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"Somewhere
in the West"
by Linda Kirkpatrick
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Columns
- Monthly
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 Massacre
Jack
Hoxie 5-1-07
"Leakey's
Last Picture Show" 2-18-07
The Canyon Theatre
Beginning:
February 2007
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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. |
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Order
Book
Somewhere in the West |
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Order
Book
The Big Roundup |
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Order
CD
The BAR-D Roundup |
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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.
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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 |
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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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