Tom Black is manager of Reynolds Cattle Co.
Well into his 80's, he has forgotten more about cattle production than most know today. In an age when loyalty to a company or ranch is fleeting, he has worked for the same family in the panhandle of Texas for 64 years.
He's soft-spoken and polite, but after eight decades living off the land in some of the harshest environments in the U.S, his toughness and tenacity are evident.
The Reynolds family is a stalwart of Texas ranching, and Mr. Black has been with them through thick and thin. Their story is a great one, and Tom touches on some of the high points during this epidsode.
Tom Black is manager of Reynolds Cattle Co.
Well into his 80's, he has forgotten more about cattle production than most know today. In an age when loyalty to a company or ranch is fleeting, he has worked for the same family in the panhandle of Texas for 64 years.
He's soft-spoken and polite, but after eight decades living off the land in some of the harshest environments in the U.S, his toughness and tenacity are evident.
The Reynolds family is a stalwart of Texas ranching, and Mr. Black has been with them through thick and thin. Their story is a great one, and Tom touches on some of the high points during this epidsode.
Well, uh, I guess the, the, the Reynolds Cattle Company's been in, in business, they had their hundredth anniversary in 1982, so they've been, they've going back before that, not long after Civil War. I guess they. Started driving trail herds north, these two of the boys did. And uh, then they branched out into ranching in the West Texas and, and several places in Texas and acquired this Dalhart Rita Blanca country in 1925, as I said, from uh, George Conrade. And then they ranched in New Mexico. And, uh, back in the earlier time, I think in the 1885 and 86, they had a lot of country up in North Dakota, and I think they had like a million acres leased off the Indian agency, And, uh, in fact, there was up there, one of the big bleeders come through there in 86 or 87 and wiped everybody out. Wow. But they, they went back and, uh, kept ranching up there and finally sold out in the nineties. I understand. We came back to Texas. Went into the Davis Mountain country, I believe in 1896. We started our ranches down there and, and put together over 400,000 acres down there. And then the company that is divided out as they went over the years there were divided out. And, uh, then, uh, uh, the latest division was in 1986. One of the. They divided the country up down there. There was 234,000 acres down there left at that time and divided amongst the heirs, most of the Rita Blanca Division here, had, uh, like, uh, 65,000 acres in it, plus 7,008,000 acres north of Dalhart. That was divided out in 1986. And I went with Watt and Tom Reynolds. Fourth generation heirs, and stayed with the Rita Blanca and we wound up at about oh, 55,000 acres here and 10,000 acres in Davis Mountains. Right. But, uh, and we're still just the old Cow-Calf outfit and, and, uh, tried to buy our best boat and have for years from Dale Banks. And they've impaired our, her, uh, more than anything we've had. They did a fine job for us. Well, we, we
Matt:appreciated a bunch and it's always, always fun to come down here and see this is a little different country than ours, but it seems like the bulls worked pretty good down here. So tell me, you'd mentioned there earlier about the old X I T you lay right. Near and maybe have part of the old X I T, but this ranch actually dates before the X I T.
Tom Black:Right? Well, Reys Cattle Company, the rental wasn't business before the xip was. Right. But now the X it's, uh, where headquarters is, was, you know, the X it's had 10 headquarters. And the headquarters where I live now, Randall Cattle Company was, they raise a blanket division in headquarters of x i three for x. I see. In fact, the old barn is, that was built in, in, uh, 97, 18 97, still there and, and all usable and, uh, an old rock, big old rock house, still usable. It's built in 1888 and so it's still lot of my old history here with Old Ranch, it's still intact and. I know our wooden Cris and stuff around the headquarters are hard to keep up, but I like'em. I try to keep'em up, man. They're,
Matt:they're impressive. And you did a lot of work on'em just a few years
Tom Black:back, didn't you? Yes, sir. Yes sir. Never just got through painting and everything here this winter and, uh, at a fabulous cost, but it sort of look nice.
Matt:well, seems like everything these days has a fabulous cost
Tom Black:with it. So, and, uh, the young heirs I'm with now, Wonderful. Just like their, their elders were, in fact, one of my bosses. Now we've lost talked about a lot when I went to work here. He's four years old. Ah. And he's 69 now. We'll be this fall
Matt:So you started what year
Tom Black:then, Tom? I started in the spring of 59. And you started here at
Matt:Rita Blanket?
