Country Lifestyles
Burns Ranch: A Legacy of the Past, Present and Future
By Dani Blackburn
In 1890, Aldolphus W. Raht purchased a portion of the Red River Cattle Company with headquarters at the original Block Bar Ranch in Clay County.
During his time as a rancher, Aldolphus focused on raising high quality ranch horses and Hereford cattle while he and his wife, Ella Mae, raised one son on the ranch, Carlyle Graham, who became an author. He penned a collection of firsthand stories on the cattle ranch, “Old Buck and I,” during a time of Indian raids and fence wars.
In 1928, blizzards, drought and disease forced the Rahts to deed the ranch to banker Carl Worsham of Henrietta. In 1934, Lillian and L.T. Burns, of Wichita Falls, purchased the ranch from the Worsham Estate at $9.70 per acre.
Lillian’s grandfather, Kit Carter, was a prominent cattleman near Palo Pinto and served as the first president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1877. The TSCRA continues to play a vital role in the cattle industry, just as the Burns’ love of agriculture has continued to be passed through six generations of the family as Becky Burns Johnson and her son, Graham, strive to continue their strong ranching legacy for future generations.
Becky, the granddaughter of L.T. and Lillian, spent her childhood summers on the ranch as an only girl with three brothers. Her grandparents lived in Wichita Falls but visited the ranch often during the year and for one month every summer. At the time, the Burns raised registered Hereford cattle.
“I came out and we always went with the cowboy crew branding. I am sure we thought we were helping. I thought I was Annie Oakley and could do anything, but I wanted to prove to my brothers I was as tough as they were,” Becky said. “I grew up with this land in my family.”
To read more pick up a copy of NTFR magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, 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.
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