history – Page 37 – Texas History Notebook

Marfa Lights

The mystery of the Marfa Lights is surrounded by folklore. The earliest known account of the Marfa Lights dates back to a night in March of 1883 when a sixteen year old cowboy named Robert Reed Ellison (1867 – 1946) witnessed some lights across the prairie that seemed to shimmer in the distance. The stories about Ellison usually include that he and another person were driving a herd of cattle over Paisano Pass (about halfway between the current towns of Marfa and Alpine) to his father’s place when the lights near the base of the Chinati Mountains caught their eyes. The next morning, they investigated but found no remnants of fires, nor any other things that would explain what they had seen.

Cowboy Strike of 1883 and the Ghost Town of Tascosa

Image credit: Boston Globe, Marcy 24, 1883

In the spring of 1883, the newspapers like the Boston Globe reported that hundreds of cowboys went on strike for higher wages. The next day, a Wyoming newspaper gave more details, repeating the $50 per month demand. This article alluded to the possible threats of danger facing cowboys who declined to participate in the strike, but gives the number of strikers to be two hundred. Both have typographical or transcription errors. “Tosasa” in the Boston Globe article is probably a misspelling of Tascosa. The Wyoming article calls the county of the strike “Lascasa” and places it near the Texas-New Mexico border. The articles begin to settle down in a few days and give the location to be Tascosa.

Shankleville Love Story

Shankleville is an unincorporated community located about as far east in Texas as a person can go, since in that area the border follows the river which takes a bend to the east. The community is situated in Newton County, a long and narrow county that extends to the Sabine River which at that point marks the border between Texas and Louisiana. Shankleville itself sits a few miles north of Newton, the county seat, and less than ten miles west of the Sabine.

Shankleville was founded by formerly enslaved people, Winnie and Jim Shankle and their friend Stephen Alexander McBride. By this time, many people have heard the story of Jim and Winnie Shankle, but it bears repeating.

Buck Ramsey

Kenneth Melvin “Buck” Ramsey was born January 9, 1938 in New Home, Texas to David Melvin Ramsey (1909 – 1985) and Pearl Lee Williams Ramsey (1913 – 2004). Buck was a well known cowboy poet and singer. The nickname “Buck” was given to him by his father. Buck was the author of “Anthem” and many other poems and songs that describe the cowboy way of life. He also made numerous musical recordings and made personal appearances around the country reciting his poetry and singing his songs.

Gale Storm

The actress known as Gale Storm was born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas on April 5, 1922. Her middle name was not an ancestral name. The family legend is that it was an Indian word suggested by an older sister and that it meant “blue bird.” Her parents were Walter William Cottle (1886 – 1923) and Minnie Lee Greenhaw Cottle (1887 – 1978).