| |
| | "Somewhere
in the West"
by Linda Kirkpatrick |
Columns
- MonthlyJohanna
Domodora of South Texas
8-18-08
Out of the PWA the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) was born. Thanks to the WPA and the monies paid to writers,
we now have a collection of interviews of people whose stories would have been
lost in history. Florence Angermiller's interview with Johanna July of Brackettville,
Texas is a story that I have read over and over...
Mary
Ann Goodnight and the Texas State Bison Herd 7-11-08
Their story began many, many years ago and when you know it your heart will fill
with the same pride that you get at you watch Old Glory waving in the breeze.
The
Women of 1836, Part III, Mary Millsap
6-3-08
"... Mary Millsap, wife of Isaac Millsap, Gonzales Ranger. Isaac was the
oldest defender at the Alamo and Mary was now one of the oldest widows. Not only
was Mary left with the burden of seven children to raise but she had been blind
for many years..."
The
Women of 1836 - Part II
Susannah Dickinson
5-1-08
"...Susannah picked up Angelina
and followed the officer into the courtyard. It was then that she viewed a site
that history books can never describe. The air was still and there was a deafening
hush all around. The bodies of the brave dead Texans lay stacked in piles, later
to become funeral pyres spreading smoke and history to the sky above..."
The
Women of 1836 - Part I
4-3-08
The women who came to Texas were
strong beyond means. They faced every hardship and danger that one can imagine
and still they survived. The following stories relate the tales of a few of these
women. The first is an unnamed woman from Anahuac...
Here
a Pig, There a Pig
Third and Final Event of the Pig Trilogy
3-10-08
Today in Real County there are several dedicated “hog hunters”
and they don’t understand catch and release if you get my drift. I will introduce
you to a few of these unique people...
This
Little Piggy Stayed Home
Part Two of the Pig Trilogy
1-5-08
This story is about the important
but disgusting details of butchering the ill fated little pig and preparing the
meat for the table. It is not for the faint of heart...
Hog
Drives of Frio Canyon Texas
Part I: “Git Along Little Piggy”
Late 1890’s
- Early 1900’s 12-8-07
The Frio Canyon suffered hard times in the late 1800’s... The folks, who built
up the early ranches in the Leakey area, did what they could to just get by...
Like the cattle drives of old but just not as classy or as romantic or as written
about were the hog drives of the Frio Canyon.
The
White Lady of Rio Frio 10-15-07
Story of a ghost that haunts the banks of the Frio River...
Tragedy
in South Texas: Reading Black - Unionist, George Washington - Wall Confederate
10-8-07
The northern end of South Texas is still considered
by many as a remote, desolate area that could only be home to rattlesnakes, horned
toads, scorpions and occasionally an outlaw. It is, on the other hand, a beautiful
country abound with clear rivers, solitude and an abundance of game and I am here
to tell there was a time when it was all of this and much more...
B.
F. (Frank) Payne, Texas Ranger 9-5-07
...Annually they would round up the herds and brand the calves according to the
brand of their mother. Thus each rancher was able to keep up with the herd size
and the cattle belonged to him even though the cow herds ran free. This process
worked well until the Civil War. Many of the young men who had hired out to work
these cows were called to fight...
Teresita
Woman of the Apache 8-2-07
Many accounts are told of the April 18, 1881 incident at the McLaurin Ranch in
the Frio Canyon of Texas. Kate McLaurin and Allan Lease were killed but the raiders
had compassionately left the McLaurin children alive. Many historical accounts
are linked to one another and a small glitch in history could have changed many
of the outcomes. Just one small change could have altered the lives of many, including
one Apache woman.
Sarge
Cummings Master of the Long Loop 6-30-07
Robert H. “Sarge” Cummings was known as a master of the long loop, a cowboy term
for rustler. This old coot was loved by all, except for maybe the Texas Rangers...
Conflict
on the Frio 6-3-07
The McLaurin
MassacreJack
Hoxie 5-1-07"Leakey's
Last Picture Show" 2-18-07
The Canyon Theatre
Beginning:
February 2007 | About
Linda Kirkpatrick:I
have been writing Cowboy Poetry for several years now. My mom is from Philadelphia
and my dad is from Texas. They met during World War II, married and my mother
got to live the dream that many city girls were wishing they could do….she married
her cowboy and made her home on a remote Texas ranch. Then I came along and try
as she might to dress me in dresses, her little girl became Daddy's cowgirl. My
whole life has involved cowboys in one way or the other. I try to focus my poetry
on the women of the west and the lives of women ranchers. I am a part of a group
called "The Cowboy Sunset Serenade," along with Frank Roberts and Joe Wells. Our
programs are about the history of the cowboy, the west and women of the west.
We perform at schools, state parks and retirement centers. We have also performed
at the National Cowboy Symposium at Lubbock, Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in
Alpine, Folklife Festival in San Antonio, Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in Austin
and anywhere else we can get someone to listen. Frank Roberts sings cowboy songs
while Joe and I do cowboy poetry.
I guess I do this in honor of my family,
just a bunch of old cowboys. I have watched them give their time, sweat and blood
to be stewards of the land and guardians of the livestock. I was, unknowingly,
brought up with a healthy respect for livestock and the environment and this was
all thanks to my dad, my uncles and my granddad. As any person who has lived this
life knows it is hard work with little pay but the rewards are greater than anything
imaginable. So this is why I write about this life, with an emphasis on the women
who lived in this era. |
| I've received
the top Reciter awards at the Western Legends Roundup and Cowboy Poetry Rodeo
in Kanab, Utah. I was named among the top five female poets by the Academy of
Western Artists in 2005 and 2006. I was also in the top five for female poet of
the year with the Western Music Association in 2006. |
|
Order
Book
Somewhere in the West | |
Order
Book
The Big Roundup | |
Order
CD
The BAR-D Roundup | |
|
| |
My poetry CD, Beneath
a Western Sky, was released in 2005. Some of my stories and poems are collected
in my book, Somewhere in the West (Cowboy Miner Productions, 2001).
I was a contributor to The Big Roundup (New West Library, 2001) anthology
that received the AWA Buck Ramsey Best Poetry Book Award, and am included in The
BAR-D Roundup, a compilation CD from the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry,
sponsors of CowboyPoetry.com. My poetry has been featured on the radio, in other
publications and overseas.
Order CD:
Contact Linda Kirkpatrick by email.
|
| | The
Chapbook:
The story of the Last Indian Raid in the Frio Canyon and possibly the entire state
of Texas.
Price - $7.00 includes S&H
Send
order to:
Linda Kirkpatrick
P.O. Box 128
Leakey, Texas
78873 |
| | This
photo is my dad, Alton Kirkpatrick, me and a longhorn. I was very upset when this
photo was made and remember every bit of it. You see my dad made me sit in that
saddle, on that longhorn, in a DRESS!! Now what cowgirl do you know would ride
a longhorn in a DRESS!? I was highly offended that my dad expected me to sit in
that saddle in a dress. That nasty little look that I have on my face is not out
of fear of that big ole steer it is because I had to sit up there in a dress!!!
Daddy was standing there to keep me from bailing off!! He carried that photo in
his wallet until a few years ago when I talked him out of it!! |
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