The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 3, 2007 Page: 4 of 14
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I
The Clifton Record
Wednesday, Jan. 3,2007
Marc's
Remarks
By Marc Johnson
Well, hello |
2007. Where
the cat-hair did
2006 git off to?
Reckon there
be some truth
to a sayin’ I
read here
while back.1
"Life is lak a roll of toilet paper;
closer ya git to the end; faster
it goes.” Makes sense to me.
Did any y'all think 2006 might
have been a little strange?
Weather was one of the things
lots of folks thought was
strange. Rad drought. And, it
don’t seem to be no where close
to bein’ over yet. But, we just
got to be one day closer to the
start of some good rain§. Any-
how, I hope 2007 is a great ye
fer all folks, our great statf
Texas, our good ol’ U,S.
and the whole World we all live
in.
Y’all read the comics in the
papers? “Shoe” had a good ‘un
about these two women havin'
coffee and one of ’em men-
tioned to the other that she
looked annoyed. And she an-
swered, "I got my husband
some1 of them male enhance-
ment pills." “Did they work?”
“Well he still leaves the toilet
seat up; his clothes all over the
floor; and never takes out the
trash! So no, they didn’t en-
hance him at all!”
What kinda circus show are
we gonna git to see when the
lege opens up down in circus
town? (Austin) They do got a lot
of work to do. Seems money
gonna be the basis fer most of
their work. Some folks gonna be
workin' tryin' to git some legis-
lation passed where they could
git “Casino Gambling” on the
ballot where all citizens could
have a say in it. How come this
takin’ so dad-burn long? Why
they want to continue to export
Texas money to all our
neighborin’ states? Why are
folks even considerin' limiting
any kind of gambling to exist-
ing race tracks; or Indians? Do
this make any sense? Not to
me. Git it on the ballot and let’s
roll. Citizens from them
neighborin’ states be bringin'
their money to Texas instead of
us bringin’ our money to them.
California has “card rooms”
and they all seem to be highly
successful. You can bet the
state gittin’ their cut of their
revenue. Be interesting to find
out just how much money they
bring in.
This is a season where it’s
really important to turn on yore
headlights; day, or night. Now
you might think you don’t need
no lights to see where you goin’.
Ain’t dark enough yet? Well,
how ‘bout runnin’ them lights
so the folks you be meetin’ can
see you. Some colors of ve-
hicles you be meetin’ blend in
with the background so good
that they almost impossible to
see ‘til ya rat on 'em. Stay safe
and turn on them lights so folks
can see you; and git outta the
way if’n they need to. Stay
around and enjoy 2007.
Went over and paid my taxes
other day and figgered that
since they was less than the two
thousand 'dollar tax break that
Gov. Goodhair mentioned;
Anna Bell would just probably
write me a check fer the differ-
ence. She just sorta giggled and
mentioned laughingly that
“checks in the mail.” Heard
that before?
Y’all git a kick outta stories
‘bout “dumb crooks?” Me and
Jay Leno do. He has something
about them once a week on his
“headlines” segment.
A Tampa, Fla., man handed
a bank taler a note demanding
cash. The police had no trouble
catching up to him ‘cause he
wrote the stickup"nbte on his
own pay stub, right below
where his name and address
was printed.
Police busted a San Antonio
woman for possession of pot
after an auto mechanic found
18 packages of marijuana
stashed inside the engine com-
partment of her car. How did
the mechanic stumble upon the
grass? The woman had brought
the car in for an oil change and
didn’t know that the mechanic
would raise the hood to change
the oil. Duh!
A Detroit burglar took his
dog with him on a 1968 break-
in. When the cops showed up
unexpectedly, the burglar ran
off, leaving his dog behind. The
police caught up to the crook
through a simple act of detec-
tion; They said to the dog,
“Home, boy.”
I stole these stories out of a
book titled “DUH!” by Bob
Fenster. Hope he ain’t mad.
Y’all might have noticed that
I ain’t mentioned Bet, and her
“Cowpies”, I mean “Cowboys.”
