City Council Hears Concerns, Passes Measures

City Manager Cody Thompson addresses the City Council.

At its monthly meeting in City Hall yesterday evening, the City Council heard Frank Villegas’s concerns about the situation on the City’s north side, received the City Manager’s report, canceled the scheduled May 4 City election, authorized continued participation with Atmos, and approved advertising for bids to operate the City swimming pool this summer.

Frank Villegas addressed the Council about his concerns with problems on the City’s north side. These included drainage issues, erosion around the north side lift station, street problems, loud music from the Lumberyard, and oil well drilling within the City limits.

City Manager Cody Thompson gave the Council an update on City works. He reminded the Council that it will have to decide next month on a loan from the Texas Water Development Board for water line improvements. The deadline for the decision is April 23. The loan amount for $1.9 million will be supplemented with $330,000 in Green Funds by the TWDB if the Council decides to take out the loan (Green Funds do not have to be repaid) to bring the total to $2,233,000.

The City is also preparing for the Spring Clean-Up, which begins next Thursday, March 21, and ends Thursday, March 28 (including Saturday, March 23, but not Sunday, March 24). Daily hours of operation will be 9am to 7pm. Dumpsters will be located next to the Water Treatment Plant on West Broadway and Cedar Street. Items which may not be placed in containers include paint, oil, oil filters, chemical containers, air conditioners, and refrigerators unless tagged landfill acceptable. You must show a City of Roscoe utility bill or identification showing you are a Roscoe resident.

After approving the certification of unopposed candidates, the Council approved ordinance #144 canceling the May 4 election. Since no candidates filed to run against the mayor, Pete Porter, or incumbent Council Member Susie Alford, an election is not necessary.

The Council also approved resolution #149, which authorizes continued participation with the Atmos Cities Steering Committee and the payment of five cents per capita to fund regulatory and related activities related to Atmos Energy Corporation.

The Council also approved advertising for bids to operate the City swimming pool this summer. Those interested in submitting a bid should get in touch with City Hall at 325-766-3871.

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BLACKLAND DIVIDE RELAYS RESULTS

Bonnie Wilkinson wins the 400 meter race.

The Plowboys finished third of eight and the Plowgirls fifth of seven at the Blackland Divide Relays at Plowboy Field Friday afternoon.

Plowgirl Bonnie Wilkinson won two events outright, the 400 meter dash and the triple jump, and ran the final leg on the Plowgirl 400 meter relay team who also won their race. The other members are Sadie McCambridge, Victoria Martinez, and Kadee Martinez. Victoria Martinez was second in the 800 meter run.

For the Plowboys, Gary Shaw won the 100 meter dash, and the 200 meter relay team of Jaythan Coale, Caleb Gray, Brayan Medina, and Gary Shaw finished second. Tristan Baker was also second in the high jump, and Jaythan Coale second in the Pole Vault.

Here are the final team rankings with number of points earned:

Varsity boys: 1) Stamford 138, 2) Post 135½, 3) Roscoe Collegiate 96, 4) Coahoma 85½, 5) Colorado City 65, 6) Eula 36½, 7) Burkburnett 24, 8) Hawley 14½.

Varsity girls: 1) Stamford 189, 2) Post 102, 3) Hawley 89, 4) Colorado City 72½, 5) Roscoe Collegiate 53½, 6) Eula 46, 7) Coahoma 41.

Plowgirls

Event                          Place           Athlete                     Time/Distance
3200 meter run             5          Riley Sheridan                   14:42.26
                                          7          Hartley Sager                     16:43.05
800 meter run               2         Victoria Martinez                2:37.10
400 meter dash             1         Bonnie Wilkinson                1:01.5
                                         9          Kaylea Perez                         1:13.46
Triple Jump                   1          Bonnie Wilkinson                36’ 1½”
                                         6          Jaci Alexander                      31’ 3”
100 meter dash             6         Kaylea Perez                          14.18
200 meter dash           10         Kaylea Perez                         30.03
4 x 400 meter relay      1          Plowgirls                             4:23.74
(Sadie McCambridge, V. Martinez, Kadee Martinez, B.Wilkinson)
Shot Put                         5          Shauna McCambridge        26’ 6”

