The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-09-23

mighty labors the prosperity of the
state is based and whose deeds form Of the
most romantic incidents in American pioneer his
tory The memorial is to cost 100000 and Gut
zon Borglum of Stone mountain fame is now at
work it. Citizens of San Antonio have raised
$4,000 of chat amount and the other $4,000 is to
be raised by contributions from all parts of the
state
When it is completed and dedicated the dream
of the Old Trail Drivers association that rapidly
dwindling band of men who rode the ranges of
the Southwest than half century ago. to
commemorate the service of their comrades who
in the sixties and seventies drove nearly 100000
head Of beef cattle out Of Texas to the railroad
towns of Kansas and brought back with them
approximately $1O00OO0O0 to save Texas and the
cattle industry will be realized
Last year the annual reunion of the Old Trail
Drivers association was three-day affair with
the selection of the site for the Borglum monu-
ment as one of the main features The sculptor
himself was there, put a cowboy costume and
rode in the parade which the climax of the
reunion. Other interesting figures in the parade
were Uncle Charley" Goodnight, former owner
of the famous Goodnight ranch whose expert
ments in crossing buffalo and Galloway cattle to
produce the "catao" gave him the nickname of
"Catalo" Goodnight; "Uncle George" Glenn
seventy FIVE year-old negro and of the most
beloved members Of the association, who led a
~'riderless horse" in memory Of his boss" who
the only woman alive known to have made the
trip over the old Chisholm trail to Abilene Kan,
who is said to be the original of Taisie Lockhart.
the heroine in Emerson Houghs North of So"
The president of the association is George W.
Saunders of San Antonio and he has been the
handspring of the organization and the force
behind the movement to erect the memorial In
San Antonio. The association is an offshoot from
the Texas Cattle Raisers' association, which meets
every year to discuss ways and means for the
Improvement of the cattle business. At one of
these meetings Tin 1879 Mr.. Saunders proposed
an auxiliary organization of old-time trail drivers
to be composed of men who went up the trail"
in the early days The organization was formed
that year and in 1916 the first annual convention
was held in Houston Mr.. Saunders became presi-
dent in 1917 and has been the head of the asso-
citation since that time.
At the 1917 reunion Mr.. Saunders reported that
the association had membership of 500. Since
then sons of the old trail drivers have been made
eligible for membership 1t also has ladies'
auxiliary of which Mrs r. r. Russell Is chairman,
and this auxiliary has had a large share In the
work OF raising money for the San Antonio
memorial.
But the monument and the annual reunion are
not the only memorials which the surviving trail
drivers have erected to the comrades of their
youth There Is one which is more durable than
bronze or stone and which, even more strikingly
than the sculptor's art, is accurate picture Of
the lives and times Of the men who engaged In
the epic cattle trade That is the book called
.The Trail Drivers Of Texas" compiled and edited
by j. Marvin Hunter and published under the
direction OF President Saunders. The book was
originally issued in two volumes the first appear
ing in 1920 and the second in 1923. This year the
two volumes have been issued as one by the
Cokesbury Press of Nashville. Tenn.
When the second volume appeared three years
ago j. Frank Dobie a Texan, wrote of 1t The
Trail Drivers of Texas is not literature. Neither
is Hakluyt's Voyages literature Yet have long
thought the latter far superior in reality, in
dramatic interest in the reflection of great body
Of men of great age-the English seamen of the
spacious tines of Queen Elizabeth to Kingsley's
westward Hot which is literature The Trail
Drivers is the very stuff from which literature Is