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Pine Country Backroads The Fading Past….
Tom Murrell Meeting Thomas Bransford Murrell for the first time is special! The thin, wiry man with sparkling eyes and a great smile is much, much more than a "cowboy" By his own correction, I learned that he is not a "cowboy." Murrell related a story to me that cleared the distinction between "cowboys" and "cowmen". "In Argentina, the brush is thick and difficult for horse and rider to travel through when herding cattle. A group of boys are hired during a roundup to travel with the riders to roust the critters out of the thick bushes. And they are called 'cowboys,'" Murrell says. Murrell has been many things - cowman, fireman, showman and leading man! To those who know him, he is quite a man! Born July 9, 1917, to Hal Bransford and Lolo Long Murrell, young Murrell (the third child) grew up on a sprawling ranch among old cowmen who had ridden the Indian Territory. The ranch covered 5000 acres and grazed 2000 head of cattle. There was no electricity and water came from deep wells. Cattle was a way of life. Murrell learned to rope, ride and "brand." The brand of his father's ranch was a flat "O" in the left hip. Murrell informed me that all brands are on the left hip. Why? "Cows have three stomachs. When a calf is born, as he grows up, one stomach goes away. They chew a cud and always lie down on the right side. When the riders went through the herds checking for strays (other brands), the left hip could be seen without disturbing a cow resting on that right side," he says. (Brands are registered with the state, and there is still a "Brand Commissioner.") As a young high school student at Moyers High School in Oklahoma, Murrell had the lead in his senior play. The handsome face in his photo album told of his appealing personality in "the Wild Oats Boy," a comedy. It was an experience he remembers with fondness. Murrell was also a basketball player and popular with the ladies. He would later meet and marry the love of his life, Elizabeth Legg, (now deceased) after a three-week courtship. The couple had four children - Tim, Avis, Val and Mary Lola. His son Tim still rodeos and raises cattle. Val operates one of the largest thoroughbred breeding farms in our state at Folsom, and Murrell still boards horses for a few special friends. His daughter Mary Lola, bustling about the house the day of the interview, is a replica of her attractive mother. Tom Murrell has quite a legacy of stories to share. In 1996, then a man in his late 70s, Murrell organized and published those stories in a book titled "Stories of the Life and Times of a Son-of-a-Cowman." The stories are uncomplicated, short and from the heart, revealing a lifetime of living and loving horses, people and life. From starring in intermission shows at Shreveport's Don Drive-In, roping tricks and advertising his friend Hamel's milk to working as a Shreveport fireman, justice of the peace and convincing ladies in the 1930s to ride Western saddles, Murrell's life is what movies are made from! But the Murrell family has had tragedy, too. Murrell's grandparents, Thomas and Anne Murrell, and Uncle Morgan were murdered in Cook County, Texas, 1894. The last hanging in Denton County was one Jack Crews, the villain of this tragic act. According to Murrell in an interview for the story "Setting the Record Straight" (after 100 years) with the "Denton-Record Chronicle (Aug. 27, 1995), Crews had been raised by the Murrells and had become enraged when he learned he was not to be left any property by the couple. Murrell is the kind of man that many stories could be written about. His book features true-life experiences that include "A Stuck Wagon," "Lost Mare," "Frog Gigging," "Shoot-Out at Country Club," "Diving Ponies," "Bear Escape" and many, many more. Hats off to a real cowman! Reggie Anne Walker-Wyatt Author's Note: Do you have a story to share? Send information to: |
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INTRODUCTION | ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
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PINE COUNTRY BACKROADS ARTICLE |
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