Plowboys

Event                          Place         Athlete                     Time/Distance
4 x 100 meter relay     4          Plowboys                            46.13
(Antonio Aguayo, Jaythan Coale, Andrew Deleon, Gary Shaw)
110 meter hurdles       3         Tristan Baker                     18.56
                                        5          Brayan Medina                 20.00
100 meter dash            1          Gary Shaw                          11.41
                                        9          Hunter Anglin                   11.99
4 x 200 meter relay    2          Plowboys                          1:33.71
(J. Coale, Caleb Gray, B. Medina, G. Shaw)
400 meter dash           9          Andrew Deleon              1:00.41
300 meter hurdles      4          Tristan Baker                     47.63
200 meter dash           3          Caleb Gray                          24.28
                                        5          Jaythan Coale                    23.86
4 x 400 meter relay    4          Plowboys                          3:44.97
(A. Aguayo, B. Medina, Zachary Parrott, C. Gray)
High Jump                   2          Tristan Baker                      5’ 4”
                                       3          Zachary Parrott                   5’ 2”
Pole Vault                    2          Jaythan Coale                     12’ 6”
                                       5          Jayden Gonzales                11’ 6”
Triple Jump                 6          Tristan Baker                     35’ 7”

This week is spring break, so the next meet for the Plowgirls and Plowboys is next Friday, March 22, at the Lone Wolf Relays in Colorado City.

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MOTORCYCLE CRASH KILLS RIDER EAST OF ROSCOE

Larry Valverde, 55, of Big Spring was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle on I-20 Sunday morning just east of the merger with US 84 east of Roscoe. The accident occurred at around 8:05am according to a preliminary DPS crash report.

According to the DPS the motorcycle left the road and rolled over in a ditch. Valverde was pronounced dead at the scene. Wet road conditions were reported at the time.

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LUMBERYARD WEEKEND FEATURES JOSH ABBOTT, MEL TILLIS, JR.

The Lumberyard goes into full Spring mode this weekend with Mel Tillis, Jr., & the New Statesider Band Friday night and the Josh Abbott Band Saturday.

Mel "Sonny" Tillis, Jr.

Mel Tillis, Jr., better known to his friends as “Sonny,” is a singer/songwriter from Nashville who has written songs for Reba McIntire, Pam Tillis, Gene Watson, Suzy Bogguss, Trace Adkins, and others, including the No. 1 hit, “When I Think About Angels,” by Jamie O’Neal.

As the son of country legend Mel Tillis, he grew up around songs and got his start singing at the Mel Tillis theater in Branson, Missouri. In live performances, he is said to put on a great show and is as gracious as his father was.

The Josh Abbott Band.

The Josh Abbott Band, originally from Lubbock, was formed in 2006 and began touring in 2008. They released their first album, Scapegoat, in 2009 and followed it with She’s Like Texas in 2010, Small Town Family Dream in 2012, Front Row Seat in 2015, and now their latest, Until My Voice Goes Out, which many consider their best yet.

With a national following, the band has appeared live on Conan and Jimmy Kimmel. Top singles include “Oh, Tonight” (with Kacey Musgraves), “She’s Like Texas,” “Wasn’t That Drunk,” “Touch,” “Taste,” “My Texas,” and their latest, “Girl Down in Texas.”

For reservations or more information, contact the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: HIGH WINDS, FINALLY SOME RAIN

High winds broke the Museum window and sent the blinds flying.

After being teased by forecasters’ wrong predictions about rain for days, we finally got a decent shower last night, although it came with the strongest winds we’ve seen so far this year. Roscoe weatherman Kenny Landfried recorded .70" for Roscoe last night, and similar amounts were general throughout the area. 

Before last night, showers had been predicted for days, but the actual rainfall added up to only .14" here in town. In any case, the total of .84" is the most we've got in any week so far this year, so it was quite welcome.

The winds were another story. Yesterday afternoon, the winds just seemed to get stronger as the hours went by. Sustained high winds reached 35mph with gusts up to 50mph and over last night. One casualty was one of the windows at the Roscoe Historical Museum, as can be seen from the photo above. There were also reports of a couple of trucks blowing over near the underpass east of town and a storage shed at A-1 Auto Parts being destroyed.

And even before yesterday, the wind had been the most prominent weather feature of the week as Roscoe lived up to its billing as the wind capital. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday had sustained winds of over 20mph with gusts up to 35mph. Sunday and Monday were nicer as the winds tapered off into the teens, but then yesterday and earlier today they returned with a vengeance.

Temperatures, on the other hand, were relatively moderate with highs of 69° Thursday, 74° Friday, and 73° Saturday before cooling down to a 58° high on Sunday, 51° Monday, and 68° yesterday. Lows on these days ranged from Thursday’s 37° to Friday’s 55°.

