PUCKETTS & ANVIL
SHOOT
Across
the Fence
By
Arvord Abernethy
Before
1986
Howard
County
, out
Big Spring
way, is publishing a county history book like we did here about two
years ago. The Bill Pucketts lived out there about 35 years before
moving back here in 1957, so they are sending in a story of their years
there.
I
was visiting them the other day and they were telling of some of their
experiences in meeting those early day situations. The place they bought
was on the
Big Spring
to Gail road in the north part of
Howard
County
near
Borden
County
. One story they told me that I would like to tell you happened before
the turn of the century over in
Borden
County
, of which Gail is the county seat.
Some
ranchers there had started to
Colorado
City
for supplies when they came upon what appeared to be a grave. They dug
into it and found the body of a man; and there were fresh wagon tracks
heading on west. They decided they would investigate, so they followed
the tracks until they came upon a lady in the wagon alone.
She
told this story. She and her husband were on their way out west when
they saw a antelope, her husband had hurriedly tried to get his gun. As
he grabbed for it, it accidentally went off and killed him instantly.
She knew of nothing to do but to bury her husband and continue on her
trip.
As
the men talked to her, she indicated that she would like to return to
her people back east, so they got her to turn around and follow them
back to Colorado City. When they arrived and the story got out, the
sheriff called the people together and auctioned off her team and wagon
and other possessions. People were willing to pay a good price for each
item in order to help the lady, so a sizeable purse was made up. A train
ticket was bought and she returned to her people.
May
I say here that guns can be very dangerous things if not treated with
caution. During the few years we lived in the Panhandle, four people in
that community died of accidental gunshot wounds, and I witnessed the
passing of three of them. One passed away in my car as we were taking
him to a doctor.
There
can be a lot of sport in hunting, but there can also be a lot of sorrow.
I
went down to the 63rd Annual Anvil Shoot last Tuesday
morning; we called it Armistice Day so long it’s hard to say Veterans
Day. It reminded me of the first time I ever saw an anvil shoot and that
was on that memorable day of
Nov. 11, 1918
.
Not
only do I remember seeing the first anvil shoot at that time, but I
remember the feeling that seemed to permeate the entire community. It
was a feeling of joy, peace, thanksgiving and a feeling that there would
never be another war. All worked stopped, school turned out and people
came to town to celebrate. It was a much larger celebration than there
was at the close of World War II.
The
other morning as I stood around watching and hearing (everyone who had a
hearing aid, had it in his pocket) the anvils shoot, I noticed how the
ranks of World War I veterans had thinned out. There were Leo Rendessy,
Jack Willeford and Bus Gordon, and of course we all missed Frank Holmes
who had attended all the shoots since 1918. Those veterans were enjoying
it like those three or four Civil War veterans back home would when the
band would strike up “
Dixie
”. That would always get a shout out of them.
The
veterans of other wars are filling the ranks, and whether they continue
the anvil shoot or not, may we never fail to make Veterans Day a day of
thanksgiving for the great host of boys, and now girls, who have offered
their lives for the protection of the freedom we enjoy.
