National Hereford Association Bull. Faces n-s politically neutral to KCK, but no bull about it, he faces north. Prevents the newly developing city from forgetting its roots as a cattletown.
In the spring of 1949, newly appointed Senator Harry Darby gathered a group of civic leaders to find a way to interest young people in promoting the American Royal. Their common passion was the American Royal, one of the country’s largest horse and livestock shows and a unique and legendary event in Kansas City. The Royal had come to symbolize the country’s good life straight from the Midwest-land, agriculture, animals.
By 1970, after twenty-eight years of existence, the American Royal Coronation Ball was replaced by the profitable BOTAR Ball, raising more than $1.5 million to date in 1999. The Charles N. Kimball Lecture “It’s All About the Eating: Kansas City’s History and Opportunity” says it all.
excerpt from the lecture:
THE SPIRIT OF THE ROYAL (A hundred years of growin’)
All bricks are bare now, where a thousand cattle bawled.
The window signs are changed where all the packers called.
Though the yards which penned the critters now are bare,
the heartbeat of a city and its spirit linger there.
The ghost riders come at midnight with jingle in their gait,
The agents and commission men are getting figures straight.
Calloused hands with stubby pencils working numbers in their heads,
Hot coffee and cigar smells rousing buyers from their beds…
You can’t quite see their faces or the color of their eyes,
But you know they remember things that you can’t realize.
They keep the blood a flowing… through the city’s veins,
As they lean back in the saddle, look up the hill across their reins…
And see the city growing, see the concrete sprawling out,
Covering up the grassland where they used to ride and shout.
They think about their bellies and the beans they used to eat,
They put the bull on the east horizon, and brought the nation meat.
They are the founders of the city with the cow stuff on their feet,
The echoes of what they did rebound from every wall,
They’re the soul of the American Royal, They’re the ones who built it all!
Rich Hawkins 4/27/99
“The Royal is the symbol of our past; but more importantly, it is the symbol of our future….I thank all of you for coming and listening. It’s an honor for me to deliver the last Kimball lecture of the 20th century on a subject that could be our shining star for the 21st century. Let’s invite the folks who feed us all to dinner. After all, we still have to eat…and I remind you, “It’s All About the Eating!”
Oct. 21, 1999. Mr. John A. Dillingham.
Children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of old and new Civic Contributors to Kansas City and Kansas in Agriculture, Business, Community, and Preservation participated in this event. It was held Oct. 22nd, 2011 at the Muehlbach Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. And it was grand!
Here are some very amateurish highlights of the event:
Note: One of the ladies featured had a paternal Great Grandfather who served on the Livestock Exchange Board whose Cattle Company, still in existence, was a charter member of the American Hereford Association. Her maternal grandparents made contributions to Kansas City in the areas of preservation, architecture, and education. Mom and Dad were a BOTAR and GOTAR and continue in their respective fields to pursue work in agriculture and architectural history in the state of Kansas.
This lady BOTAR works in marketing for an agricultural advertising agency based in St. Louis with offices located in downtown Kansas City. She lives in a loft in the Kansas City Board of Trade Building and walks to work. It is a block away from three different downtown architectural offices of her maternal Grandfather. And, Lacy Amelia Adams can herd cattle, vaccinate and build feed bunks with the best of them as
Taking a roadie is taking a break. I think we may all do it, always have, in all times and places, by whatever mode of transportation is available. And times, it has only been in my mind.
The restlessness, the need for freedom, I think, is a part of who we are, or at least who I am. Being a 5th generation Kansan and a 4th generation Jayhawker, it might not seem as though I’ve left home. But I have lived in Paris and traveled quite a bit, in the states and across the state. And we all leave home in different ways. Through the books that I read, adventure is only as far away as my thoughts. And I always return home, wherever that may be, with a new perspective.
Location: ridge in the home pasture
Sometimes taking a roadie is by horse. In the aerial, you can see that I’m in the home pasture on a ridge (the line) about a mile north of the headquarters, on the north side of the Cimarron River. As it goes, really not very far from home. But it’s the concept that counts.
I’m going to include this photograph that my father-in-law Raymond Adams took, for it is far better than mine. He said one time,”if want to get close to God, you get up on that grey horse and ride up that hill behind the house and you will be about as close to God as you can get.” And another thing he said, “I am one helluva cowboy.”
I don’t think I replied to your post, Tom. In desire to not impart any misleading information, I have to tell you that the XIT Ranch in southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle is likely not the XIT that you passed on your drives. The XIT Ranch feels they are THE XIT RANCH, if not everywhere, than in Kansas. They have been under family operation under the Adams Cattle Co. for over a hundred years, so this is deserved.