The forecast for rain is over now that the front has moved through but the high wind will remain at least for another day. Tomorrow it will shift to the north and diminish somewhat. Temperatures will also be cooler with highs in the fifties through the weekend. On Monday and Tuesday they should climb back into the sixties.

There is almost no chance for more rain in the forecast until Friday, March 22, when the outlook is for scattered thunderstorms.

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Blackland Divide Relays Here Friday

Locals who want to get a look at this year’s Big Country track and field stars will get their opportunity this Friday as Roscoe Collegiate High hosts its big annual meet, the Blackland Divide Relays, at Plowboy Field. Over a dozen area schools with their top male and female athletes will be on hand for the competition.

The meet begins at 2:30pm with the field events: discus, shot put, triple jump, high jump, long jump, and pole vault for both boys and girls. The 3200 meter run will be at about 3:00pm, and the running finals for all races, including runs, dashes, relays, and hurdles, will begin about 5:30 and continue until done.

It currently appears that the weather will cooperate with a predicted afternoon high of 72° and only a light (7mph) south breeze.

The Junior Blackland Divide Relays, originally scheduled for yesterday, will be held at Plowboy Field tomorrow, March 10, starting at 4:00pm for both track and field events.

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PLOWBOYS MAKE 8-2A ALL-DISTRICT BASKETBALL TEAMS

Brayan Medina                                        Caleb Gray

Caleb Gray and Brayan Medina, both seniors, have been selected to the 8-2A All-District first team. Making the second team are senior Jayden Gonzales and junior Ryan Highsmith. Honorable mention goes to seniors Brandon Lavalais and Jose Ortega and junior Hunter Anglin.

Academic All-District selections are Jayden Gonzales, Tristan Baker, Caleb Gray, and Gage Turnbow. 

Congratulations to the Plowboys receiving these honors!

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PLOWGIRL, PLOWBOY RESULTS FROM ANSON MEET

The Roscoe Collegiate High track teams did not participate in the ACU High School Invitational last week as originally scheduled. Instead they competed in the Anson Tiger Relays. Both the Plowgirls and Varsity Plowboys finished fifth of eight, while the JV Plowboys finished second.

Here are the final standings followed by the number of points for each team:

Varsity Girls: Breckenridge 167, Stamford 113, Haskell 108, Benjamin 60, Roscoe Collegiate 49, Hamlin 48, Anson 38, Hawley 35.

Varsity Boys: Breckenridge 156, Stamford 112, Anson 84, Hamlin 79, Roscoe Collegiate 66, Hawley 46, Benjamin 38, Haskell 15.

Junior Varsity Boys: Breckenridge 152, Roscoe Collegiate 110, Anson 98, Stamford 82, Hawley 63, Hamlin 56, Benjamin 11, Haskell 8.

Here are the results for the varsity Plowgirls and Plowboys who finished in the top ten of their events:

Plowgirls

Event                           Place       Athlete                      Time/Distance
100 Yard Dash              6          Kaylea Perez                     14.12
200 Yard Dash              1          Sadie McCambridge       27.88
                                          7          Jaci Alexander                31.31
400 Yard Dash              2          Bonnie Wilkinson        1:05.31
4 x 200 Yard Relay       5          Plowgirls                        1:55.31
(J. Alexander, Kadee Martinez, Victoria Martinez, B. Wilkinson)
4 x 400 Yard Relay       2          Plowgirls                       4:24.96
(Sadie McCambridge, V. Martinez, K. Martinez, B. Wilkinson)
Triple Jump                   1          Bonnie Wilkinson           36’ 2”
                                         7           Jaci Alexander                30’ 7½”

Plowboys

Event                           Place         Athlete                    Time/Distance
100 Yard Dash              10          Caleb Gray                      12.91
200 Yard Dash                1          Hunter Anglin               23.46
                                           4          Jaython Coale                24.68
110 Yard Hurdles           4          Tristan Baker                 19.81
                                           5          Brayan Medina              21.65
300 Yard Hurdles          3          Tristan Baker                 50.86
                                           4          Barrett Beal                    52.90
4 x 200 Yard Relay        2          Plowboys                      1:35.43
(Jaython Coale, Caleb Gray, Hunter Anglin, Gary Shaw)
4 x 400 Yard Relay        5          Plowboys                      3:59.12
(Antonio Aguayo, Brayan Medina, Barrett Beal, C. Gray)
High Jump                     3          Tristan Baker                   5’ 0”
Pole Vault                       5          Jaython Coale                11’ 6”
                                          6          Jayden Gonzales          10’ 6”
                                          7          Antonio Aguayo              9’ 0”
Triple Jump                   6          Barrett Beal                   35’ 5”
                                          7          Tristan Baker                34’ 0½”
Shot Put                          3          Brandon Lavalais          41’ 3”

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BRI BAGWELL AT THE LUMBERYARD SATURDAY

Bri Bagwell.

