authors – Page 3 – Texas History Notebook

Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry was born in Archer City, Texas to William Jefferson and Hazel Ruth McIver McMurtry, a ranching family. He relates that his family had been ranchers since the 1870s and that it had included several trail drivers among his uncles and other relatives. Accordingly, some of his tales were developed from stories he had been told when he was a boy. McMurtry lived on a ranch south of Archer City near a local landmark known as “Idiot’s Ridge” until he was old enough to go to school and his parents moved into town.

Elmer Kelton

elmer_kelton

(Image credit: AmericanCowboy.com)

Elmer was born in 1926 on the Five Wells Ranch, one of the Scharbauer ranches, in rural Andrews County, Texas. His father was Robert William “Buck” Kelton and mother was the former Neta Beatrice “Bea” Parker. Three years later, Buck took a job at the McElroy Ranch in Crane, Texas near Midland, where he would remain for 36 years. Elmer grew up on the ranch, hearing the colorful stories told by Buck and the other cowboys on the ranch.

Continue reading Elmer Kelton