The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Page: 4 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 23 x 12 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The Clifton Record
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Marc's
Remarks
By Marc Johnson
Any y’all find i
it sorta hard to
believe that the I
fust quarter of I
the year 2007 is f
history? Where
in the world did
the time go? I
read some-1
where that life is sorta lak a roll
of toilet paper; closer ya git to
the end; faster it goes. Think
about it; makes sense, don’t it?
These good rains have shore
put the mowers to work. Ya can
hear 'em runnin' all over town.
Hope some of them folks got
grass to mow instead of might
nigh all weeds lak I got. At least
they green; and purty. But. they
shore do grow fast. Them
weather folks is something else.
While back they kept predictin'
rain and then they 'd put it off fer
a day Kept doin’ that fer several
days til they finally got it right.
Question in one of the papers
other day that asked: “What we
gonna do with ninety thousand
hosses"? I hear the horse mar-
ket has flat gone down the toilet
since they outlawed the slaugh-
ter of ‘em fer human consump-
tion; even though all the meat
was goin’ mainly to Europe.
Them folks lak it. Y’all remem-
ber several years ago when
them Emus and Ostriches was
gonna be the money-maker of
the future. Went gang-busters
fer a while with pairs bringin’ _
thousands of dollars. Lots of
folks buyin’ ‘em; fixin’ up fancy
pens and lots to keep 'em in.
Market fer 'em went down the
tubes; in a big way. Many folks
got to where they couldn't sell
'em; couldn't afford to feed ‘em;
didn't want to just kill 'em; so
they just turned 'em loose on the
countryside. Remember that?
Hope to heck they don’t decide
to turn ninety thousand hosses
loose on the hi-ways, and by-
ways of Texas. Be a heck of a
wreck; don’t ya know. Seems
folks what got in on the first part
of the Ostrich and Emu deal
made a ton of money; folks what
got in late; took a bath.
Bet; fer now; has sorta put the
Cowboys and their dealin' on the
back burner. But, she payin' lots
of attention on them “Dallas
Mavericks." In case some ofy’all
don’t know; they play a heck of a
game of "roundball.” They
hotter’n a two dollar pistol in a
pawn shop rat now. Looks lak
they shore Hough headed fer the
play-offs: ifi’n they don’t blow up
in the home stretch. Some folks
don't think "roundbaU" is a physi-
cal sport. Wrong! They git
tougher’n a boar’s snout at times.
F\in to watch fer lots of fans.
Whoops! Might have mislead
y’all last week. I said that the
next Chamber meetin’ gonna be
on the 13th of April. Wrong! It’s
actually on the second Thursday
as usual & the date is the 12th.
OK? Sorry ‘bout that. This April
meetin’ is called the “Spring
Fling” and all the newcomers to
the community are invited as
guests of the Chamber. It’s also
time fer the election of officers
and directors fer the cornin’ year.
This meetin’ will be up to the
school and the Gap Youth Sup-
port Group gonna put on the feed
startin' at 6 p.m. Chamber fiscal
year runs from May 1, thru April
30, so the dues fo $15 will be ac-
cepted at this meetin’. Again the
date is April the 12; at the school;
beginning at 6 p.m. Y’all gather
up with us and help welcome the
newcomers, support the Youth
Support Group, and enjoy good
food, fun, and fellowship with a
bunch of folks from the entire
Gap Community.
Y’all remember last week I
mentioned that our Law En-
forcement folks gonna start
givin’ tickets to all you scofflaws
and criminals what got license
place frames that cover any part
of the printing or art work on
these plates. I thought they was
kiddin’. Well, it turns out that
they not gonna pursue this en-
deavor fer rat now. They done
backed off. Now, they can git
back to gatherin' up them drunk
drivers, speeders, red-light run-
ners, illegal turn infractions, etc.
Not to worry much about them
plate frames. Awright.
I’m writin’ this mess on the 29
and them T & V double dippler
Doppler radar deals show most
of the activity, such as rain, be
mostly to the north and west of
us. Shore ‘nough had some bad
stuff, such as tornadoes, way up
on the northern border of Texas and
on into Oklahoma and Kansas.
