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North Texas StarJanuary 2014

CHASING OUR TALES BACK TO FORTUNE BEND AND THE MOORE FAMILY

OUTDOORS ALONG THE BRAZOS: THE CHOICE

Randolph B. Marcy:OFFICER, GENTLEMAN, TRAILBLAZER

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January 2014 NORTHTEXAS STAR Page 4

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It lay off the beaten path in western ParkerCounty along the railroad track, about a milesouth of the farm-to-market.

The small lake's reflected surface turned into a sheetof sandpaper as the earth shook, caused by a Texas andPacific oil-burning, 10-wheel-drive locomotive pullingmore than 100 black tankers toward the PermianBasin, gaining speed down the slight descent.

It really reminded one of an earthquake as the lake'ssurface dimpled, while the iron horse roared a few feet

away at 80 m.p.h., and then it was gone, now just afaint whistle somewhere down the track west ofBennett's Acme Brick. The romance of the railroad isgone, those steam-coal- and oil-burning old iron horsesof yesteryear.

Progress? Streamlined diesels? Of course. Ask anyWall Street profiteer familiar with railroad costs. But...the romance is gone, gone forever.

The secluded lake's peaceful atmosphere drew me tonotice it in a transfixed sort of way, with low brushyhills all round. An old run-down red-tile cabin withsagging roof was the only man-made structure to be

seen, squatting on a little hill north of the lake.

The old-timers around Millsap simply referred to itas the T&P Lake. And the environs around the lake the run-down red-tile cabin and such were as I sawthem in the late 1940s.

The angler hurriedly put his tackle box and otherfishing gear in the forward portion of his friend's alu-minum boat and shoved as hard as he could, releasingthe light 12-footer from the sticky shoreline muck,while the mist slowly shredded in an early morningdeep-orange wafer.

He had already fished this small idyllic lake severaltimes, and rather abruptly decided only the nightbefore to get an early start, to try his luck in the35-acre lake.

As he eased out in this pastoral Walden Pond, anoccasional heavy crash would break the silence to lethim know this was a good time, as the big bass werebeginning to strike, he hoped a major feeding period.This takes good timing on your part and a lot of luck,80-percent luck at least, maybe even more.

Hardly something like 10 minutes had passed, andthe flashing tempo of bronze in the sun increased everso gradually, like a T&P 10-wheel-drive locomotive,

but only starting to move after a dead standstill, from astandstill to pull 135 pieces of rolling stock at first, butthen the quaking of the earth that follows. Thenthings got faster, as the game fish seemed to thrash the

water with more vigor. You'd think you were dream-ing. It only happens once or twice in alifetime if you're lucky, and you've got to fish

every day to increase the onetime, the chance to

witness it, a

massive feeding period. Not one fisher on earth knowswhen that will ever be.

The fisherman in the 12-foot aluminum boat wasactually witnessing a full-blown mayfly hatch. Gamefish go wild when this happens. There's the best timecoming when old granddaddy in the hollow stumpmight start moving into the feeding arena to gorge onmayflies himself.

Be ready. Hone your hooks needle sharp. And testthat tapered leader for frayed spots. This could be the

chance of a lifetime, but you won't know it, just wish-ful thinking.... Especially the next morning inWhataburger when you have to face the guys over cof-fee.

To the old fishers in the know, this once or twice ina lifetime feeding frenzy is just as exciting, even moreso, as hitting a royal flush in a poker game, pot limit,with the six other players under the alcoholic fuzz, alldeep pocketed boys, a huge pot. Or even winning theLotto!

Paddling out into the thinning mist he nervouslyjoined together his three-piece bamboo fly rod within a

swarm of mayflies and gullible game fish. The waythey're thrashing the surface, they've got to be large-mouth black bass, he thought.

Running his fingers up and down his tapered leader,feeling for frayed spots, told him this leader was okayto fish with. Now for the match-the-hatch insect. Whatfly was he to use? He felt that he definitely had tomatch the hatch as closely as possible on this one.

A lucky day for the fly fisher, he found a mayflyimitation in the corner of his Perrine aluminum fly boxand tied it to the end of his 5x tapered leader.

Continued on page 6

January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 4

Outdoors Along the BrazosBy Don Price

The Choice

Texas & Pacics600, the rst ofthe Texas-type

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Continued from page 4A 5x tapered leader (2-pound test) is much too light

to use successfully in stumpy water while in pursuitof monster bass, but the fly fisherman had just beenfishing the week before for perch and had forgotten tochange to a heavier leader.

