Reminiscences of M.A. Bundy

Wichita County Pioneer

I was born August 25, 1874, at Hartville, Wright County, Missouri. My father, S.G. Bundy, was, in those days, a Methodist Minister. He and mother were both natives of New York, having been reared on adjacent farms in New York State. My father came to Texas when I was five years old, and settled in Kaufman County, near Rockwall. He farmed and preached in those early days. We lived in Kaufman county when the Insane Asylum was built at Terrell, and my brother hauled old rails and fence posts to burn the bricks for the buildings. In those days people were replacing old rail fences with new wire fences, and the rails could be had for the hauling.

We came to Bellevue from Kaufman county about 50 years ago. I was about 11 years old. My father taught school at Oak Grove and my mother taught school at a little place called Secret Springs. There were seven children in our family at that time. My father built the first school house or any kind of public building in Bellevue.

The Fort Worth and Denver Railroad had its terminus at Harrold at that time. There was no such thing as the Katy Railroad in this part then. These were the days when Frank Houston, Scalings, and Sid Webb were cowboys and ranch owners. While we lived in Bellevue, Frank Houston sold all his cattle to a man who moved them to Silver City, New Mexico. My brothers assisted in moving these cattle.

We lived in Bellevue when Sam Bass and his party robbed the passenger train. When they stopped at the water tank, three or four men got on and robbed the passengers. When the train pulled in at the station the conductor got off and gave the alarm. A posse was organized at once, but the never got near the robbers. A little later, Sam Bass and his gang robbed another train at Mesquite, in Dallas county. He was finally killed at Round Rock.

Sveral old timers live at Bellevue that I went to school with; the Gowns, the Lippencotts, and the McCrearys. My sister, who is dead, and has been for forty years, married in Kaufman County and move to Clay County, nine miles north of Henrietta about fifty two years ago, and her boys, Maynard and Tom, are still on that old home place, their father’s grandfather’s, and their uncle’s, right where they were born, and are in the cattle and farming business.

When we lived in Clay County, we used to come to Wichita Falls when there were just a few scattered houses here. After we left Bellevue, we went to Purcell, Indian Territory, about forty five years ago. While we lived at Purcell, the original five nations of Indians’ Land was opened up for settlement, and I made the run with my father from what was called the Pottawatome side, and we came in and my father located claim seven miles east of Oklahoma City. After the claim was located we went on to Oklahoma City to file on it that same day. That was in 1889.

While we lived at Purcell, just before that country was opened up, I took a bunch of horses from there to Trinidad, Colorado, and delivered them about thirty days after we started, having traveled a distance of 800 miles. There were three other young fellows along. I was foreman of the outfit. We went right through where Woodward is now, a little village where every house was built of adobe. We passed through Ft. Supply, and then into Liberal, Kansas. Those were the days of the old Chisholm Trail.

Finally we delivered the horses to John Craig, the owner, at Trinidad, Colorado. He had taken them to the Indian Territory to sell them, but failed to do so, so he hired us to take them back. He paid us $15 a month and our board, and he bought me a ticket back. The three other boys remained out there and I never saw them again.

After that my father went to Ponce City as instructor and teacher in the Indian School. He was instructor to the Poncas and the Tonkawas. We remained there until my mother was drowned on a trip to Oklahoma City to visit my sister, a Mrs. Nathan Curry, whose husband was a dairyman there. On the return home after a heavy rain they had to cross Cotton Wood Creek, near Guthrie, and when they approached the stream, they found the bridge under water. It was a little narrow bridge with no side rails. The horses got scared because they couldn’t see the bridge and went off the side and took the hack with them, and mother drowned before father could save her. My youngest brother was with them and he got him out all right; he got mother out too; but she was dead. At that time I was a clerk in the Post Office at Purcell. I immediately went to Guthrie to help my father take care of the remains and we buried mother in a little burying ground about six miles south of Oklahoma City. Today that little cemetery adjoins a very fine city cemetery called Rosemont. My oldest sister is buried there too; she died the same year.

My father took the three youngest children and went back to his original home in New York, on the Susquehanna River, where he was born and reared. I came back to Texas and went to my oldest brother in Kaufman County, who was in the ranching business in those days. I remained with him one year, which was about 1892, and then went with the T. and P. Railroad in the bridge building department. I remained in that department until 1898, when I went in station service with the T. and P. as check clerk. I remained with the T. and P. until I took up service with the Cotton Belt Railroad in 1903. I remained with them as agent until I finally came to Henrietta in Clay County in April, 1907, where I stayed until October of the same year, when I moved to Wichita Falls as agent for the Denver. I served as agent for the Denver until August 1918, having a clear record of eleven years work with them.

After that I went into the oil business and other lines of business for myself. In 1919 and 1920 I served as police and fire commissioner of Wichita Falls. I was at the same time on the school board with Judge Carrigan, J.L. Downing, J.L. Jackson, and W.R. Ferguson, I have served in various public capacities since that time.

I used to walk about four miles to school when I went to Oak Grove. One winter I went out and spent the night with some boys, at times. We had a terrible winter; cattle froze to death by the hundreds. We boys jump from one dead animal to another on part of our way to school. I was about eleven years old then.