The last Matador wagon— and a few old cowhands

  • LASTWAGON Cowhands posing in front of the old Matador Ranch chuck wagon at the Burton-Lingo Lumberyard in Matador on Sept. 20, 1964, before it was donated to the Cowboy Hall of Fame were (back row, front right) Brooks Callaway, Albert J. Daffern, Virgil F. Leonard, Emmett H. Gafford, Melvin Dirickson and Ed. D. Smith (i.e., William Earl Smith); (kneeling, front row) Clarence C. Smauley, Walker Leonard and Rosie Deaton. | PHOTO #10536 BY JESS COUCH, MOTLEY COUNTY MUSEUM
    LASTWAGON Cowhands posing in front of the old Matador Ranch chuck wagon at the Burton-Lingo Lumberyard in Matador on Sept. 20, 1964, before it was donated to the Cowboy Hall of Fame were (back row, front right) Brooks Callaway, Albert J. Daffern, Virgil F. Leonard, Emmett H. Gafford, Melvin Dirickson and Ed. D. Smith (i.e., William Earl Smith); (kneeling, front row) Clarence C. Smauley, Walker Leonard and Rosie Deaton. | PHOTO #10536 BY JESS COUCH, MOTLEY COUNTY MUSEUM
  • ROLLIN’ ALONG The boys and men who lived with the chuck wagon while riding for the brand—such as Ed D. Smith, Sr.—had a saddlebag of stories they often shared at many Old Settlers celebrations, by rolling a smoke and chewing the fat. | COURTESY PHOTO
    ROLLIN’ ALONG The boys and men who lived with the chuck wagon while riding for the brand—such as Ed D. Smith, Sr.—had a saddlebag of stories they often shared at many Old Settlers celebrations, by rolling a smoke and chewing the fat. | COURTESY PHOTO

    101ST MOTLEY-DICKENS OLD SETTLERS REUNION & RODEO COMING UP AUG. 22–24

    Thelastworkingchuck wagon of the Matador Land & Cattle Company pulled into the Lower Division headquarters at Matador in 1958. That event is part of the lore long shared by those who once worked the vast ranch.

    “The Matadors,” cowboys like Ed D. Smith, Melvin Dirickson, Virgil and Walker Leonard, Rosie Deaton, Clarence Sm…