He didn't start false-casting right off, but rowed thelittle 12-foot boat around the point into the cove hewould remember for the rest of his life, as this waswhere the huge bass lived in a hollow stump some 6feet deep.

And with the great fish having broken his leaderseveral times, the fly fisher had never been able toland it and here he is approaching the lair with a 5xtapered leader.

While his flyline was still in the air, the big fishroiled the water's surface above its home, the hollowstump, feeding hungrily on the cloud of insects.

It was up to the fisherman now; he tried his best toply his artificial mayfly, to alight on the water's sur-face as a mayfly would do.

And then surprisingly it all happened so quicklythat the fisherman was shocked. He wasn't ready torecoil by setting the hook because he remembered ina flash his 2-pound-test 5x leader. So he tried to setthe hook gingerly, or softly. It worked, the light leaderheld.

The gullible old warrior had vacuumed the flyunder, scarcely making a ripple. No sooner had the

fly fisher set the hook than his bamboo rod respondedin a good arch.

One could actually hear the leader cutting the sur-face in a vee wake and then he remembered the 5xleader and to soften the rod's arch somewhat.

After the first run was spent, it paused and thenburst out of the water to dance on its tail to shake itshead like a bulldog, trying to throw the hook as onlythat patrician of the pond always seems to do. Thenthe fish went deep and headed for the boat, causing alot of slack line.

The fisherman gained line, frantically trying tokeep the slack out of it, but the bronzed warrior kepton coming right under the boat to finish its secondrun on the other side.

Around the boat twice and then he was through,floating on his side as the angler eased the landing net

under the great fish's frame.The fisher could hardly wait to gaze upon his catch;while holding it at arm's length, the morning's sunbrought a rush of coloration, an iridescence of black,bronze, green, silver, and tones of light yellow andocher from the fish's belly.

What a specimen, the grandaddy of the T&P Lake.Was the the angler worthy of such a work of art? Hehesitated for a long pause to think about the ambi-ence, the culture, the fascination of future trips per-haps.

He hesitated for yet a while longer, but then pusheda cord stringer through the lower lip of his fish with ashrug, tying it securely to the side of the boat, then letthe bass easy over the side to swim around, a prisonernow.

Without nearly as much enthusiasm, he cast onceagain; things were not the same. The sun was hotternow and had chased away the early cool mist; bird-song wasn't as vibrant; squirrels didn't seem as lively.The T&P Lake seemed to lose its spooky atmosphere,its mysterious chill. Half-a-dozen half-hearted castswere all he could muster. And the prisoner relentless-ly thumped the underside of the 12-footer.

An analogy would be the big T&P 10-wheelerbelching smoke; the old oil-burning iron horse, it'sgone, it's no more, the romance of the railroad isgone.

He skipped along with the little boat, digging hispaddle deep, pondering in deep thought himself, gain-ing sufficient speed to push the light craft past thewatermark, the muck.

The fisher had something bothering him as he totedtackle box and stuff to his car; he puttered around,and then he told himself he thought he knew; he wentback to the boat, untied the cord stringer from thegunwale to pull it from the handsome warriors lowerlip, gently releasing it within a cool pocket under thebig cottonwood tree.

The Texas & Pacic Railroad purchased a shortline, the WMW & NW in 1903; eighty yearslater Don ONeal restored the depot on SouthOak Ave. in Mineral Wells, completing thedream of his late father, George ONeal.


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J y g

Chasing Our TalesBack to Fortune Bend and the Moore Family By Sue Seibert

Ireceived a letter recently that I would like toshare with you. It was written in response to oneof my old columns about Fortune Bend thatappeared in the Painted Post years ago and is nowon my website at http://www.oakcottage-tx.com/. Iwill include the old column here, and I am hopingsomeone who reads this might be able to help thecorrespondent with the new question:

Dear Sue, My name is Andrew. I started lookingfor my family about two months ago. After speakingwith my great uncle, he said my great-great-grand-parents are buried around Mineral Wells, Texas. He

described the place along the Brazos River. He wasrecalling this memory as a child and said there wasan old bridge and a new bridge, a farm house home-stead, and a small family cemetery. As I was lookingonline I came across your site. My family wouldhave been Moore. My uncle said that George andMaggie Moore, or her name could have been listedas Margaret, were buried there along with two chil-dren, a son and a daughter. The Fortune Bend driveas you described was similar to what my uncle said.He recalled it was off the highway and a windeydrive. If you have any information on the grave sitemarked Moore, would you please let me know?Thank you so much for your time. Looking forwardto hearing from you. Andrew Kemp.