Don’t need none of them twistin’
winds down here in our neck of the
woods. Some more good rain would
be mighty welcome.
Does it surprise any y’all that
the almighty TXU been givin’ us
the shaft on ‘lectric rates? Re-
minds me of the song, “She got
the gold mine, I got the shaft.”
Remember that? Guvimint sup-
posed to put a hefty fine on ‘em.
What the heck; they done got the
money. Be a sheer accident if
any of us see any of it back.
; oil ain’t
A The Clifton Record
Serving Bosque County Since 1895
Th* Clifton Record (USPS-118-100 • ISSN-1086-9352) is published weekly, on Wednesdays,
by Progressive Media Communications, Inc., 310 West Fifth Street, Clifton, Texas 76634-1611.
Periodicals postage is paid at Clifton, TX 76634.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: Bosque County, one year $38; Elsewhere, one year $45. Give old address
when requesting change o( address. Per copy pnce: 50 cents.
POSTMASTER: Please send address change to: The Clifton Record. P.0 Box 353, Clifton, TX 76634
OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Friday. 9-5; Closed Weekends • DEADUNES: Fridays, 10 a.m,
PUBLISHERS: James W. Smith, Publisher Emeritus; W. Leon Smith, President
STAFF: EDITORIAL - W Leon Smith. Editor-In-Chief; Associate Editor: Deborah Mathews: ADVERTISING -
Melanie Harvey (Marketing Director). Tammy Shelton, Tiffany Shelton; BUSINESS - Kay Ortiz (Office Manager).
Alison Smith (Internet): CIRCULATION: Charlie Gandy. Peme Stanford, Wayne Thompson, Bud Shader, Wanda
Raines, Georgia Bell
Telephone: 254/675-3336 • FAX: 254/675-4090 • E-mail: news@cllftonrecord.com
Clifton Record Online: <www.cllftonrecord.com>
THE CLIFTON RECORD welcomes letters of up to 150 words on any public issue Any letter that exceeds the word limit
may not be considered for publication. We publish only original tellers addressed to The CWlon Record An address and
daytime phone number must be included so the author s identity can be verified No letters will be published until
authorship is confirmed Those who write letters are asked to limit their entries to one per month. All letters are subject to
edrtng The Record reserves the right to decline publication of any submission letters must be signed Letters written m
the promotion of political candidates or issues to be decided by an election will not be considered for publication unless
they are scheduled for publication three weeks or more prior to the election Individuals may purchase advertising space
during the period poor to the election in support of candidates or issues to be voted upon Letters written as cards of
thanks may be charged classified ad rate and be placed in classified section of newspaper, at editors’ option.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: Any error or erroneous reflection upon the character, standing, or reputation of any
person, firm, or corporation which may appear in this newspaper will be gladly corrected upon being brought to
the attention of the management
THE ENTIRE CONTENTS ot each issue of The Clifton Record are protected under the Federal Copyright Ad
Reproduction of any portion of any issue will not be permitted without the express permission of Progressive
Media Communications, Inc.
$ Editorial / Opinions
The Clifton Record
By Our Staff And Our Readers
Hired Guns From Texas
Fight In Wyoming War
Reckon? Shorely big oil i
guilty of the same thing;
they? Makes ya wonder whe
are
tnya
A special train carrying 22
Texas mercenaries rolled out
of Denver on April 5, 1892
bound for Wyoming and a mer-
ciless prairie purge.
By the time Wyoming be-
came a territory in 1868, huge
herds of hardy longhorns im-
ported from Texas roamed its
wide-open spaces. For a couple
of decades, there was room
enough for ranchers big and
small, but the winter of 1887-
1888 changed all that.
A hot and dry summer was
followed by record-breaking
blizzards and temperatures as
low as 50 degrees below zero.
Losing thousands of cattle, the
big ranches abandoned their
live-and-let-live policy toward
small-time cowmen in favor of
a get-tough policy.