Tom Black:Yes, sir. Started here at Rita Blanket. I was, uh, in the bunkhouse for four years. bailed off and got married and went to a camp and was up there for row horses in the camp up there for 10 years. That's where they started all the cols at. And I did that for 10 years and then moved back to the headquarters and my boss man, and Anne was the one of the finest men ever knew, and he, he went over, went on as general manager for renters cattle company and moved to Davis Mountain Ranch. Moved me down here in, that was in 1972 and I've been here ever since. And was that Mr. Sorrows, Mr. Jess Sorl? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. And, uh, then when the company divided out in 1986, why, uh, he was ready to retire. So he, he left the company, but we're still staying with us, coming in with us up here and see us a lot. Good. But. I guess that's, uh, all the acreage we got in the left of there is mountains. More of a hunting place than anything. It's a big old rough mountain. Can't run that many cattle down there, but do a lot of hunting on it. Right. And, uh, runner black cow down there. And when I came here, rental cattle company had, uh, about oh, over 4,000 herford cows. Davis Mountains Good Herford cows. Good? Yes sir. Big frame. Good cows. And uh, then here at Tolan they had, uh, 425 herford cows. And the balance that was Angus, it was slowly moving over into Angus in 1962, I believe the fall of 62, then shipped the ladder for Herbert cows. Hmm. And went straight back here. Yes, sir. And. Still had the herford cows at Kent. In fact, they had them to still had the vision, right? And, uh, really good herford cow. And this, uh, well, I was mu one time somebody else, uh, one of the older rentals that find fine gentlemen really knowable and they said, he said, Mr. Reynold said, why did you have all herford cattle in the Davis Mountain country? And all black cattle have to read a blank at do. uh, kind amused me. Mr. Reynolds said, well, I said, I'll tell you. He said, we like herford cows, the neighbors mountain. We like black cattle up here. And that was his answer. Yeah. He wasn't gonna go any,
Matt:go any
Tom Black:further than that. No. Uh, but
Matt:those black cows started from herford and then were baldies and then bred up to Angus up here? No, sir. You had, they were straight
Tom Black:black when you They were straight black. Uh, see, in the thirties they had. some country over, uh, Las Vegas, New Mexico. Okay. At Park Springs Ranch. And they had black cows over there. I see. And I understand that they, when they got let that country go over there, they brought those black cows over here. Yes, sir. But they've always, uh, no. It was never built up. It's always been a Okay. Angus. Angus, uh, far as. black ballies to this or that. It's always just kinda spray.
Matt:And most, most of these cows today would go back to those,
Tom Black:those Angus cows. Yes sir. They would go back to those. Good, good, Uh, our country's really short right now. It's, uh, cows look good, but, uh, we're feeding them good too. But, uh, cows, cows look good. Country looks terrible, but, uh,
Matt:well, it's short grass country, but times like this, it's
Tom Black:even shorter. Really? Yes. Yes, sir. And we're going. Oh, I, I count today's every day for 1st of May Yes. No, it's, it's about 90 days yet, so yes, sir. Right there. Got a
Matt:little bit of moisture outta some snows here recently. And hopefully, hopefully springs one day closer
Tom Black:every day. Yes, sir. Yes sir. Hope, hope that's right. And we'll just keep, keep it going. You bet. But, uh, oh, we've, uh, uh, far as our. Okay. I heard we, we've had a court cut back a few more Ever, ever fall. Last few falls were a lot lighter than we've ever been. Right. But, uh, and we don't buy anything. We, everything replacements is all home raised. Yes, sir. And your own like that. Oh, years and years ago, tried to raise her own bulls, but then all this, uh, Angus program and all this come in and, and got to. make more money doing that. So we stopped raising bills and just doing it wrong. We'd, we'd always buy some bills from bail banks, but uh, we'd raise some own too and kind of fuse in there, try to cheap things up a little bit. Sure, sure. Well, I,
Matt:a lot of folks have, have tried that through the years and, and you know, I think there's a place for it sometimes. I was just actually talking with another guy about this, but quite often, once you really. Looking at what they're worth as steers, and then what the genetic progress, hopefully, if we're doing our jobs right, is worth on the, uh, on the genetic selection bull side. Hopefully it's still worth going out and sourcing some of those new genetics and, and we try to make'em where they'll, where they're work, work in
Tom Black:this country too, you know. Um, and I've always said, and I'll try to tell my bosses this, and, uh, a, a good bull is the cheapest thing you can have on your. Cause the Black Bulls are bad crypto sales up the like. But if you can get a boat to last till he's seven years old, he's going to get you five calf crops or something. Yes sir. And then if you give six or$7,000 for him and you get five calf crops, even you get 80 or 90 calves plus a. Price are pretty good. Now you might get a couple thousand dollars back on him. Yes. Yes sir. So really, he's the cheapest thing you can have. I, I think, yeah, there's,