Now, here is the old column. I hope the letter andthe column together will help in finding Andrewsfamily!

We went out for one of our Sunday drives anddecided to see how far down Fortune Bend Road wecould go. Fortune Bendcan be accessed off ofHighway 4 north of PaloPinto, and before becom-ing completely privateland, you can drive for alittle over 10 miles seeingsome of this most beauti-ful land which hasbecome known as theNorth Texas Hill Country.

About 8 miles into our drive we came upon theFortune Bend Cemetery. It is a lovely, peaceful littleplot nestled into the side of a hill, the ground purplewith juniper berries. I have no idea how many

graves were in this tiny cemetery, as many were onlymarked with a limestone head and foot marker butno names inscribed which could be read.

(You can find the Fortune Bend Cemetery onlineat http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr

&CRid=2151352&CScntry=4&CSst=46&CScnty=2701&CSsr=21&.)

The oldest readable marker was that of J.T. "Jim"Snoddy. This marker had been crudely carved ofhandmade orange cement, and it had recently beenreplaced with a new marble marker. The markerstates that Jim Snoddy was born in January 1868 anddied in November 1902. There was a second Snoddygrave which stated that A.R. Snoddy, born 28February 1895 and died 19 May 1933 was the son ofJ.T. and Mollie Snoddy.

(I now see that Find a Grave says that the name

should be Stephen R. Snoddy.)Other families buried in the Fortune Bend

Cemetery included Moore, McCoy, Lewis, Thomasand Richardson.

Fortune Bend was named for John Fortune whocame to the area as a pioneer in 1846 with manyslaves. Mr. Fortune never moved his family from hisWaco, Texas, home, and stayed, himself, only a fewyears before returning to Waco.

The next family to move into the bend, which isbordered on three sides by the Brazos River, was theWilliams family who arrived about 1872. Henry andGipp Williams brought their families to FortuneBend from Illinois. At that time, Mineral Wells hadnot been settled, as the Lynch family did not arriveuntil 1888, so the nearest town was Weatherford.The Williams family reported seeing many wild ani-mals, including bears.

After the arrival of the Williamses other familiesbegan to move to the bend. They included Crabtree,

Giddings, Weldon, a second Williams family andSnoddy, and about this time a school was built in thearea. The families began farming cotton and cornand raising cattle.

By the turn of the century bend family namesincluded West, McCoy, Richardson, Gann, Simms,Pendergraft, Garland, Days or Daes, Height orHight, Basham, McHare, Coker, Camel, Walker,Sellers, Upton, Adkins and Blue.

In 1920 the school burned, and another school wasbuilt by 1922. Teachers of the Fortune Bend schoolincluded Dora Peach, Lena Ruth Watson, ClarenceGiddings, Delia Watson, Bob McNeme, MyrtleMcConnel, Lela Bell Harris, Nola Marshall Garland,Grace Webster, Homer Tate, George Slimp, CoonGarland and Afton Walker.

There is a second Fortune Bend Cemetery veryclose to the first one. It is located about 200 yardspassed the first where you take a right turn and fol-lowed the road up the hill. Continue up this roaduntil you reach an old house and barn. This is the

Williams old family home. Behind the house, uponthe hill, is found a small family cemetery containingthe markers for the Weldon family.

Thomas Fielder Weldon and Elizabeth CraigWeldon were farmers and ranchers. They establisheda small ranch in Fortune Bend. They registered theXAV brand on Feb. 8, 1881. Their homestead wasstarted on a hill with a living spring at its base. Adoorway was dug into the hillside and framed withcedar logs. On the threshold, at the mouth of thespring, is built with river rocks and the initials TFW-MEC are carved in the rock facing the entrance.When Elizabeth died in 1883 at the age of 42, shewas buried on a hill some distance from the house.After Elizabeths death, Thomas went back toArkansas for awhile, returning to the home place inTexas, where he died on arrival 1885.

