David Abner Rhoton Sr. (Cowboy Legend)
Editor’s Note: Each year new members are added to the honorees of Legends and Legacies through the Heritage Museum. Over the next seven editions, the Big Spring Herald will feature this year’s inductees. This is the second in a series of seven.
David Abner Rhoton Sr. and his brother Will went to live with their aunt and uncle in Austin, Texas, after their father had died during captivity in the Civil War. Will and Dave worked in a dairy farm as youngsters. The operator of the dairy was “going west” for some steers and invited Dave to go along. This ignited a fire within Dave, and he discovered he wanted to be a cowboy and the call of the saddle was an extraordinarily strong appeal to the male youth in those days. Dave drove cattle and started acquiring his own herd. He went to Mitchell County before the T&P Railroad arrived and worked for a ranch partnership. This brought him to Champion Creek, where he then traveled to the Moss Creek area in Howard County. Dave said “It was the prettiest sight I ever saw. I will never forget it.” He drove his small herd back to Austin and sold it with plans on returning to the beautiful country he had discovered.
Dave came back to the area in 1879 and settled on Champion Creek in Mitchell County. Frequently, he rode across the rolling country to the area of Moss Spring. In 1893, he established his headquarters in the Iatan tank area. His spread reached into the vicinity of Signal Mountain and in 1893, he established his headquarters at Moss Spring. Dave set up his house under the overhang of a large boulder. He added another rock to the side to protect from the wind and elements and he built a rock stove for cooking. He met and became friends with another young rancher, Will Waddell. Dave said, “We did what we could to get by, working on ranches, driving trail herds and anything else.”
Dave continued their ranching partnership even after Waddell married the wealthy widow, Ella Biler, who was 64 and twice her young husband’s age. The couple moved to Fort Worth, and Dave stayed at the Iatan headquarters managing the ranch there as they remained partners. The friendship and partnership fractured after a disagreement between Dave and Waddell.
Dave Rhoton soon found romance for himself. He had ridden to the post office at Coahoma where Mrs. Shive informed
him that there were some new neighbors that might be of interest to him. Dave rode out northeast of Coahoma and met the Robinson family. One of the daughters, Frances, a 19-year-old, was about to ride into Coahoma, so they rode together. Dave explained later “We rode off together, and we’ve been riding together ever since.”
They were married on August 23, 1891, after a three-month courtship and set up their home at Iatan headquarters. He was 32 and she was 19. The ranch house sat upon a hill near a cut in the railroad east of Iatan tank. Dave decided to run sheep along with his cattle and constructed a wool barn to the east of the house.
Lillian was born in 1893 and then daughter Patty arrived. The girls were “Papa’s boys” and started riding horses as soon as they could walk. They wormed, branded, and herded along with their father. Winnie Dell, Margaret (died seven days after her birth), Shirley, Abby Nell, David A Rhoton Jr., Jack, Mildred Louise, and Dorothy joined the family.
Some of the Rhoton’s neighbors did not like sheep being ran on the land. Daughter Winnie Dell said “In a good year, a rancher could get his money back out of the sheep a lot quicker than cattle, thanks to a double crop of wool and sheep. It wasn’t popular at all, because a sheep would stand in one spot until it ate all of the grass down to the crown and then seemed to keep gorging for the roots. A sheep could overgraze pastures in a hurry. Another objection was the way they packed the soil, especially after a rain.”
In 1908, Dave got out of the sheep business and moved the family to Coahoma in a large house northeast of town. This would allow the children to attend school at Coahoma and Dave continued to manage his cattle herd.
After World War I and the historic draught of 1917-18, Dave eventually restocked his ranch and then the Depression began, along with another severe draught. Times were never easy. He continually fought off coyotes and other predators, and endured the rigors of bitter weather.
In 1916, Dave had a two-story house built at 704 Johnson Street in Big Spring. This would become their retirement home. Dave passed away in 1950 at the age of 92 leaving behind a loving family, a lifetime of hard work and the rewards that resulted from his sacrifices.