It is time, once again, to vote for
individuals who have been nominated to be inducted into the Lea County Cowboy Cowboy
Hall of Fame.
Please note: Individual members automatically have been sent ONE ballot, Family Memberships have been sent TWO (Family memberships with additional ADULT family members living at home may request additional ballots for those additional members by calling me at 575-492-2676). Ballots must be received at the Museum no later than 5 p.m., October 16.
Honorees selected for induction into the Cowboy Hall of Fame will be recognized at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Membership meeting on November 3, 2017.
Biography for 2017 Bronze Cowboy Nominee Bennett Jackson Caudill
Bennett Jackson Caudill (b. February 2, 1890 – d. April 1,
1972)
Born in Monkstown, Texas, Bennett
Jackson “B.J.” Caudill moved to Lea County in 1930 where he established and
operated the first feed store in Hobbs, the Derrick Feed Store (a subsidiary of
Red Chain Feed in Ft. Worth). B.J. and
his wife, Etta Dee Phillips Caudill had six daughters: Katherine Brothers, Geraldine Kersey, Mildred
Carter, Daphna Williams, Gladys Jelinek, and Bennetta Holdridge. From these six daughters came numerous
grandchildren, one of which is the conductor of the Southwest Symphony, Mark
Jelinek.
The Caudill’s were devout members
of the First Baptist Church in Hobbs.
Ben served as deacon and taught teenage boys in his Sunday school class.
Having no sons, he unofficially “adopted” some of his students. A few notable examples are William Brock, Dr.
Williams Stone, and Kenny Shelton. B. J.
served on the Hobbs City Council for 8 years.
His appointment to the Buildings Committee yielded such prominent
structures as the Hobbs City Hall (current police station) and the Hobbs Public
Library. B.J. was also a proud member of the Masons.
Caudilll
contributed greatly to the ranching industry in Lea County through his
livestock feed service. When he arrived
in Hobbs, there were no feed stores, and ranchers had to travel great distances
(Midland, Clovis, and Seagraves) to procure livestock provisions. This created
a substantial overhead for Lea County ranchers, not to mention the travel time
involved. B.J. would drive to Seagraves,
Texas and bring back feed, delivering it directly to the ranches. This service saved area ranchers a great deal
of money and time. Many of the ranchers
(many are Hall of Fame inductees) were able to establish successful ranches,
and many became the most prominent names in Lea County ranching. Eventually, he did open a feed store in Hobbs
after securing a building.
B.J.’s ranching career was born by
his generous payment terms that he offered area residents. Some of them even paid with cattle, horses,
eggs, and other miscellaneous items. B.J.
had a secret shoebox (hidden from Etta
Dee) of I. O. U’s. Many of the prominent
ranchers and 4H students had slips in the box – some paid and some did not. He
said he never lost money with this generous system.
B.J. established several ranches
in Lea County as a result of accepting livestock as payment as well as his own
purchases. A couple of them are still in
existence. One is located near the Texas state line (Seminole Highway) and is
still occupied by family members.
Another one of his prominent ranches, the 7K Ranch, is located south of
Hobbs near the Prairie Haven Cemetery.
Part of the Hobbs Army Air Base belonged to B.J. He also had a ranch near Monument.
After
retiring from Lea County ranching in 1941, B.J. became bored and volunteered
to refuel B-17s at the Hobbs Army Air Base at night. Eventually, B.J. moved to Odessa in 1947 and
opened yet another Red Chain Feed Store and operated it until his final
retirement in 1962. B.J. returned to
Hobbs in 1970 until his death in 1972.
B.J. and his family were always grateful for the opportunities Lea
County offered them and for the many friends they made here through the years.
Biography for 2017 Bronze Cowboy Nominee Neil Love
Herbert Neil Love (b. June 2, 1932 - d. August 31, 2014)
Herbert Neil Love was born in
Cottonwood, Texas and grew up in Spur Texas, son of boot makers, Herbert and
Donnie Lee Love. He admired the cowboys from the surrounding ranches and when
they came into the boot shop, he enjoyed listing to their stories. At a very
young age, he developed a passion and love of horses and rodeo. His folks knew
that Neil was happiest when he was on a horse and they encouraged him to
realize his dream.
As a teenager, working in the
family business, Neil began tying up ropes to sell and for his own use. He
entered junior rodeos and in 1950, at the age of 18, Neil won “All Around
Cowboy” at the Southwestern Championship Junior Rodeo in Post, Texas, the first
of many titles over a forty-year span.
His family moved to Lovington,
New Mexico in 1953 just as Neil was drafted into the Army. Neil served in
Korea, and upon discharge came to make Lovington his home, learning the boot
making craft from his parents. He attended Texas Tech University and was a
member of the rodeo team. In 1955, Neil and his teammates captured the National
Collegiate Rodeo Association title.
Neil joined the Rodeo Cowboys
Association and enjoyed a highly successful career on the rodeo circuit, making
the National Finals six of the first seven years that they were held. He won
such prestigious events as steer wrestling at Cheyenne in 1963 and calf roping
at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1964. He also won “All Around Cowboy” at
the 1968 Lea County Rodeo.
In 1968 Neil started “Neil Love
Ropes.” Neil designed and built a vertical rope twisting machine still in use
today at the rope factory. He operated his rope factory for many years and at
the same time kept his horses ready to go. He turned to team roping in later
years, and always looked forward to saddling up for another roping. After a
crippling stroke in 1995, he no longer competed.