Even though the range was
public domain and open to ev-
erybody, the big ranchers
started treating the land and
precious water as their private
property. Small competitors,
who dared object to these high-
handed and illegal tactics, were
branded as “rustlers” subject
to lynching or ambush.
For self-preservation, a
group of small ranchers in
Johnson County banded to-
gether as the Northern Wyo-
ming Farmers and Stock
Grower’s Association
(NWGSGA). The rival Wyo-
ming Stock Growers Associa-
tion (WSGA) demanded that
the upstarts cease and desist,
but the NWGSGA defiantly re-
fused and announced they
would hold a separate roundup
in the spring of 1892.
That was the last straw for
the beef barons. The time had
come to rid themselves once ,
and for all of the “grease pots,” ’
what they called the small fry
behind their backs.
To do their dirty work, the
WSGA recruited nearly two
dozen hired gyns from Texas.
With the addition of 30 cowboys
from the big ranches, the expe-
dition numbered 50 armed men
willing to kill for their pay.
A baggage car, three live-
stock cars, a caboose and a flat-
car with three wagons of
dynamite were added to the
three-car special at Cheyenne.
The Wyoming complement
climbed on-board, and the train
continued its journey north.
The ultimate destination of
the “Invaders,” as they came to
be known, was the Johnson
County seat of Buffalo. The
plan was to take the town by
force and replace the local offi-
cials, especially the sheriff,
fill up yore rig and it costs more
that ya usta make car payments
fer. Times a changing! Better?
I was told that three “large”
dumpsters of trash was picked
up last week during the Gap
Community Clean-up. I think
they could have used another
one or two. It just had to help the
looks of the Gap, though, and we
owe a big “thank ya” to all the
volunteers what made this deal
happen. Takes a lot of work to do.
Just got the news that one of
our Gap long-time volunteers is
gonna retire. This Super Lady is
Barbara Epley Lee and she has
been chair of ticket sides for our
annual Lutefisk supper for many,
manyyears. Cindy Wiese is gonna
take her place. I understand that
inquiries are already coming in
fer the ‘07 supper which will be on
the 1st of December. Y’all believe
that? Anyhow, y’all happen to
mdet up with Barb; tell her “much
obliged” fer a job well done. And
thank ya to Cindy too, fer tatdn’
her place.
Please continue to pray for the
leaders of all nations, and the
safely of all our military folks.
See ya next week,
Marc
at the Gap
A Little Bit
of Nothin’JP.
fromOTN^i^®* ‘
Easter
This is a good time of the
year to ask ourselves where
we are in our lives: Easter-
time.
We can look back and re-
member where we’ve come
from and we can look for-
ward to what is coming
ahead. What’s next?
Easter is hope. Easter is
excitement. Easter is look-
ing toward something new.
Easter is remembering
God’s love.
What does Easter mean
to you?
Cheers,
01’Norm
Drastic Measures
This Week
In Texas
History
with stooges of their own choos-
ing. Once Buffalo was under
their control, the army of assas-
sins would go about the bloody
business of eliminating the 30
or more individuals on a “death
list.”
On the way to Casper, last
stop before heading overland,
an argument resulted in a
change of leadership. Frank
Canton, former sheriff of
Johnson County, took over as
expedition commander.
Few if any of the hired guns
were aware the new boss also
hailed from the Lone Star
State. As Joe Horner, Canton
robbed banks and committed at
least one murder back in Texas
before migrating to Wyoming
and changing his name.
Heavy rain and a sudden
snowstorm slowed the Invader
caravan to a crawl. Canton fa-
vored an immediate attack on
Buffalo, but the boys preferred
easier pickings and the easiest
appeared to be Nate
Champion’s KC Ranch.
While the NWGSGA leader
cooked breakfast, a guest went
to fetch firewood. When he did
not return, a second trapper
who had stayed the night
walked outside to check on him.
With two of the cabin’s four
occupants their prisoners, the
Invaders opened fire on the
cabin. Nick Ray was shot by
young D.E. Brooke, the so-
called “Texas Kid,” and lin-
gered three or four hours
before succumbing to his
wound.