I think all these holidays
done give me vapor lock so I’m
gonna close with the hope that
you enjoyed your holidays with
A The Clifton Record
Serving Bosque County Since 1895
The Clifton Record (USPS-111-100 • ISSN-1086-9352) it published weekly, on Wednesdays,
by Progressive Media Communications, Inc., 310 West Fifth Street, Clifton, Texas 76(34-1011.
Periodicals postage is paid a! Clifton, TX 7(634.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE Bosque County, one year: $38; Elsewhere, one year $45. Give old address
when requesting change of address. Per copy price: 50 cents.
POSTMASTER: Please send address change to: The Clifton Record, P.0. Box 353, Clifton. TX 76634
OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Fnday. 9-5; Closed Weekends • DEADLINES: Fridays, 10 a.m.
PUBLISHERS: James W. Smith, Publisher Emeritus; W. Leon Smith, President
STAFF: EDITORIAL — W Leon Smith, Editor-In-Chief; Associate Editors: David Andeison, Deborah Mathews,
ADVERTISING - Melanie Harvey (Marketing Director), Tammy Shelton, Tiffany Shelton; BUSINESS - Kay Otto
(Office Manager!, Allison Smith (Internet); CIRCULATION: Charlie Gandy, Pemie Stanford, Wayne Thompson, Bud
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may nol be considered for pubiipation We publish only original ledeis addressed to The Clifton Record An address and
daytime phone number must be included so the author s identity can be verified. No toners wtl be published until
authorship is confirmed Those who wnte toners are asked to limit their entiles to one per month. All tollers are subject to
editing The Record reserves the right to decline publication of any submission Leders must be signed Letters wnden in
the promotion of political candidates or issues to be decided by an election w* not be considered for publication unless
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Reproduction of any portion of any issue will not be permitted without the express permission of Progressive
Media Communications. Inc.
Blizzard Welcomes
2nd Cavalry To Fort Belknap
Q
On Dec. 27,1856, a howling
blizzard greeted the famed 2nd
Cavalry upon its arrival at Fort
Belknap, and by morning
many of the horse soldiers’
mounts had frozen to death in
the subzero weather.
Fort Belknap was estab-
lished six summers earlier, as
the northern link in the chain
of frontier defense extending
from the Rio Grande to the
Red River. William Goldsmith
Belknap, the brevet brigadier
general who picked the site at
present-day Newcastle in
Young County, named the out-
post in his own honor.
The commander of Fort Gra-
ham questioned Belknap’s
judgment in a report to their
mutual superiors. “I could dis-
cover nothing to recommend
the place,” wrote Capt. H.H.
Sibley, future leader of the ill-
fated Confederate invasion of
New Mexico. “The site se-
lected and the whole region for
twelve miles around is most
arid and unproductive.”
Belknap, refused to recon-
sider his choice, despite the
admitted lack of water. How-
ever, during his absence in No-
vember 1850, Capt. C.L.
Stevenson moved the fort two
miles to a bluff overlooking the
Brazos. Belknap’s sudden
death on the trail spared the
stubborn founder the embar-
rassment of having been sec-
ond-guessed by his
second-in-command.
Even by the primitive stan-
dards of the day, Fort Belknap
was an inhospitable eyesore.
An officer said flatly he would
not leave his horse overflight
in the enlisted men’s quarters,
and the post physician com-
plained the infirmary provided
practically no shelter from the
wind, rain, and cold.
Drinking, the scourge of
lonely soldiers, took the usual
toll at Fort Belknap. Besides
the two recorded murders-re-
sulting from drunken brawls,
alcoholism was rampant in the
ranks. A proposal to restrict
consumption to the post pre-
mises brought this criticism
from an officer: “I do not be-
lieve that increasing the facili-
ties for drunkenness will prove
a remedy for it, or that furnish-
ing men with intoxicating bev-
erages or allowing them to get
it daijy and regularly will in-
duce temperate habits.”
The arrival in December
1856 of the elite 2nd Cavalry
gave the obscure post much-
needed luster. The renown
regiment would contribute an
astounding 17 generals, includ-
ing Robert E. Lee, to the Civil
War, and the colonel in charge
during the detachment’s stay
was none other than Albert
Sidney Johnston, the revered
Texan marked for death at the
Battle of Shiloh.
