Country Lifestyles
Benvanue- THE TOWN THAT DISAPPEARED
By Judy Wade
East of Byers in northern Clay County, a thriving community once sat at the intersection of FM 171 and Old Fort Sill Road. Today, a modern brick home on one corner, fields and pasture on the others give no indication of the rich history Benvanue brought to the region.
Henry Whaley was the first to settle in the area. In fact, he was the first permanent white settler in Clay County. Born in Tennessee, he enlisted in the army at the onset of the Mexican War. He returned to his home and began farming and ranching, married and had one son. In 1860 he began moving his family west.
His wife died along the way, and he settled in Cooke county, again farming and ranching until again enlisting in a frontier defense regiment, seeing combat in several campaigns against the Indians.
In 1869 Whaley settled in north Clay County, constructed a stockade and hired about a dozen employees to farm, care for livestock and provide protection against Indians.
He was soon selling several thousand bushels of oats annually, principally to the U.S. Army who used Fort Sill Road to transport supplies between Fort Sill in Indian Territory and Fort Richardson in Jacksboro and Fort Belknap near Newcastle, both in Texas.
Indian raids continued. In 1873 one of Whaley’s employees was killed, and one Indian was killed. In 1874, another raid resulted in all of Whaley’s horses being stolen and driven into the Wichita Mountains. Among the horses was a mule, which returned to the ranch four months later.
To read more pick up a copy of the October 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Local celebrity dancers of the greater Gainesville area brought the house down recently at the second annual “Dancing With Our Stars” contest in Lindsay. The event raised more than $200,000 as the sponsored dance teams did their best to take home the grand prize.
The money raised will go to the “Heart of NTMC” Campaign for the purchase of a cardiac capable CT machine for the Gainesville hospital. Rodolfo “Rudy” Martinez and Sherry Sherriden took home the Mirror Ball Trophy.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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