That left Nate Champion
alone in the bullet-riddled
building. Determined to leave
a record of his ordeal, he
scribbled in a journal later
found on his body.
“I heard them splitting wood.
I guess they are going to fire
the house tonight,” Champion
wrote in his final entry. “Shoot-
ing again. It’s not night yet.
The house is all fired. Goodbye,
boys, if I never see you again.”
Champion ran for his life
from the burning cabin and was
cut down in mid-stride.
Unbeknown to the Invaders,
two passers-by had alerted the
sheriff. He quickly organized a
posse of 200 volunteers and sur-
rounded a nearby ranch house,
where the unsuspecting army-
for-hire had taken shelter for
the night.
A second siege ensued, but
now it was the Invaders caught
in a deathtrap. They managed
to get word of their predica-
ment to the acting governor,
and he telegraphed Washington
for help. The two Wyoming
senators awoke the president
in the middle of the night, and
Benjamin Harrison ordered the
army to intervene.
The Invaders were on the
verge of annihilation, soon-to-
be victims of their own dyna-
mite, when the Sixth Cavalry
rode to the rescue. Assured by
the commanding officer that
the murderous mercenaries
would be turned over to civilian
authorities to answer for their
crimes, the Johnson County
sheriff agreed to the military
taking temporary custody.
And that was the end of that.
Not a single Invader ever saw
the inside of a courtroom, and
the hired guns were soon on
their merry way back to Texas.
Bartee Haile welcomes your
comments, questions and sug-
gestions at haile@pdq.net or
PO. Box 152, Friendswood, TX
77549 and remember to visit
twith.com.
Bosque County History:
Looking Backward
To The Years
1870-1890
By Elizabeth Torrence
Dear Editor;
When I drove to Meridian on
March 28,1 looked across the
Bosque River valley and saw
the towers of the beautiful
courthouse. It was a dream
come true!
To the many, many people
who made it possible for our
114-year-old courthouse to be
restored, I, as a descendant of
Tom M. Pool and speaking for
the Pool, Goodman, and
Childress descendants, thank
you from the bottom of my
heart. (County Judge R. G.
Childress, County Commission-
ers Tom M. Pool and John
Goodman fought so hard to
build the courthouse in 1886.
According to Dr. William C. Pool
in his book, Bosque Territory,
they were solely responsible for
the courthouse being built.)
I especially want to thank our
county judge and commission-
ers for working together to ac-
complish their goal to have the
courthouse restored.
A brief timeline of the estab-
lishment of the Texas Historic
Courthouse Preservation Pro-
gram which made the restora-
tion of the Bosque County
Courthouse possible follows:
In the late 1990s, the Texas
Historical Commission an-
nounced that Texas had more
than 225 courthouses still
standing that were 50 years old.
About 80 of the 225 were built
prior to 1900. Bosque County
Courthouse, built in 1886, was
included in this list. According
to the THC most of these build-
ings “have deteriorated signifi-
cantly due to inadequate
maintenance and insensitive
modifications.” Certainly this
was true of our courthouse.
In June, 1999, THC an-
nounced that the Texas Legis-
lature and Governor George W.
Bush had established the Texas
Historic Courthouse Preserva-
tion Program which provided
partial matching grants to
Texas counties for the restora-
tion of their historic court-
houses.
Fifty million dollars was ap-
propriated to this fund for
grants.
Round I — On May 4, 2000,
THC announced the first grant
recipients from this fund at
their meeting in San Antonio.
Matching grants totaling 42.4
million were awarded to 19
Texas counties.
Round II — Grant recipients
were announced on Oct. 27,
2001, in Brenham. TWenty-eight
Texas counties received almost
$7 million in matching grants.
Round III — Grants for 2001
- 2002 were awarded in three
cycles - January 2002, April
2002, January 2003. The grand
total of Round III matching
grants was $48,327.