It’s Rattlesnake Roundup weekend, the weather is warmer, and the Lumberyard will celebrate with the Saturday evening performance of Texas Country singer and songwriter Bri Bagwell.

Born and raised in Las Cruces, NM, Bri has been singing since childhood, originally performing with her twin brothers. She now travels the Texas honky-tonk circuit. She has been to Nashville and hopes to become country music’s next superstar. Her musical influences include Miranda Lambert, Patty Griffin, and Johnny Cash. 

This video features her singing her single “Whiskey.”

For reservations or more information, contact the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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COMMUNITY CENTER TO HOST SPRING TRADES DAY

On Saturday, April 6, the Roscoe Community Center will hold a Spring Trades Day: “The Clodhopper.” The Easter Bunny will be there for pictures, and the sale will include jewelry, furniture, knives, home décor, T-shirts, Scentsy, food, bags, and much more.

Hours of operation will be from 9:00am-5:00pm, so make plans now to attend. Anyone interested in a booth should contact Connie Baize, 325-338-1287, or Misty Reynolds, 325-338-1005, or e-mail roscoecommunitycenter@yahoo.com.

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REMEMBERING WASTELLA

The Wastella grain elevator.

The Hard Times’ look back at Wastella last week raised interest and comments from several readers who once lived in the area. Both Margaret (Richburg) Vaughn and Cliff Etheredge were quick to point out that I had neglected to mention the Wastella Baptist Church. Margaret played piano there for their Vacation Bible School one year. She also lived with her family in the Barnes house that was the Museum Photo of the Week.

Cliff remembers his dad blowing up the concrete foundation for a cotton gin that was once out there and also remembered a Wastella baseball team George Parks organized when Cliff was a boy. He and his brother Jay were on the team along with Jerry Richburg, Royce Walker, Ronny Turner, Keith Cleckler, Henry Parrott, Donnie Rannefeld, the Freytag brothers, Duane Duncan, Ronnie Williams, Larry Willman, Wylie Walker, Sonny and Larry Darden, Ralph Hudgens, Stanley Reed, and possibly others. There were lots of boys around back then, He mentions, however, that the area was amazingly short of girls.

He also says the grain elevator was blown over a few years ago by winds clocked at 123mph by the instruments in the large nearby wind turbines.

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WEATHER REPORT: COLD, BUT GETTING WARMER

Saturday's sunset.

After all the mild weather we had in February, these opening days of March were a serious reminder—never mind what the groundhog said—that old man winter was not quite done yet. 

Last Friday’s high of 74° seems like a distant memory with what we’ve endured since then. Saturday’s high of 47° was at 12:01am as a norther blew in and kept temperatures in the thirties for the rest of the day. By midnight the temperature was down to 33° and it never climbed above 34° on Sunday. Then, it steadily dropped to 22° and by 6am Monday morning was down to 16°, which felt like 5° with the 16mph north wind and gusts up to 23mph. By Monday afternoon it rose to 29° before dropping back to 17° yesterday morning. The sun came out yesterday, though, and by 4:00pm the temperature rose to 40°. Even though the cold spell was in March, it was the coldest weather we’ve seen so far this year. So, if you were hoping for a nice peach and apricot crop later on, you may as well forget it.

The good news is that we will see a warming trend starting today, and this weekend’s activities, the Blackland Divide Relays and the Rattlesnake Roundup, should be happening without anyone worrying about frostbite. Today’s high should rise to 56°, tomorrow’s 78°, and Friday’s and Saturday’s around 69°. Morning lows will also be much warmer: 49° tomorrow morning, 55° Friday, and 41° Saturday.

On Sunday, the forecasters are currently giving us a 50% chance of rain, on Monday 40%, and on Tuesday 50%.

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Looking Back at Wastella

The Wastella grain elevator and scale house. (Wastella photos by Tommy Meredith)

In 1907, land developers proposed a new town eight miles northwest of Roscoe that would have a station on the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway, which was then being built from Roscoe to Snyder. Will Neely, who owned a ranch there, said he would provide the land for the new town so long as it was named after his daughter, Wastella, and the developers agreed. Dr. J. W. Young, Sr., discusses the town in It All Comes Back, his book of memoirs of early day Roscoe, published in 1962. The following can be found on pages 51-52 of that book. I present it here just as he wrote it.