Matt:there's a whole, we spend money a whole lot more frivolously for sure. So, yes. Yeah. So you said something a bit back on your history when you started at the Bunk house and then got married and were at one of the camps for those of us up north that um, may not understand Big Ranch. Terminology what was then, and how you can tell if it's different today, but what was kind of the, the progression when you started working for a big outfit like Reynolds? Um, how many people were in the bunkhouse? Who was in the bunkhouse? Um, what did that life consist of? And then how was it different once you moved to a camp
Tom Black:layout? Course one, I, when I was in the bunkhouse, there was four of us in the bunkhouse and plus it, uh, uh, man's wife cooked at at the Cook house. Yes, sir. And it, of course, back then when I started, you know, we didn't have these really big, nice pickups with, uh, it was a feed team from wagons, right. Took more people. And, uh, then on a couple years after that, while we progressed out of that and started just, Mr. Sar started buying some pickup for us and. Yeah, it's kind of muse, you know, what you get now, uh, back then was by, he was buying those half ton pickups and of course we had a truck, Yes. And we thought and put 20 seconds of cake on that baby and head out. And golly, at the Darren Rims you'd bust and everything springs and off. But, uh, yeah, we was really getting uptown we thought. Right. And, uh, but anyway, we got away from mules and wagons and, and went to use. Pick up some and then when I moved, course when you get away from headquarters where you got quite a bit of help to help you do things where I ortho, do hard about 10 miles on a camp up there. And of course you're on your own. Everything you do is on your own. Everything you do here. Sure. You know, you do it just do it. That's it. Yes sir. Yeah. And uh, our company's always had lots of. Windmill Tools Course we had back then, we had about 50 windmills and then her own windmilling, right? And, uh, uh, but just, uh, pull up with a, with a pickup and a snatch block and keep'em like that. Yes. And, uh, every ABER spring we changed all own windmill oil, which we still do now. Try to keep some changed up. Any big motor work meals taken down or what anymore, why they got these good M trucks that can go up there and lift that thing off, get it down on the ground and work on it. So I just hire somebody to do that. So no, no
Matt:more scaling into the top of one and no putting up a 30 mile an hour wind.
Tom Black:That's right. And uh, you know, back then you might put a pipe up in the tire and put a snatch block on it and try to pull a motor up there and it just, Big hassle, but now it's pretty easy. Yes. It's well worth what you've gotta pay them. Yes sir.
Matt:Yeah. So have you switched over many of those mills to solar? I saw a few
Tom Black:solar coming. I have a couple. Yes. Yes sir. I have a couple, uh, you know this dead gum stuff's getting to be high. This, this, uh, strange pipe is, uh,$25 a foot. Yes. And Sachar rides at 1 5 8 Sachar rides$20 a foot. Yes, sir. So, And you can buy, it costs about 10,000. Put in a solar, well, in a plastic pipe at one inch pipe. It doesn't cost too much. It doesn't. Right. And uh, only thing I hate about those, uh, solars is in wintertime, if you have four or five cloudy days, and Yeah. But it just takes a little more, you can take a generator down there and crank that baby up and fill up your reservoir, and then you're good bay, you know, and then, Pretty good shape. Yes, yes sir. But, uh, as far as that, and that's not any big deal there, but uh, I think the solars come, come in more bend because of the cost of things. Right. All these meals and motors and towers and it's just so high. Yes. Yes.
Matt:So back on the boys in the bunk house, do you have still a couple boys there
Tom Black:at headquarters? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I had a couple boys there and gotta cook and try to keep a yard mann to kind of help around and do chores. And now we don't for forever up to just few years ago. We always milk the cow and we still do have chickens and, but we don't milk the cow anymore. And, and uh, so we don't need tore man for that. But, uh, just chickens and keeping up the yards around.
Matt:and does your cook come in from Dalhart today? Um, no. They stay out here. You've got a cook out that lives
Tom Black:on the ranch. Cook lives here on the ranch. Everybody there except one boy I had in a bunk house. He got married and he lived in Chaning now anyway. Okay. He drives back and forth every day. Yes sir. Pretty good little commute. Yes sir. Yeah. Yes sir. Then, Uh, west over here from around here, about five, six miles over here to Bull Camp. Got a married man, lives over there. Okay.