This area was often plagued by ComancheIndians, who stole their livestock and killed orwounded the settlers. One interesting occurrence can

be read at http://www.forttours.com/pages/stcraw.htm and is entitled "Crawford Fight onChick Bend Mountain." This Indian raidoccurred in 1874 and many of the early pio-neers are listed in the article.

Another Fortune Bend family is the JohnWorth and Bonnie Marie Storm Gann family.John Worth Gann, the fourth child of Baylessand Laura Etta Hunt, was born Nov. 16. 1894,in the Veal Creek community. He marriedBonnie Marie Storm Sept. 23,1920, at

Pickwick, Texas. She was born April 27, 1899, inthe Pickwick area. Their children were twins, Veva(McCoy) and Vearon, born July 18, 1921, in Caddo,Texas. Vearon died June 30,1985 and is buried in the

Indian Creek Cemetery west of Mineral Wells,Texas; Vera Nell (Phillips), born Oct. 14, 1923, inPickwick; and Cecil, born June 9, 1938, in theFortune Bend community.

Continued on page 10

Fortune Bend was named for John Fortune who

came to the area as a pioneer in 1846 with manyslaves. Mr. Fortune never moved his family fromhis Waco, Texas, home, and stayed, himself, only

a few years before returning to Waco.


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John Worth Gann served in the Army in WWI.Vearon served in the Navy in WWII. The son-in-law, Euther Phillips, (ret. U.S. Army) served inWWII, the Korean conflict and in Vietnam War.

John and Bonnie lived in Pickwick, Caddo,Fortune Bend and Mineral Wells. John was a

farmer and rancher and did custom hay baling. Hemoved to Mineral Wells in 1940 and set up anauto salvage business.

John died July 24, 1972, and is buried in theIndian Creek Cemetery, and Bonnie died April1997, and is also buried in the Indian CreekCemetery.

You can discover much about the Gann familyon the internet at http://www.galen.gann.com/.

(This website is no longer available. Anothersite might be helpful, http://www.linkpendium.

com/genealogy/USA/sur/surc-G/surc-Gan/sur-Gann/.)

Here is information on other Fortune Bend resi-dents.

Henry Montgomery Goodin was born inColgate, Okla., in 1922, and attended school in

Fortune Bend. He moved to Abilene from DeKalbin 1991. He had worked for Hall ConstructionCompany for 12 years and for Mineral Wells Sandand Gravel for three years before he retired. Hemarried Edith Franklin in Palo Pinto in 1968. Shepreceded him in death in 1990.

Jack McCoy was born Dec. 28, 1929, atFortune Bend and died July 22, 1977, Park Lake,Palo Pinto, Texas. He was married to Letha LavellStorm, daughter of Leroy "Buddy" Storm andThyrza L. Mitchell. Leroy was the son of Allen

and Jessie Nicholas Storm, and Allen is the son ofGeorge Storm and Emily Moore. Jack and LethaStorm's children were Sharon, Caron, Sue, Jackieand Shawna. Information on this family can befound at http://midatlantic.rootsweb.com/database/d0044/g0000092.htm on the internet.

(This site is still available.)There is certainly a wealth of genealogical

information about the Fortune Bend area, and Ihope, as time goes by, to tell you more tales of thearea.

Next month I will continue on Fortune Bendand try to discover more about the Moore familywho lived there. If you have information, pleasecontact me at PO Box 61, Mineral Wells TX76068!

Thanks!

Continued from page 8


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Goodnight to trail cattle herds to New Mexicoand Colorado.

In 1851 Marcy escorted Gen. WilliamGoldsmith Belknap and five companies of the5th U.S. Infantry to a crossing on the upperBrazos River on the road he had previously laid

out between Preston and Dona Anna. The sitewas selected for the construction of a fort (FortBelknap) that would provide security fortravelers headed to California and pro-tection of settlers in the region fromIndians.