Round IV — In order to con-
tinue the funding the Texas
Historic Courthouse Preserva-
tion Program in 2004-05 the
Texas Legislature approved
the sale of $45 million in bonds.
There were 72 Round IV ap-
plicants -“eight were new ap-
plicants, 37 applicants were
revised, and 27 applications
were rolled forward from a pre-
vious round without changes.”
Fhnds requested equaled
$160,961,252.
Bosque County was one of
the grant recipients in Round
IY receiving $3,461,592 from the
Texas Historic Courthouse
Preservation Program for the
restoration of the historic
Bosque County courthouse.
Elizabeth Torrence
Clifton
Sources of research; Ttexas His-
torical Commission, Grant
Projects andRecipients,2/28/2006
Since I wrote the Fighting
Baby Boomer series, some
changes have occurred in my
eating patterns. Despite my ef-
forts at well-being through
healthy, sensible eating and
hard work (without giving up
sweets and my beloved choco-
late, without a regular exercise
routine), the numbers on the
scale kept creeping up. It
wasn’t anything horrific, mind
you, but it wasn’t a good direc-
tion. Pack on five little pounds
a year for five years and look
what you have. A sad fact of
life: it IS definitely harder to
lose weight at middle age.
Maybe even active folks are a
bit less active. Certainly female
hormonal balances change.
Maybe our metabolism
changes too. Maybe, maybe. I
don’t know why. It just is. Take
my word for it.
Despite my rationalization
that dark chocolate was good
for me — despite my rational-
ization that a calorie is a calo-
rie (and why have 100 calones
of fruit if one can have the
same 100 calories of chocolate,
ice cream or other tempting
sweets?) — Despite every-
thing I could think of to justify
my behavior, the scale kept tell-
ing me the truth, the new real-
ity of my life. I had been in
denial for a long time.
And this is strange, because
I see Zack refuse sweets daily.
He’s a wonderful example of
will power and, as a result,
stays trim. Rarely will he have
an ice cream attack and in-
dulge himself. He turns down
desserts at restaurants, par-
ties and receptions. But he can
also drink beer and not gain an
ounce. It just isn’t fair. Of
course, he also expends huge
amounts of calories each day
and works out with weights of-
ten. That might have a little
something to do with it.
One friend was diagnosed
last year with diabetes and put
on a strict diet. She’s lost over
20 pounds. Another friend, not
a diabetic—but a middle-aged
woman who was experiencing
what many have come to ex-
pect as an inevitable weight
gain — was put on a diabetic
diet by her doctor/brother last
year. (“Why wait until you have
diabetes?” he reasoned. This
hit home with me, as well. I had
diabetic pregnancies and was
put on a strict diet way back
then. This somewhat common
condition disappears with the
birth of the baby. But it can re-
appear later in life if the
woman gains weight. I was
warned to stay trim through-
out my lifetime to avoid a re-
currence, and I was successful
until recently).
My friend who went on the
elective diabetic diet has
slowly lost 28 pounds, now
looks and feels great. She may
be a bit of a fanatic about it (re-
fusing to eat anything in pub-
lic places or at private parties,
never sampling even one bite
of any kind of food), but she de-
scribes this as a lifestyle, not a diet
She became, in a limited way, one
of rpy examples to follow.
I began to mentally use the
experience of this friend,
someone I read about in a
magazine, and another couple
of friends and acquaintances,
to prepare myself for changing
the habits of a lifetime. They
weren’t terrible habits. I had al-
ways eaten healthy food and lived
a healthy life- But there was my
penchant for sweets. It was my
one big vice. I always figured, how
bad could it be? — with all the
other temptations towhichl might
have Men victim?
The woman in the magazine
said she finally realized that
the piece of cake at the wed-
ding reception was for every-
one else, but not for her, ever
again. She had lost Weight and
was determined to keep it off.