They don’t have a sign, the relevent people find them. I have well-drawn maps for others. I do hope for a nice big neon “Party Ranch” sign for the kids someday. This will be executed by another best, local, family business Luminous Neon of Hutchinson.
The XIT Ranch in Texas does NOT stand for this:
X (Ten)
I (in)
T (Texas). The brand was to thwart cattle rustlers, but I have no history of the actual reading of the X I T. It did cover land in ten counties in Texas.
A brief history of the “other” XIT Ranch in Texas.
In 1879, the Texas legislature appropirated 3,000,000 acres of land to finance a new state capitol for Texas. In 1882, the legislature made a deal with Charles and John Farwell of Chicago to come up with the money: $3,000,000.00, provided by a syndicate led by the Farwells of mostly British investors, in exchanage for the 3,000,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle. The XIT Ranch began operations in 1885, but timing was bad. Cattle prices crashed in 1886. It was only in operation as a working ranch for 27 years. I wonder if those Brits were annoyed with this investment? Nonetheless, the land deal left us with the beautiful pink granite Texas State Capitol in Austin.
But, every feedlot, feedstore, etc. in the area keep the XIT in their business name. I’m sure there’s some remnant of the original. I’m thinking, Tom, that you were maybe driving through Dalhart? I want to hear your L.A. to Kansas path.
Unlike a Ranch name of which there can be many, only one XIT brand can be registered per state. It used to be that a brand was still required in the state of Kansas to sell cattle within a sale barn, and it still increases price of the animal.
They use a flat bar brand for the XIT, still do. That is, it has to be executed in 5 strokes. The fancy ones you imagine, all “built-in one,” get muddy.
Cattle rustling is still alive and well. I think the Kansas Livestock Association still awards $250,000.00 for any knowledge of thereof. It is more of a problem in Texas. Recently, I heard of a very sophisticated middle-of-the night load-up complete with trucks, but I’m sure they were caught.
Guns and fear are still a big deterrant in Kansas. Old School.
So back to how the Adams of present have the XIT Brand and the XIT Ranch.
Formation of the XIT East and West Ranches and use of the XIT brand.
John Adams grandfather, Raymond Adams, Sr. was the youngest son of H. G. Adams. Horace Greeley (Go West Young Man!) Adams acquired the original landholdings upon which the Adams family descendants now ranch. The land is in southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma panhandle along the Cimarron River. Ray and his father formed the Adams Cattle Co. in the teens. In the next generation, early cornfeeding of Raymond Adams, Sr. and Jr. enabled them to buy back 2/3 of H.G. Adams original landholdings. Thus, having the two XIT East and West Ranches which anchor the land along the River. And, with a little help from the marginal land given to this youngest brother which turned out to be quite a historic “field”.
But, the point is that the youngest son of H.G. Adams had these XI cows and lost the flip with his brother for the brand. He had to change the brand to mark the cattle. There was no XIT brand in Kansas, so he added a “T”.
More history on this brand. All brands have stories and some have intricate ways of reading, as noted in above book.
Here’s how it worked:
X-I-11 is the original brand. McCoy Brothers of Dodge City operated the land and other ranches. They sold to Colonel Summers of Keokuk, Iowa. It was then shortened to XI.
The XI Ranch Headquarters is now the Headquarters of the XIT Ranches formed by the two Raymond Adams generations.
The XI Ranch is still under operation with descendants of H.G. Adams, all first sons are H.G.’s.
Here’s a picture, just for the ladies, this is from National Geographic. The XIT and XI Ranches are neighbors and “neighbor” (a verb) when they work cattle. H. G.was married, now both happily. Cooper got fan mail from this and they are not easy to find. They were mainly disappointed that there wasn’t more mention of the ranch in the article.
Tanner Rollins, H.G. Adams, V, Cooper Adams. Summer 2007.
Summers, Robert, John Chisum, Sallie Chisum connection.
And more about some interesting former owners connected with this historic ranch, ending at this point in time with the Adams. Summers was in business with William Robert of Preetz, Germany. Robert physically lived on the ranch, and actively ran the operation. William Robert had been John Chisum’s accountant and bookkeeper in Anton Chico, New Mexico. This is Tom’s department (the movie, that is), but John Chisum was a famous New Mexico Cattleman. The Lincoln County Wars were depicted in the Emilio Estevez version of Billy the Kidd.
Robert to Kansas.