And now the Red River expeditionwould once again take him into thewilds of Northwest Texas on a missionof discovery. Marcy kept a daily journalof the expedition which was publishedin 1854 in a book he authored entitled

Exploration of the Red River ofLouisiana in the year 1852 that chroni-cled the arduous journey. In it he por-trays a fascinating glimpse of a regiononce thought to be uninhabitable andvoid of life sustaining water or landresources suitable for settlement. On thecontrary, he describes a land with goodgrass, timber along the streams andsprings of fresh water on many of therivers and their tributaries. Some areashad soils suitable for farming and live-

stock grazing, others not so much.Abundant populations of pronghornantelope, bison and white-tailed deerprovided a source of food during theentire journey. Other unknown specieswere collected and notes taken on thenatural history of everything from prai-rie dogs to spiders. During the expedi-tion, the days march would begin at 2or 3 oclock in the mornings andstopped by mid-day to conserve thestrength of the horses and oxen.

Marcy first explored the Wichita Mountainsin present Oklahoma and several tributaries ofthe Red River including Cache Creek, OtterCreek, the Salt Fork of Red River, andSweetwater Creek. In the Texas Panhandle hetraced the North Fork of the Red River to itssource southeast of present Pampa, Texas.Turning south he crossed another stream henamed McClellan Creek in present Gray Countyfor his soon to be son-in-law Capt. GeorgeMcClellan. As the expedition traveled on south-ward, they encountered a region where the only

water available was tainted with gypsum andnot suitable for drinking. A vast prairie dog col-ony was encountered below the Caprock which

Marcy estimated covered 625 square miles.After traveling through more prairie dog

towns, they finally reached the south or mainfork of Red River and entered Palo DuroCanyon. Marcy suggested the river be namedafter the Comanche word for the river

Ke-chea-qui-ho-no or prairie-dog-townriver, and today it is still called the Prairie Dog

Town Fork of the Red River. They were awe-struck as they made their way into the deepchasm of the canyon with walls abruptly juttedupward 800 or more feet to the elevated flatplains of the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains)above.

While traveling through the canyon, Marcyand McClellan spotted a herd of antelope graz-ing in the distance. In an attempt to call one ofthe antelope into rifle range using a fawn bleat-call he had obtained from one of the DelawareIndian guides, Marcy inadvertently called in a

panther (mountain lion) instead. He successfullykilled the lion which measured 8 feet from noseto tip of tail. One of the guides also spotted a

black bear in the canyon but was unable to killit after his horse got wind of its scent and bolt-ed.

Due to the rough terrain and narrowness ofthe canyon, only Marcy, McClellan and adetachment of 10 men proceeded 25 miles up

the river and camped. All water in this portionof the stream continued to be contaminated withgypsum causing sickness and wors-ening thirst as they had no otherchoice but to drink it. It was notuntil the following day, July 1, 1852,that they encountered fresh waterfree of gypsum flowing from a tribu-tary two miles from the head of thecanyon. On July 3, 1852, havingsuccessfully found the source of themain branch of Red River, Marcy

and the detachment returned to thecamp downstream where the othermembers of the expedition waited tobegin the long journey back to civili-zation. The expedition arrived backat Fort Arbuckle on July 28, 1852with no loss of life or livestock.They had traversed over 1,000 milesof unchartered territory in IndianTerritory (Oklahoma) and Texas anddiscovered mineral deposits, 25 newspecies of mammals and 10 of rep-

tiles.This would not be Marcys last

trip to Texas. Two years later whenthe Texas Legislature authorized thatcertain unoccupied public lands beset aside for the establishment oftwo Indian reservations in NorthwestTexas to be operated by the federalgovernment, Marcy was sent tolocate and survey suitable lands.That expedition was chronicled in amanuscript taken from the diary of

W.B. Parker, who accompanied Marcy, in hisbook, Through Unexplored Texas, in the falland summer of 1854.

This expedition also originated in Fort Smith,Ark., and traveled across Indian Territory toPreston on the Texas side of Red River. Theytraveled across the northern tier of Texas alongthe route Marcy had established during 1849toward Fort Belknap. At Cottonwood Springs(west of present Olney, Texas) Capt. Marcy ren-dezvoused with Texas Indian Agent Maj. RobertS. Neighbors and his Indian scouts to begin a

march toward the upper reaches and tributariesof the Wichita and Brazos rivers to locate sitessuitable for the reservations. After making a cir-


Continued on page 16

Randolph Marcy


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Placein TimeJANUARY 1864Palo Pinto County and the surrounding area was in the grips of "terribledrought," according to the memoirs of Henry Belding, a local pioneer."The Brazos did not run for a long time, and what water there was stood insmall holes long distances apart. I believe a man could have ridden in the river

bed from Young County in all its meanderings until it left the county withoutwetting his horse's hoofs. Large bodies of large post oak timber, some of whichlooked like it had growing for a hundred years, died between Camp Cooper andBreckinridge."

