressman for The
Daily News, which had absorbed The Daily
Panhandle. His responsibilities included
getting the papers out, and making sure each
one was delivered. With responsibility
comes demand, anti one of the arduous
demands was the task of having to rise each
morning at 3:30 a.m. The light at the end of
the tunnel seemed a mighty ways off at
times, but acquiring a high school diploma
was something greatly desired by this young
man. Knowing that desire alone can be a
starvation diet, he put forth energy, courage,
and determination. Combining these qual-
ities he kept abreast of his school-work and
also excelled in athletics. Rex, known as
“Spider” to his team-mates due to his lanky
appearance, was chosen captain of the
football team and participated in baseball
and basketball as well. At long last he
received a document bearing record of
graduation from Amarillo High School.
When the school burned a few years ago, it
saddened Rex to the point of feeling he had
lost a dear friend.
Not long after entering Texas A & M,
Rex became aware that subjects taken in
high school had not prepared him for his
major in college. Leaving the structures of
higher education behind him, the ex-college
student became active in the National Guard,
which he had joined some time before.
Army days were varied and adven-
turous. With the rumblings of World War I
beginning to sound around the globe, and
the arrival of the Zimmerman Note in Mexico
proposing to retake former Mexican areas of
Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the young
soldier saw quite a lot of border duty. After
hopscotching from Camp Bowie to Fort Sam
Houston to Laredo, and on to Big Bend
Headquarters at Marfa, he spent nine
months on river patrol. Following patrol on
the Rio Grande, the next rung on the ladder
of military service w as Leon Springs Officers
Camp at Fort Sam Houston, emerging as 2nd
Lieutenant. Overseas duty was the next
obligation of the new officer. Bidding family
and friends farewell, the compass was set for
grand old England with the eventual
destination being across the channel in
France. Before the end of the war and his
return to the states, the American soldier on
foreign soil had reached the rank of 1st
Lieutenant and had been the commanding
officer of a supply troupe.
Although turbulence had been the
mainstream of the war years, there had come
about an event that Rex would cherish the
remainder of his life. While still in high
school a pretty young photographer had
taken his picture. Carrying her forever in his
thoughts he decided to propose and she
decided to accept. February 7, 1918, Fowler
Perry and Rex Rodgers were united in a
marriage that in time would prove to be as
solid and beautiful as the canyon surround-
ing their life.
After Rex returned from service, the
young couple resided in Tulia until a house
on the ranch became available. The following
years were crammed with challenge and
excitement. Three daughters were born and
reared in the atmosphere of ranch life. Pat
and Pricilla Rodgers, both now deceased,
and Jacque Rodgers Littlejohn who now
resides in Phoenix, Arizona.
The original spread of four sections
grew in size upon acquisition of new acreage
with the ultimate resulting measure of land
obtained by S. M. Rodgers and family being
29V« sections.
Good grade Hereford cattle were the
main breed on the ranch which in good years
sometimes numbered 1,500 head. During
times of drought the herds were kept much
smaller. In the thirties when the dustbowl
was at its peak, the herd was cut to around
500 head as farmers and ranchers sat
helpless and watched their field blow away.
In 1950 Rex decided to take flying
lessons. After receiving his pilots license he
bought a small plane that he kept at Tulia
Airport. At this time the family was living in
town, so they would drive to the airport,
board the plane and fly to the ranch. This
style of travel was indeed a contrast to the
covered wagons that had originally brought
the Rodgers family here.
Aerial ranching became quite useful
after a roundup and all linegates were
checked and canyons searched for cattle.
Before the death of S. M. Rodgers in
1958, the ranch consisting of immense
rangeland and canyons, was divided equally
among the heirs. The land received by Rex
has been the setting for distinct historical
happenings. The discovery of a prehistoric
site some years back lured archeologists to
the area. Various specimens taken from the
site date back ten thousand years and have
been preserved and exhibited in the Pan-
handle Plains Museum in Canyon. Inform-
ation on the “Rex Rodgers Site” has been
printed in book form and contains many
interesting pictures and data. Another
canyon on the ranch provided the back-
ground for the famous Mackenzie battle in
which hundreds of horses were trapped and
killed, forcing what has been said to be the
last of the Comanches from the Panhandle
onto reservations in Indian Territory.
The land that w as home for a prehistoric
civilization, that provided shelter for 19th
century Indians, has become a 20th century
playground for area residents with the
opening of Lake Mackenzie.
The majestic beauty of the canyons has
remained unchanged for centuries, though
the Panhandle which they divide has
changed dramatically in the last hundred
years. A change from unyielding prairie to
productive farmlands. A change from vast
emptiness to thriving cities and towns,
providing services akin to any across the
country.
Rex Rodgers, son of Sterling Rodgers
and a man of sterling character, was there to
experience and contribute to those changes.
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Baggarly, H. M. The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 15, 1976, newspaper, July 15, 1976; Tulia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth506498/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Swisher County Library.