Even in the earlier days Texas had its land scandals. I remember—not with pleasure—the case of Wastella town-site. The developers of this area used all the sale “gimmicks” of the day. They had a big auction, complete with plenty of barbecue and red lemonade. This was located on the town-site eight miles northwest of Roscoe. I went over to see about it. When I arrived, I found a large section of land laid off for business lots and an even larger space for residential property. The promoters had built five small residences. (Years later I bought one five-room house for one hundred and fifty dollars and moved it on a farm I had bought in the neighborhood.) After the auction was over, a bank building was built, five grocery stores, a lumber yard, and a blacksmith shop.

I was asked to move there and was offered a year’s board free and horse feed for a year. They told me there would be several thousand people located in Wastella within a few months. I did not move as I was doing fairly well and the old timers told me there was no water near the business section. However, those who did not know the water situation paid as much as eighteen hundred dollars for business lots. Many investors paid a small amount down and never did pay the rest. Wastella was never enough of a city to become even a ghost town in later years. It just never did develop.

Two friends of mine, Mr. McMinn and Mr. McCauley, went to Wastella before the auction to look over the “town.” They saw one small boy in the front yard of the only home, chewing tobacco. They asked the boy where Wastella was. He spit out a string of tobacco juice and then said, “She’s in the back yard doing the washing.” The town was named after “Miss Wastella,” and I do not remember her last name. The other houses were built after this visit was made.

Early RS&P plat for the City of Wastella. (Click image to enlarge)

Editor’s Note: Now only a ghost town, Wastella never really had a chance despite the early efforts to establish a community there. It did get a post office and in its early years also had a couple of stores, a hotel, and a school. It also had a depot and was a scheduled passenger and freight stop on the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railway.

However, as Dr. Young mentions in his account, it ultimately failed because of its lack of potable water. Water wells drilled there produced only undrinkable gyp water, so people had to haul in water or collect it in cisterns. By the 1950s, only a grain elevator and a country store remained. The store, for many years run by Adolph Villegas, remained open until around 1990, when it too finally closed. According to the Texas State Handbook online, the population in 1980 and 1990 was 13 and in 2000 only 4.

Richardson School, ca. 1906. It was about two miles south of Wastella but moved there in 1908 after the station was built. The teacher, Mr. Stevens, is at far left.

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ROSCOE HIGH TRACK TEAMS OPEN SEASONS THIS WEEK

Bonnie Wilkinson does the triple jump.

Roscoe Collegiate High track teams open their seasons this week. The JV Plowboys kick off their season tomorrow at the Anson Tiger Relays while the varsity Plowboys and Plowgirls open theirs on Friday at the ACU High School Invitational in Abilene.

The Anson meet starts at 3:30pm tomorrow and the ACU meet at 12:00 on Friday.

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OIL WELL BEING DRILLED AT YOUNG FARM ESTATES

The new well on Young Farm Estates. (Photo by Carl Childers)

An oil well is being drilled next to US 84 on Young Farm Estates land. The derrick went up yesterday.

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“MAGIC MIKE” AT LUMBERYARD SATURDAY

Magic Mike Live.

The Lumberyard begins its 2019 season with the celebrated dance troupe Magic Mike Live in a “Ladies’ Night Out” performance Saturday night. This traveling group of male dancers puts on a show based loosely on the movie Magic Mike, starring Channing Tatum. The show is advertised as featuring “thirteen of the hottest and most talented men in the country performing in front of, behind, above, and all around the audience” and a show “where women can feel what it’s like to exist in a world where their desires are heard and they are treated like goddesses.”

This male revue performance involves stripping, but not in the way one might expect. There is no nudity or jackhammer gyrations. Instead, the show features dancing, singing, piano playing, drumming and aerial acrobatics. There are also lap dances and plenty of audience participation, including foot massages, slow dances, and abs offered for stroking.

For reservations or more information, contact the Lumberyard during work hours at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: COOL, WINDY

Monday morning's sunrise.

The weather was once again mixed this week. Temperatures were temperate with highs in the 50s and 60s and lows ranging from 30° to 40°F, but the most notable changes were in the wind. Saturday was nasty with dusty red skies, high winds of up to 35mph and gusts up to 48. Monday’s skies didn’t look quite so bad, but winds reached the 25mph range with gusts up to 33mph, and yesterday’s winds varied from high to light under sunny skies. The predictions for rain didn’t ever materialize into anything measurable.