JANUARY 6, 1884The George Troupe Scudder family, having sold their holdings in Georgia, ar-rived on Keechi Creek in Palo Pinto County. George, his wife and their sevenchildren came by train. A nephew, John Terrell, tagged along. According to localhistory, "For several years, not one blade of anything grew due to the drouths.Water was so scarce, the family had to get water from the one water hole in

Keechi Creek where all the cattle and other stock watered."


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cuitous reconnaissance of the mostly desolate regionthey made their way to the Clear Fork of the Brazosin present Shackelford County and camped at the oldStone Ranch where former Indian Agent Stem hadestablished a rancho three years earlier. (He waskilled during February 1854 while returning fromFort Belknap.)

Marcy and his entourage arrived at Fort Belknapon Sept. 7, 1854, where they were met by a gather-ing of Indians including Jose Maria of the Anadarkoand other representatives of the civilized tribeswho welcomed efforts of the government to placethem on reservations and for protection against theComanches who frequently raided the region. Twosites were eventually selected and surveyed for thereservations, one east and south of present Graham,Texas, that would be known as the Lower or BrazosReservation (for Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, Ioni andother civilized tribes) and the Upper or Clear Fork

Reservation (for Comanches) north of presentAlbany, Texas.

In 1857 Marcy served briefly in the Seminole Warin Florida and later that year with Albert SidneyJohnston on his expedition to Utah to establish anon-Mormon government in the former MormonTerritory. He became famous for his march of over1,000 miles to provide relief to Johnstons armywhich had become stranded without supplies in themountains of Utah. Marcy was recalled toWashington in 1859 to prepare a semiofficial gov-ernment guidebook based on his vast knowledge of

the west for travelers planning to cross the vast

western territories. His book The Prairie Traveler,became a classic and contained such information aswhat equipment to carry, methods of organizingwagon trains, techniques for avoiding Indian attacksand maps of 34 of the most important trails to fol-low. On Aug. 22, 1859, he was promoted to the rankof major and assigned as regimental paymaster.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Marcy was pro-moted to colonel and named inspector general ofMcClellans Army of the Potomac. From Sept. 23,1861, through July 17, 1862, and from Sept. 13,1862, to March 4, 1863, Marcy served as actingbrigadier general of volunteers. On March 13, 1865,he was brevetted brigadier general of the regulararmy for gallant and meritorious service in thefield and on the same day major general of volun-teers for faithful and meritorious service during thewar.

Randolph Marcy would serve as inspector general

of various departments of the army through 1878.But it was while on an inspection and fact-findingtour of the Texas frontier with Gen. WilliamTecumseh Sherman during May 1871 that he nar-rowly escaped massacre on the Butterfield Stageroad between Fort Belknap and Fort Richardson nearJacksboro by a raiding party of Kiowa Indians. Over100 warriors led by Satanta, Big Tree and Lone Wolfon a raiding party into North Texas from across theRed River lay in wait behind Cox Mountain, watch-ing for an easy target passing along the road toattack.

Sherman and Marcys small wagon train was

escorted by 17 black soldiers and included a smallarmy ambulance in which they rode. As they passednear Cox Mountain, the Indians decided not to attackthis small train and wait for a bigger prize. Shermanand Marcy continued on safely to Fort Richardson.The following day as seventeen wagons owned bythe firm of Warren and DeBose in Weatherford car-

rying corn to Fort Griffin passed along the road nearCox Mountain, they were attacked.

Seven teamsters were brutally killed and the mulestaken by the Indians. Miraculously, Marcy andSherman had narrowly escaped death on Salt CreekPrairie.

Randolph Marcy retired from the army on January2, 1881, and died Nov. 22, 1887, at his home in WestOrange, NJ. In addition to the two books alreadymentioned, Marcy was a prolific writer and docu-mented many of his travels throughout the westernUnited States including, Thirty Years of Army Life

on the Border, (1866) and Border Reminiscences,(1872). For his contributions to the exploration andsettlement of the Texas frontier, we as Texans owe adebt of gratitude and honor to this officer, gentlemanand trailblazer.