Family rumor has it that William Robert left when it got wild down there. He was the well-educated money guy, so he had to be along to do the deal. It still works that way, you are there to count the cattle when they go on the truck. Wherever there is. I don’t know if another responsibility might have been keeping the unruly cowboys in tether when they shot the lights out in Dodge, wearing their fancy duds. This may have been a one-way, one-job deal for cowboys at that time, so Chisum could cut them loose with no responsibility. It’s expensive to feed them on the way back and put them up for the rest of the year.
How ranching worked prior to closing of the ranch, after Civil War and during the time of the cattle drives…
Before the range was closed, anyone who bought land along the river (and was a bit of a b@d@a$s) ruled. They ranged off uplands and their neighbors. There were many, many more neighbors at the time, even in the Panhandle. They were the settlers who were enlisted to take the West from the Indians with the 160 acre gift from the U.S. Government. This was somewhat of a folly with the type of land and rainfall in southwest Kansas, particular along the hilly Cimarron. Though there are still remnants of houses on the ranch, they were soon bought out by speculators. Anyway, Roberts had scoped it out and bought into the partnership with Summers.
William Robert and Sallie Chisum.
Another note, William Robert was married to John Chisum’s niece Sally Chisum. Sallie never lived at the XI Headquarters, though they had two children together. She held court down there with the cowboys and Billie the Kidd, much more fun. I’ll get a picture, but that’s another story. There’s some Roberts marrying Adams, and later, some descendents marrying back into Adams. All very interesting…
"Here Comes de Boss..." Keith Avery. Wall Drug, South Dakota.
Here is another picture of my late father-in-law, Raymond Adams, Jr. that hangs at Wall Drug in South Dakota. If you do a driving trip to the Badlands, Old Faithful and Crazy Horse, look it up. It was also painted by Keith Avery, the illustrator and portraitist mentioned above. Keith Avery was most renowned for magazine covers for Western Horseman.
The subject, Raymond Adams, Jr. (Raymond Adams, Sr.’s eldest son) was quite a cowboy, as are his sons, as are their sons and daughters. You do know, some of the best cowboys are cowgirls, don’t you? His was the generation whose fathers had them start doing the skilled (and grueling) work of the Cowboy. This was also a necessity with the introduction of labor laws and taxes. You know, that year when everyone’s grandfather’s office had a fire. Income taxes were retroactive.
And, back to the relationship of Raymond Adams, Jr. to Keith Avery. The mounted portrait above now hangs in John Adams office of the XIT Headquarters in Meade County. And, here is the letter from the artist, Keith Avery, to Raymond Adams, Jr. clarifying some details and catching up.
Letter from Keith Avery to Raymond E. Adams, Jr.
My father-in-law and John are very proud of this portrait. I think my father-in-law had some problem with the way he did the horns, it wouldn’t be proper without this.
So a final word about historical misrepresentations to come full circle…
This picture at Wall Drug is printed on a postcard you can buy in the Gift Shop. It is captioned, “Here Comes de Boss” and describes the location as “herding cattle on the XIT Ranch in Texas”. I brought up it up at a family dinner that I thought this needed some correction. It was political, I’m not blood kin, so I dropped the issue. After his death, I shot a letter up there to the curator, and it it is now corrected. It had to be done. The visage and profile are so obvious to the portrait in the Headquarters home I provided. They were appreciative to have the letter. So, if you buy the old postcard when you’re there, you’ll know the real story. Unless they’ve re-printed it with correct information. In that case, please buy me some, I’ll send you a check.
So, if this seems like shameless marketing of history and anecdotes via Tom Rooker-producer-of-Hollywood-Films-a Johnson- County-Resident-Clint Eastwood’s-campaign-manager-and-personal-buddy-when-he ran-for-mayor-of-Carmel, so be it.
The theme is historical accuracy in my mind with a few stories thrown in.
Postscript May 23, 2011.
I fact-checked on everything but Tom, so professional of me when posting on a movie producer’s wall. He sent me this message on FB.
Tom Rooker The class president was Tom Weary. Thanks for the clarification on XIT locale!
So, the title of the post has been changed. STUCO was a much harder job than…. planning the reunions? Do our class officers do this? He did a splendid job of organizing our picture at the 30 year.
The beautiful yogi mother of 6, the Wichita Falls decorator, and the late Washington lobbyist. “He wore them out” said my friend who is an artist, a house flipper a decade before the term, and grew up on a ranch in Colorado. She knows the rancher man-type.
He certainly didn’t wear them down and continued to keep company with intelligent and interesting women throughout his life.
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