Today’s weather should be a continuation of what we’ve been getting but with lighter winds. The high should be about 60° today, 62° tomorrow, and all the way up to 78° Friday. A cold front arrives on Saturday, though, with the low dropping to 28° and on Sunday all the way down to 16°, which will be the coldest we've had this winter, cold enough to freeze the buds off any early bloomers. Sunday’s high will be only 42° and Monday’s only 38°, so we’ve still got some more cold weather to endure before we’re done, as March apparently wants to come in like a lion.

There is no rain in the forecast.

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Roscoe in Years Gone By: The 1890s

The F. M. Whorton homestead in 1896 showing the new addition. This was the first house in what is now Roscoe. Mrs. Whorton surveys the scene.

Editor’s note: Since this week has been a bit short on local news, I thought I’d fill the gap by presenting a little more of Roscoe’s early history. A little over a year ago, November 29, 2017, to be exact, I wrote about the prehistory of Roscoe and what this area was like from the days before the Anglo-Americans came all the way up to the 1870s. I followed that on January 3 of last year with a description of the coming of the railroad and the establishment of Katula, then Vista, and finally Roscoe. The following picks up where that one leaves off and looks at the budding young town of Roscoe through the 1890s up to the turn of the twentieth century.

Less is known about Roscoe in the 1890s than any other decade of its history. Still not an incorporated town, it had no defined boundaries, no city government, and no official records—and only a handful of photographs remain. Almost all available information comes from occasional articles and real estate ads in newspapers of the day and the often-fallible memories of the original inhabitants, sometimes recorded as much as a half-century later.

Thus, reliable determinations are impossible for the town’s population growth before it incorporated in 1907. The United States census taken in 1890 was destroyed almost completely by fire at the Commerce Department in 1921, including the record for Nolan County. So, the earliest official population record is the U. S. census of 1900. At that time, Roscoe wasn’t listed as a community because it wasn’t yet incorporated, but it and its immediate surroundings comprised Nolan County Precinct 5, which counted 55 heads of household and a total population of 296. That is not nearly as much as one would expect from the available estimates in ads and other promotional materials of the 1890s.

An 1892 real estate ad in the Abilene Reporter paints a rosy picture about how booming the new community is, claiming that over 200 families have bought land and are moving to the Roscoe area. But it is important to remember that the ad was placed there by landsmen who were eager to sell the land they had just invested in, so their claims should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Similarly, a Texas & Pacific Railway brochure of 1894 lists Roscoe’s population at 300, but the railroad was also interested in selling its land, so this estimate may also be inflated.*

* Originally owned by the state, the unsettled lands along the railroad right-of-way had been granted by the legislature to Texas schools and the Texas & Pacific railroad in alternating sections. The T&P was granted the lands in return for building the railroad, and the schools received funding from the land sales to provide for the education of Texas children.

The Roscoe area from an 1897 T&P map of Texas. (Click to enlarge.)

 Judging from the 1900 census figures, it seems likely that just as the population waxed and waned in Sweetwater in the 1880s, it also did for both Sweetwater and Roscoe in the 1890s, depending primarily on the weather. Good farming and ranching years produced optimism and an increase in land sales and new settlers, while drouth years did the opposite. Thus, records for the area indicate that 1891 and 1892 were good years regarding rainfall, while 1893 and 1894 were very dry (Buffalo Guns, 126). Sidney Bryan (18 Ranch, 22) says that settlers, who had begun trekking into the country with very small herds, gave up during these drouth years and returned to their former homes in the east. Between then and 1900, it seems unlikely that Roscoe ever had more than 400 people or so.

Nevertheless, there were several indications of the town’s development during these years, and the groundwork was being laid for future growth. An ad of 1895 says that “Roscoe, only three years old, has a good public school, two church organizations, hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop, etc.” It also lists the town’s merchants: J. C. Seale, general merchandise; W. J. Turner, groceries and hardware; W. H. Brasher, groceries; and J. B. Carlisle, hotel; and notes that it also has a cotton gin. The ad also mentions that Roscoe is a trading center for a territory extending fifty miles to the northwest and that area land is selling from $3 to $7 an acre. It also notes that “splendid water is secured by boring wells and pumping with windmills.”

Up until 1894, the town’s business section was located about a half-mile west of where it is now. But that year big rains fell, and high water caused its relocation to the current downtown area around Cypress and Main. According to a 1938 Roscoe Times article on the town’s early history, J. C. Seale recalled that the sacks of salt in his store at the old location were just empty sacks when the water went down.  