(Sources: Exploration of the Red River ofLouisiana in the year 1852, by Randolph B.Marcy; The Warren Wagontrain Raid, byBenjamin Capps; Through Unexplored Texas, byW.B. Parker; Texas State Historical Association

On-Line and other internet sources.



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January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 20January 2014 NORTH TEXAS STAR Page 18

STORIES & SNIPPETS

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STORIES & SNIPPETS

BY SSGT. BILL COOK

Dear Aunt Gertie, Uncle LouieI got my check out in an armed HueyNow my troubles are all by goneCause Im over here shooting around Saigon.A bit humorous perhaps, but not the story behind the verse of song composed

by an Army Warrant Ofcer helicopter pilot ying an armed UH-1B Huey inVietnam.

Today, bachelor WO Michael J. Davis lives with two of his buddies, WOs Jan Bin-gen and Dick Jarrard, also from the 197th Avn. Co. (U.T.T.), in a trailer house that isreminiscent of the apartment in the movie, Pillow Talk.

The three pilots have been together about two and a half years now. They at-tended ight school together, went to Vietnam and served in the same company,for awhile in the same platoon, and now all three are assigned to the U.S. ArmyPrimary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters as instructors in the schools new FlightDivision.

Davis was well known in Vietnam for his entertaining with songs composed

about things he had seen while piloting his armed Huey on missions supportingthe RVN and U.S. troops.

I went ying with Jim Lee. He got shot right through the knee. You rememberold Tom Baker. He hit a mine and thought that he had met his maker.

Although a little ippant about the business of war, Davis was certainly notippant about the way he carried out his duties while assigned to the PlayboyPlatoon.

For his service in the Republic of Vietnam, he has been awarded the Air Medalwith 21 Oak Leaf Clusters, or 22 awards of the decoration. Each award is based onan average of 25 missions into a hostile area. He holds the Good Conduct Medal,the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Vietnam and has been nominated forthree other high awards. The Playboy Platoon is part of the only all-armed helicop-ter company in the world. Each of the Hueys in the unit carried six 7.62mm M-60machine guns, and two pods of 2.75-inch rockets.

This is in stark contrast to his personal life.

Davis is an excellent folk guitarist, and the trio have quite a collection of folk andjazz records and tapes. They also collect various types of rearms, including oneRussian manufactured rie that Davis picked up while serving in Vietnam.

I saw this VC making it across this rice paddy...so I just swooped down and gothim. After registering the weapon with the local military authorities, they permit-ted him to bring it back to the States.

When the group is not busy teaching ofcer and Warrant Ofcer Candidateshow to y (much of their instruction based on their experiences in Vietnam), theycan be found riding around on their motorcycles, duck hunting, or just loungingaround the trailer with their registered basset hound, Bod, which is short forbody, which is short for Baron Von Bodyworthy. They named him this becausewe couldnt stand his real name, Chalimar Acres Timothy. But they were quick topoint out that there had been 16 champions, some of those world champions, in hisblood line, including Bods sire, Chalimar Acres Just Lazy.

Davis performed some of his Vietnam compositions at the Air Force AssociationMeeting at Carswell Air Force Base December 7, to honor the returning membersof Air Forces 7th Bomb Wing and the Vietnam veterans who are assigned at FortWolters on the staff of the

helicopter school.I just talked to Warren

Green. He said he saw aMig 15. He said it starteda bombing run. I think Illwatch it; this should be a lotof fun.

You should see him, hesa Beaut. Now hes strafngTan Son Nhut. Hes comingthis way, his aim is better.Darling Mudder, Fodder dis-regard this letter.

This series of pieces from the past is meant to remind us of thisareas unique history. The material comes from old issues main-tained at the Index ofce and is presented pretty much as itappeared in print. These papers are quite yellowed and brittle,deteriorating from age. By publishing these pieces perhaps we can

keep them in play in the digital world for years to come. For clarity,some punctuation issues have been addressed. Hopefully you willenjoy these tiny windows to the past. Feedback is appreciated andwill be shared. E-mail [email protected] or sendyour letter to Mineral Wells Index, P.O. Box 370, Mineral Wells,Texas 76068, attention publisher. You may also drop it by our ofceat 300 S.E. 1st. St. in Mineral Wells. Thanks for reading!

Vietnam Music Man Teaching Students At USAPHS To Fly

SundayDecember 12, 1965Mineral Wells Index


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Jane E. Privitt

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