And she did. The second
woman was one I mentioned in
an earlier column. When ques-
tioned about her weight loss,
she answered, “I pretty much
gave up food.” That was a bit
of an exaggeration, but not
much. Another friend, a re-
cently diagnosed diabetic and
a very active man told me, “It’s
not just giving up sugar. It’s
also about portion control of
other foods. I cut way down.” I
Gene Ellis, Ed.IX Is s Bosque County resident who
returned to the family term after years ot living In New
Orleans. New York and Florida. She Is an artist who
holds a doctoral degree from New Ybrk University and Is
writing a book about the minor catastrophes of ns
didn’t think I ate a huge volume
of food, but perhaps I could cut
down, too.
So a month ago, I pretty
much gave up chocolate and
sweets. I stopped the darned
oatmeal as well because it was,
ah, as my mother would have
euphemistically and delicately
pronounced, “a little binding.”
My high fiber, wheat bran ce-
real has a bit of sugar in it, but
I decided I could live with that.
And the caramel rice cakes that
are sometimes now “dessert”
have some sugar as well.
Giving up chocolate was
easier than I thought it would
be, once I had finally made up
my mind. I was very proud of
myself and thought I’d see im-
mediate results from this huge,
life-altering sacrifice. But I
didn’t. Boy was I disappointed,
not to mention surprised. I
probably haven’t done enough
exercise to speed the process.
I need to psyche myself up for
that, as I did for giving up
chocolate and other sweets. I’ll
get there. And I must find the
time and commit to a schedule
and routine for exercise.
First I used the IRS prep as
an excuse for not exercising in
earnest (other than the usual
ranch work). My annual IRS or-
deal takes me weeks and is full
of stress. It’s one of my most
hated jobs. So this truly IS an
excuse not to exercise. I didn’t
need to start exercising and us-
ing that as an excuse not to
work on my books. •
Now my excuses for not ex-
ercising are preparation for my
daughter’s visit —and spring-
cleaning. The latter will affort
some amount of calorie burn-
off, but not like sustained
cardio. Maybe while she’s here,
I’ll be encouraged to work blit
with Becca, my little gym rat
daughter (without an extra
ounce on her fit frame). She’s a
darned good trainer, a real task-
master, but no match for her
brother who really cracks the
whip when it comes to exercis-
ing (with no sympathy or tact
whatsoever). For these kids, it’s
a way of life. (Surely they didn’t
get this from me).
And as my daughter re-
minded me, if one is quite over-
weight, the pounds come off
quickly as one starts to diet. If
one has only a few pounds to
shed (or a weight to maintain),
the loss is much more gradual.
Hopefully the weight stays off
with this method. Finally, after
a month, I’m starting to see a
pound or two slough off. These
results, however slow and
small, have given me incentive
and encouragement at a time
when I was ready to give up,
wondering why I bothered.
And it’s true what is said
about addiction to sweets: once
the cycle is broken, one craves
sweets less and less. Instead of
grabbing almond M&Ms or
dark chocolate, now I have a
few salted nuts or a piece of
fruit— if I’m hungry between
meals —even a piece of meat
or a mini-meal with vegetables.
I’ve learned to snack on shred-
ded wheat with bran It tastes
“real” and it fills yoti up. Plus
it’s good for you.
I’ve simply talked myself out
of the need for sweets. Mind
over matter. (Before you con-
gratulate me, remember that it
took five years or so to get to
this point. — The phrase “slow
but not stupid” comes to mind.
And of course, my newfound
will power may not last).
If I can just find time for the
dreaded treadmill (and free
weights, which I like much
more), I hope to see better re-
sults in the future. — I must get
back into the habit of using
weights regularly, as Zack and
the kids do. When all else fails
and I’m tempted to eat some-
thing I shouldn’t, I remind my-
self of that age-old rhyme, “a
moment on the lips; a lifetime
on the hips.”
Kimberly. Sikes
Atlornirt \l I aw. PC
• Negotiate Gas Leases and Pipeline Easements
• Real Estate
• Wills & Probate
817-645-6628
One North Walnut, Suite 145, Cleburne
No Charge for Initial Consultation
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 14, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 4, 2007, newspaper, April 4, 2007; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth791128/m1/4/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.