In the spring of 1858, the 2nd
Cavalry hit the saddle in re-
sponse to a massacre in Jack
County. Ten members of two
pioneer families were slain by
renegades, who were long
gone by the time the blue-coats
reached the scene of crime.
From their federally pro-
tected sanctuaries in the In-
ThisWeek
In Texas
History
By Bartee Haile
n
l
dian Territory, raiding parties
repeatedly ravaged isolated
farms and hamlets in north-
western Texas throughout
1858. Striking with impunity
al6ng the sparsely settled fron-
tier, they scampered back
across the Red River well
ahead of pursuing patrols.
The rules of the game were
finally changed in late 1858.
Four companies of the 2nd Cav-
alry from Fort Belknap sup-
ported by 125 red allies led by
Lawrence Sullivan Ross, future
governor and president of
Texas A&M, surprised a large
band of Comanches deep inside
the Indian Territory. The raid-
ers were routed with the loss of
56 warriors and more than 300
ponies.
As the threat from the South
Plains tribes diminished, civili-
zation caught up with the west-
ern ring of army installations.
Roads connected Fort Belknap
and the town that shared its
name with every point on the
compass, and the thriving lo-
cale earned a stop on the
Southern Overland Mail route.
The War Between the States
brought this progress to a
screeching halt. In anticipation
of the sectional strife, Fort
Belknap was shut down in Feb-
ruary 1859 and not reactivated
until April 1867.
After eight years of neglect,
“desolation reigned supreme”
according to the poetic impres-
sions of the derelict penned by
a trooper. “Sand, sand every-
where. Dead buffalo lying on
the parade ground, a few an-
cient rats and bats looked on us
with an evil eye for disturbing
their repose, and my first
night’s rest in the old commis-
sary was broken by visions of
old infantry sentinels stalking
ghost-like on their beats and
the wind howling through the
broken roof.”
Critical shortages of fresh
water and manpower reduced
Fort Belknap’s new lease on life
to a mere five months. The
nearby Brazos River had
turned salty and “tasted like
brine from a pork barrel.” The
two springs and a well, which
had quenched the thirst of the
previous garrisons, had gone
almost completely dry.
The unprecedented concen-
tration of hostile Indians, an es-
timated 5,000 on the
northwestern frontier, in the
end sealed the fort’s fate.
Belknap closed for good in Sep-
tember 1867, and the barebones
complement of 194 officers and
men joined their comrades at
Fort Griffin.
Bartee Haile welcomes your
comments, questions and sug-
gestions at haile@pdq.net or
PO. Box 152, Friendswood, TX
77549.
$ Editorial / Opinions
The Clifton Record
S'
By Our Staff And Our Readers
History of Bosque County Part 4
Tom M. Poole
After the November 1886
election when his term as
county commissioner was over,
Tom Pool left the office with
mixed feelings. He was proud
of the beautiful new codrt
house that he, Commissioner
John Goodman, and County
Judge Childress had fought so
hard to have build; however, he
felt hurt and discouraged about
ill feelings and criticism ex-
pressed by members of the
anti-courthouse party who op-
posed building the new
courthouse,
Tom Pool did not have
time to dwell on the false ac-
cusations. As a leading
farmer-stockman in Bosque
County, he had many inter-
ests centering around his
extensive landholdings —
and a growing family.
In the early 1880’s, cotton
became one of the leading
crops in the county. Cotton
grew very well in the fertile
soil in the Bosque River val-
ley. Pool built one of the first
cotton gins in the area on the
east banks of the Bosque.
The gin, powered by a wood
burning steam engine, was
located on a bluff overlooking
the river. The engine was lo-
cated in a separate building
from the essential gin ma-
chinery.
Around 1890, Pool ex-
panded his ranching inter-
ests by bringing the first
registered cattle to the
county. Joining the American
Galloway Breeders Associa-
tion, he bought registered Gal-
loway cattle from ranchers in
the vicinity of Kansas City.
These cattle were brought to
the United States from Scot-
land.