Matt:All right. That's good. So tell me a little bit of, if you've got just another second or two, um, your upbringing. You lived, you grew up in Boise City, is that right? I grew up
Tom Black:in Boise City, yes, sir. And all, and worked just. We poor, enjoyable, Turkey, Just done anything we could for, to find something to do. You know? Sure. Shock feeding the fall year and just what are we trying to do? And, and we got up big enough to, uh, 14, 15 years old. Ones going out on ranches some and worked North Keys on the dry. Cimarron and I worked quite a lot up around, Kenton, Oklahoma, on ranches up there and, and, uh, Then in, uh, oh, 58, I guess I left at Kenton Country and come down, went to work for Perkins Prothro there. Oh, okay. And worked for him till I come to the X's here. Yes, sir. For the next year. And, uh, but oh, he just, just done, um, everything you find to do. Yes. Yeah. I graduated outta high school and never did, never go on to college. Afraid all old Cowboy would be done, which it wasn't never has been, has it? No. And uh, but I went to work for a fellow at Kenton, I guess in 50 fall of 57, AE Gates had a Laredo. He's a old cow trade trailer and Herbert man, and he had that old Wilson Ranch up there and it worked for him guys. He's a fine, fine old, gentle. And then that fall he sold out to a fellow named of Jack Renfro. Okay. Jack was outta Hartford. He was a potato man. You know, he's one of promoted oil, these potato sheds and all that stuff. Right. And he was a real good guy to work for. And then the next spring, then I left there. Yes, sir.
Matt:What year did you
Tom Black:graduate high school? Uh,
Matt:57. 57. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Black:You went right to it then. Yes, sir. Yeah. That. Uh, Jack Renfro was a really good guy, and, and he'd sent a lot of boys to steal water Oklahoma school. And, and I've gotta say he did offer me that, but I was too smart. I I wanted to be a cowboy. Well, I think
Matt:you've done, done,
Tom Black:done it well. Yeah, we, but that's, that's. and I, when I left there, of course I come down to Percu, just worked all up and down that old sim room when I was a kid there for different ones, go out and work a while and day work and just whatever I trying to do, it's picking up hay or whatever it is. Just something to do, just.
Matt:Whatever Cowboy wants to do, right? Yeah, that's right. You know, whatever you wanted. Do a lot of it. Cowboys don't want to do I done
Tom Black:these days? Yes, yes. So, um,
Matt:did you cowboy any further south
Tom Black:from here? No, sir. No, I didn't know. Just, no, no. I didn't ever go any further south. I just, uh, stayed here. I, yes, I tell you what Matt, when I came here, uh, Young course thought, had it all owed up, and just too independent But Thate treated me better than any place I'd ever been in my life. Good. And that's so I thought, well, this a place to be. Well,
Matt:you, uh, you obviously had learned well enough to, to know when you had a good thing going and not keep looking. Some, sometimes folks don't even don't realize till it's too
Tom Black:late, I guess I try, but, uh, but it, it's been a good run here and I just, Raised two boys here and they, they're doing well. Good. Just, just getting along. They, oh, I kind of m at'em. They tried to punch cows around. Sam and I. Last time I asked one of'em to come and help me, he said, dad, you just don't pay enough for you. He didn't out where the
Matt:money was. He's the only son who has ever told his father that. I'm sure
Tom Black:not. Yes sir. So when, uh, you
Matt:talked about feeding with a team, um, did y'all ever drag a wagon out or was it close enough here that you always worked? Uh,
Tom Black:close enough here, man. Uh, when I come here, there wasn't any, oh, there's one trailer kept headquarters. Uh, just to take something to town. Yes, sir. With a doctor veterinary or something. But like we'd, uh, all like this. Oh, always. Country Northwest over Towell country shipping pastry. You know, he might, some button like me would drive the horse over way the day before and, Jesse, he'd get everybody to pick up and we'd go home channels over there and, and start there every morning and get to that country. And then you get through, uh, some button like me, the other horse, back to the house. 10 or 12 miles. Yeah, I was gonna say that
Matt:wouldn't have been just a over the hill.