J. M. Chappell owned the block downtown where the Blackland Smokehouse, Lumberyard, and Wildflower Boutique are today. He gave the southwest corner (now Memorial Park) to W. F. Jones and the southeast corner (now the Worship Center) to Ross Haley, provided they built fireproof buildings and give him interest on the inside walls. These were the town’s first brick buildings. Mr. Jones opened a grocery store and Mr. Haley a hardware store. Mr. Chappell then built and opened a drug store. Two new lumber yards soon followed.  (Gracey).

W. F. Jones Grocery and Thomas Trammell's Exchange Bank, ca. 1899.

There were naturally a lot of firsts for the new town in the 1890s, and previous histories of the community have always included several of them when recalling the decade. The first doctor was W. T. Wallace, one of Vista’s first residents. The first baby born in Roscoe was X. B. Sanders in 1891. He lived his whole life in Roscoe and was for many years the town marshal. The first school was established also in 1891. Located in a two-room frame building where the Church of Christ now stands (i.e., on Third and Bois d’Arc), it had 24 children enrolled, $115 in school funds, and its trustees were E. B. McBurnett, J. C. Spires, and William Lagow. (100 Years, p. 48). Its first teacher was C. S. Knott, known in Roscoe as Professor Knott. The building also served as a church for all denominations. Separate church buildings for the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Church of Christ would not be built until several years later.

The first wedding was Dab Whitesides and Miss Pomers in 1893. The first newspaper, The Roscoe Enterprise, was established by Harris and Pipkin in 1893, but it didn’t last long. The first gin was owned by C. L. Rea and a Mr. Sandlin. The first bank, the Exchange Bank, was established in 1897 by Thomas Trammell (who also established the first bank in Sweetwater in 1883). It was on the north side of First Street, now Broadway, near where the Wildflower Boutique is today.

Much of the area’s earlier public land was sold and settled by the 1890s. North of Roscoe in Fisher County was the 18 Ranch, formed in 1881. To its west was the Linn Ranch, established by Colonel Linn, and northwest of Roscoe was the Thin Branch ranch of Joe Nunn, established in 1876. South of Roscoe were sections of land owned by the Whortons, Lagows, Goodes, Longs, McBurnetts, and Emersons.

Cotton was grown, but a lot of available farmland was still prairie and not yet in cultivation. An item in the Galveston Daily News in 1895 says of Roscoe: “This section of the county is mostly a stock county, not much farming being done here. The acreage in cotton is about 50 per cent less than last year.” Most of that stock was cattle but there were still places where sheep were raised.

A listing of cotton production for the 1898 crop shows Roscoe trailing all the towns to its east: Weatherford 21,005 bales, Millsap 1516, Brazos 600, Santa 1588, Gordon 4662, Thurber 339, Strawn 1178, Ranger 5129, Eastland 1314, Cisco 5582, Putnam 1219, Baird 7121, Abilene 20,935, Merkel 4760, Eskota 548, Sweetwater 1155, Colorado 3222 and Roscoe 138 bales. (Dallas Morning News, Feb. 14, 1899).

In the grassland around Roscoe, prairie dog towns were scattered here and there, and in the ranch country south of town, herds of pronghorn antelopes still roamed, along with other wildlife. The buffalo were gone, but their bones were scattered around the countryside, and in lean times people gathered and sold them to be shipped to east Texas and made into fertilizer.

Families lived in wood frame houses with wood stoves, no indoor plumbing, no lawns in the yards, and no trees, or maybe one or two just recently planted. Water came from the windmill tank, and most families owned a cow, some chickens, and horses or mules, along with dogs and cats. Families were larger then, and children had more work to do. There was no electricity, and lighting in the house was furnished by “coal oil” (i.e., kerosene) lanterns.

Surprisingly, however, some homes and businesses had telephones. It is not known when telephones first arrived in Roscoe, but it was before 1900 because a news item with the title, “Telephone Notice,” in the Abilene Reporter of July 7, 1899 says, “On account of an advance in the price from Merkel west, the rate for telephone messages has been changed to 51 cents from Abilene to Roby or Roscoe.”

Roscoe’s new T&P depot in the final stages of construction in 1898.

After the old depot burned, the railroad built a new one, as stated in this item from the August 28, 1898, Dallas Morning News:  

BUILDING A NEW DEPOT

Roscoe, Nolan Co., Tex., Aug. 27—The Texas and Pacific Railroad company is building a new depot at Roscoe, which was badly needed. We have been without one for some time. The first was burned some time since. The one going up now when completed will be an ornament to the town.