In 1890, Tom and Mellie had
five children: Johnny (15),
George (9), William(7), Herbert
(3), and Emma Caroline, who
would be celebrating her first
birthday on Feb. 27,1890, John
C. (Johnny), their first child,
was attending the old rock
school in old town Clifton. “ He
was a very special child. Per-
haps it was because after his
birth the next three children
born to this couple had died in
infancy. At any rate, Johnny
wajs an unusual young man at
the age of l5, he was old beyond
his years. He was admired by
friends as well as his parents.
Corrections,
Clarifications
Letter Correction
In W. Fogle’s letter to the edi-
tor in the Wednesday, Dec. 20,
edition of The Clifton Record,
an error in typesetting oc-
curred.
The second sentence in the
final paragraph should have
read, “The county needs to take
a serious look at belt-tighten-
ing.” In the letter as published,
the word “take” was acciden-
tally substituted with the word
“tax.”
The Record regrets our error
and any inconvenience or con-
fusion it may have caused.
Olson, Not Nelson
An error has been brought to
our attention in the page one
story, “CLSH Deeds Land,
Building to Museum” in the
Dec. 13, edition of The Clifton
Record.
The last paragraph on page
one states that “The history of
the museum dates back to the
1950s when Clifton College dis-
banded and Clifton Lutheran
Sunset Home was formed. At
that time, Clifton College held
the collection of Jacob Nelson,
an early Bosque County pio-
neer.”
However, The Record has
learned the collection was that
of Jacob Olson, not Jacob
Nelson, as reported.
The Record regrets the error
and any inconvenience or con-
fusion it may have caused.
Myers Cedar Yard
friends and family and the
chance to celebrate the birth of
“Jesus”, our savior.
Things in Iraq, and the rest
of the middle East, ain’t lookin’
too good. We need to pray that
the leaders of all nations come
together and bring peace and
that our troops can git home
spfe, sound, and soon.
May the year of 2007 bring
health, happiness, and prosper-
ity to all y’all.
See ya next week,
Marc,
Marc at the Gap
PeelC(1
Cedar
Siding
Cedar
r°sts Lumbet
Split Rail Fencing
0US
Highway 6 North, Meridian, TX 76665
(254)435-6857 .
Bosque County History:
Looking Backward I
To The Years
1870-1890
He was well read and seemed
to his acquaintances to be a
man of information rather than
a teen ager. His parents looked
This was indeed a special occa-
sion for Emma was the first girl
in the family to live to be a year
old.
It was on a bright sunny
morning in early February that
Johnny rode off on his horse to
Clifton to buy birtbday candles
and cake decorations for his
sister’s upcoming birthday
party. On the return trip, a cold
norther with rain and high
winds hit suddenly. By the time
Johnny reached home, he was
wet and chilled. As a result of
this exposure, he took a bad
cold that developed into
pneumonia. He lived only a
few days, dying on Feb. 10,
1890. Tom and Mellie Pool
were left completely devas-
tated by his sudden death.
Once more thelong sad jour-
was made to the Poston-
John C. Pool
him as a companion
upon him as a
rather than a child.
In February 1990 the Pools
were planning to celebrate the
first birthday of Emma Caroline
on the 27th day of the month.
Bosque Valley Family Dental
Taking care of all your Dental needs for over 25 years
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Emergencies Welcome^ 1
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Family Is Most Important.
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ney
Odle Cemetery where John
C. Pool IV age 15 was buried
by the side of the three Pool
children, Lowery, Lilian, and
infant Son.
Quote from an obituary
printed in an 1890 newspa-
per signed “By a friend” fol-
lows: May the memory of his
many and manly virtues
ever serve as an earthly
monument in the hearts of
his friends ever reminding
them of the kind and intelli-
gent John C. Pool.
Sources.; Bosque Terri-
tory William C. Pool; Bosque
County:Land and People,
F959Ap.589 By Elizabeth
Torrence! Clipping from 1890
newspaper (unknown); Bosque
County Cemetery Records,
Volumel; Bible Record; Memo-
ries of Iva Pool Torrence
(Continued)
f
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 3, 2007, newspaper, January 3, 2007; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789431/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.