Tom Black:I that. Uh, so I was about 15 miles over there, but, uh, you know, I didn't think nothing about it. Sure. Everybody done it so. Oh,
Matt:you had a had one broke by the time you
Tom Black:got there, right? Yeah. And just, uh, same way when I was an old kid going to school, you know, sure you, you're poor and you might have a hole in your witch, but everybody was poor. I mean, yeah. Didn't say nothing about it. Yes, sir. Might be true. Or three rich kid. But rich, that was worth it. Yes. Yes. And
Matt:they weren't probably having near as much fun as
Tom Black:what y'all were. Probably not. No. But that's what would kinda. you know, at that time I had had country total over here just east of Har, or just west of Hartley. And across here, the Twin way. I would drive stuff over there to ship in the fall, put'em in shipping pasture there. And, uh, like in the fall when you weigh in selling cattle, get'em in there and weigh em, and then drive'em to middle water. Put'em on a train. Everything was ship be rail right? And then drop back over there. And you have a, have another bunch in Twin Well pasture, which is with 10 sections. And throw them in Johnny Mac trap and they'd be the next bunch. Go. And then the next day we'd go over here and get it some more over here at Purdue or something. Drive across wind. Be ready. Go Johnny it back. Yes, sir. So it just a, uh, a good time I had. Uh, cook house over there in a bunk house would just go and stay. Didn't have to have a wagon. Just stay over there until you got through. Yeah. Well, yeah. That's,
Matt:that was probably more comfortable
Tom Black:anyway. Yeah, sure. You know, just, uh, just a lot of trotting around. Sure. Everywhere you went with the, with the shot. So you talked
Matt:about that 10 section pasture. What would most of the pasture sizes be? I mean, even you told me one time where you calve heifers. What, how big is your heifer cabin trap? Uh,
Tom Black:it's, it's nine sections. Your heifer cabin traps. Nine sections? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes sir. And, uh, all, we're cut some pastures down. There used to be some fairly big pastures here, but. Not anything much over 10 or 12 sections now. Well,
Matt:I guarantee nearly everybody who is listening to this, um, is chuckling because the whole ranch may not be
Tom Black:10 sections Um, yes. But, uh, it's,
Matt:it is, it, it takes a lot more country, obviously to run a cow. Uh, it's stock. What do you figure how many cows to a section? Right?
Tom Black:Right now there ain't enough sections for one. Are they Yeah. But on, in a back when I had kinda a normal kind of years, you know, you have a cow, 30 acres. Okay. But I'm adding 45 now. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yes.
Matt:As you were talking about the old days, uh, it reminded me, have you ever met? Do you know Boots O'Neil? Yes, sir. He's kind of become a rockstar here of late, uh, down at I've noticed that. Good for boots. Yeah.
Tom Black:Yeah, you bet. Did, how
Matt:did you know him or how just Oh,
Tom Black:I just, I, I met him around, uh, uh, he used to come up here, this Matador reunion, I guess, where I first met him. Right. And, uh, but then I've had fellows work here that worked with Boots. Yes, sir. And kind of met him through them too. Yes,
Matt:he's, he's, I've never met him, but I remember seeing him when I lived in Fort Worth at. Oh, the old, uh, red Steve all days and Sixes that always bringing Ranch Rodeo team down. And he was still kind of, I think, traveling with them and, uh, they'd have always have a bunch of people, but he was a character then. Yeah. And, uh, now like I said, he's kind of become a big deal, Yeah, he sure
Tom Black:has. That's Yeah. Good for boots. I, that's good. Yeah. Yeah. I know Boots. He's a, he's a pistol now. Yes. Yeah. Still is. It sounds like. Yeah. Yeah. uh, his brother, he's got gotten up pretty good too, in that he is, you know, he's, uh, they from Claredon originally. I, well, they, they ran Jas a lot. I think that,
Matt:yeah, that, that seems like that's what, uh, I remember they were born, started at the
Tom Black:Ja, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes, sir. Yes, sure. But, uh, yeah. Good, good cowboys. Good bunch. Yes. Yeah, that's good. You
Matt:Well, I see. There's guys running around the truck here. Look like they're ready. Brand some bull. Yeah. Get they
Tom Black:ready to get some bull there? I probably better let'em get there. All right. Well guys, Matt, I hope I hadn't, nah, this anything
Matt:wrong? No. Heck no. This has been perfect. I guarantee folks are gonna enjoy it and, um, appreciate you, appreciate you sharing some of the wisdom and the history.
Tom Black:Well, yeah, I wouldn't say it wisdom, but it's just. Hard knocks, hard work right there. That's usually where we live. Learn the best
Matt:lesson, Yeah. All right. Thank you, Tom.
Tom Black:You bet. Thank you, Matt.
Matt:Thanks for joining us for practically ranching, brought to you by Dalebanks Angus. If you enjoyed the podcast, heck even if you didn't... help us improve by leaving a comment with your review wherever you heard us. And if you want to listen again, click subscribe and catch us next week. God bless, and we look forward to visiting again soon.