Note the telephone poles in the distance, indicating that the town had telephones at least as early as 1898.

REFERENCES

Biggers, Don Hampton. History That Will Never Be Repeated, 1901, and Pictures of the Past, 1902. Rpt. as Buffalo Guns & Barbed Wire. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1991.

Gracey, Sid. “History of Roscoe: Our Roscoe Roots.”  Roscoe Times, July 13, 2001. (This was originally a 1926 essay written as a school assignment for which she received an A+.)

Nolan County Historical Commission. First 100 Years: Nolan County, Texas. Dallas: Taylor Publishing, 1985.

Parks, George. “City of Roscoe Has Glorious Past, Active Present, Great Future,” Roscoe Times, December 9, 1938.

Redway, Maureen Whorton. Out of the Whirlwind: A West Texas Saga. San Antonio: Naylor, 1975.

Whorton, R. H., Jr. Interview with Maureen Whorton Redway. Roscoe, Texas. April 20, 1973.

Yeats, E. L., and Shelton, Hooper. History of Nolan County, Texas. Sweetwater, TX: Shelton Press, 1975.

Yeats, E. L., and Shelton, Hooper. The 18 Ranch: Colorado Cattle Co., 1871-1973. Feather Press, 1973.

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PLOWGIRLS RECEIVE ALL-DISTRICT HONORS

2018-2019 Roscoe Plowgirls.

The 8-2A All-District selections have been made, and the results are in.

Sadie McCambridge is Co-MVP Defensive Player of the Year. Bonnie Wilkinson and Shauna McCambridge are First-Team All-District.
Veronica Cuellar and Victoria Martinez are Second-Team All-District.
Riley Sheridan, Jaci Alexander, and Jovana Pena made Honorable Mention.

Congratulations to the Plowgirls and Coach Shella Arnwine on a fine season!

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ROSCOE CO-OP GIN COMPLETES SEASON

The Central Rolling Plains Co-op Cotton Gin completed ginning of the 2018 season on February 12 with a total final output of 23,372 bales. Here’s how that total stacks up against previous years for the gin:

                                             2007           109,991
                                             2008             57,184
                                             2009             39,626
                                             2010             70,379
                                             2011               9,966
                                             2012             66,985
                                             2013             71,849
                                             2014             32,274
                                             2015             75,636
                                             2016             87,827
                                             2017            111,598
                                             2018             23,372

This year’s total was considerably below the 12-year average of 63,024 bales. Only 2011 was lower.

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FFA STUDENTS COMPETE IN SAN ANTONIO, SAN ANGELO

Caleb Boren at the Agriscience Fair in San Antonio.

Caleb Boren and Hannah Ward competed in the Agriscience Fair Saturday at the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo in the Animal Systems Division. They competed against approximately 70 other FFA and 4-H members from across the state. Caleb won 4th place in his division.

Two Roscoe FFA Junior Livestock Judging Teams competed in the San Angelo Livestock Show & Rodeo on Saturday. The team of Jacob Kiser, Darbee Drake, Xander Moffett, and Gaven Martinez finished in 7th place. Jacob Stegge, Richie Solis, Kirsten Welch, and Alicia Pantoja finished 8th. Kiser finished 11th as an individual, and Drake finished 13th.

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WEATHER REPORT: WARM, THEN COLD

East winds at the Early Childhood Center Sunday afternoon.

This past week has been a mixed bag for weather. The latter part of last week was decidedly springlike with a high of 63°F on Wednesday, 81° Thursday, 80° Friday, and 74° on Saturday. However, a cold front moved through on Saturday, and on Sunday the high reached only 56°. 

A second front moved in Sunday evening, dropping temperatures further. Monday’s high made it only to 37° and yesterday only 32° with the wind chill making it feel even lower. Sunday’s low was 31°, Monday’s 28°, and yesterday’s 29°. The forecast for yesterday was for mixed freezing rain and snow, but we dodged the bullet on that one as there was no more than a drizzle and temperatures were mostly just above freezing, so driving was not dangerous, as some forecasters had feared, and kids hoping for a snow day from school were disappointed.

However, the cold weather seems to be done, at least for a while, and we can once again return to warmer weather in the next few days. Today’s high will be about 57°, tomorrow’s 62°, and Friday’s 66°. There’s a 50% chance of rain on Friday, while Saturday will be blustery with 28mph west winds. Saturday, Sunday, and the days following should all have highs in the sixties with lows in the mid to upper thirties or forties.

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