In 1970 Franklin Daines, a
cowboy and western wear owner from Alberta, Canada invited Neil to his home to
conduct a roping school. During instruction time Neil would tell about some of
his rodeo experiences. He reminded the students often of how commitment and
regular practice would allow the accomplished cowboy to “hang out their shingle
someday.” The last evening of the school, the students presented Neil with a
shingle of his own which read, “Neil Love – Cowboy.” Neil passed away in August, 2014.
Biography for 2017 Bronze Cowboy Nominee Tommy Charles Price
Tommy Charles Price (b. September 19, 1934 – d. April 22, 2005)
Tommy Charles Price was born in
the family home north of Tatum, NM and was a life-long Lea County rancher. He and Peggy J. Sullins were married on
November 16, 1954 and were married until his death in 2005. Tommy and Peggy had three sons: Charley, Sid,
and Sterling Price.
Tommy was a National Champion
High School Bull Rider, a National Champion High School Calf Roper, and the
All-Around Cowboy runner-up for the National High School Rodeo
Association. Known for his love of helping
area children, Tommy served numerous Lea County organizations throughout his
life including serving as the President of the National High School Rodeo Association,
the New Mexico High School Association, a member of the Tatum NM school board,
and the Liberty National Bank Board (now Western Commerce Bank). He was also a member of the Lea County
Electric Cooperative Board and the NM Livestock Association.
A successful, lifetime rancher
and roper, Tommy enjoyed helping young people learn the art of roping, riding,
and cowboy work on the ranch. He passed
away on April 22, 2005 and is buried in the Tatum cemetery.
Biography for 2017 Bronze Cowboy Nominee Mathias Willhoit
Mathias Willhoit (b. December 30, 1863 - d. September 18, 1952)
Mathais Willhoit was born on
December 30, 1863, in Floyd County, Texas, near what is now known as the town
of Floydada. Growing up on the plains of
West Texas, Mathias spend his days helping his parents establish and expand
their land holdings and fledgling cattle business. He and Christian Elizabeth Yates were married
and that union spanned a lifetime, surviving good times and bad, prosperity and
destitution, joy and sorrow. The union
would produce eight children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Those surviving children were Van Otto,
Frank, Floyd, Ky, Brownie, Gladys and Lottie.
In 1905, the Willhoit family set
out to seek their fortune. Loading up
the family’s covered wagon with supplies, they struck out across the
plains. Christian drove the wagon, and
Mathias followed, bringing along their two horses, a few head of cattle, and
some very large dreams. It was not an
easy trip. At one point the lack of food
became a major concern. Supplies were low, but the hardy pioneer family
survived by harvesting and cooking mesquite beans. To combat the resulting “scours” (more
commonly known as diarrhea), Mrs. Willhoit created a concoction of flour and
water which worked to end the affliction.
Eventually crossing into New
Mexico Territory, the family staked claim to 160 acres west of what is now the
Knowles community. As time passed, the
ranching family holdings grew to encompass 16 sections of land and a large herd
of cattle. The rosy future was
interrupted by the droughts of 1916, 1917 and the great blizzard of 1918. As the Willhoit’s struggled to keep their
ranch together, the family received word that Van Otto, Mathias’ and
Christian’s eldest son was killed in France, only six days before the Armistice
ending WWI. He is buried in Flander’s
Field in France.
Still the pioneer family carried
on. Battling the winds, the lack of
water, numerous small and large-scale disasters, they endured. Never losing their faith, holding on to the strong
beliefs and family values that had sustained them thus far, they endured. Then, in 1929, the final blow to the ranching
dream fell. As the Great Depression
swept the nation, cattle prices were at an all-time low. Bank loans were non-existent. With very few cattle left and no bull for
breeding, Mathias was forced to make a life-altering decision. Having located a bull for sale in Carlsbad,
he put his land up as collateral again the price of the bull, never dreaming
the unthinkable disaster would strike.
The morning Mathias returned with the bull, a white-face Hereford, the
future of the ranch, was found dead in the pasture.
And so, it was, after 20 years
of ranching, the Willhoit family once again packed all they owned and headed
out, this time the fates leading them to the small community of Lovington. Mathias built the couple’s new home himself,
following the self-imposed guideline of “lots and lots of nails.” It was at this time Mathias entered his new
career in law enforcement becoming a deputy to Sheriff Sam Cain. He would also
take on the responsibility of being the local jailer. Christian opened and ran a small café known
as “The White Way,” also providing meals to the prisoners in her husband’s
jail.
Willhoit’s dedication to his job
was legendary among the law enforcement community. Once, when a Hobbs resident had been
arrested and was accused of a heinous crime, Willhoit and Sheriff Cain transported
the man to a place outside of Plains Texas before an angry lynch mob could
gather at the jail. While Mathias and
the Sheriff moved the accused, Mrs. Willhoit was left to tend the jail. When the mob, with torches and ropes,
demanded justice, Mrs. Willhoit stood her ground, agreeing to allow three of
the mob inside the jail to ascertain that the accused was indeed gone. Her method of diffusing the situation was
exemplary even by today’s standards and she stands tall as a strong and just
helpmate for a strong and just man.
Another incident involved two
notorious cattle rustlers who shot at Willhoit and the sheriff, hitting the
sheriff’s belt buckle but leaving both men unharmed. Willhoit and Cain pursued the outlaws, with the
lawmen in pursuit, the rustlers fled the region to avoid hanging and were never
heard from again.
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