Circle T Ranch: living up to a 170-year-old legacy

To get the whole story of Century Farm honoree Circle T Ranch, you have to go back in time, before the Civil War, when brothers John and David Trickett’s great-great-grandfather moved with his family from Virginia in the 1850s to the burgeoning state of Arkansas.

“My ancestors settled on what became Circle T, after moving west from Virginia, before the Civil War,” John Trickett said. “Albert Trickett and family were on the 1860 census of Scott County, from which Logan County was created. The land has been farmed and ranched since then. An unbroken line of Tricketts have owned Circle T and we are fiercely proud of it.”

John isn’t sure why his great-greatgrandfather’s family chose Arkansas to settle on as they journeyed west, but he believes it might have had something to do with the fact that the lush landscape reminded his ancestors of their home back in Virginia. Two tracts of land were originally homesteaded. The first parcel of 160 acres was recorded in 1878, the second parcel of 80 acres in 1910.

“Because of the Civil War, land records were, of course, chaotic,” John said. “But they were eventually given a land patent from the U.S. in 1878 for the original 160 acres. Eighty more acres were patented to my namesake, great-grandfather John Franklin Trickett in 1910.”

Not much was recorded by John’s family during the time of the Civil War, but John recalls being told that they were Union supporters. Albert’s wife, Demilla, and several of their children are buried near Magazine. John paid to have their tombstones restored about four years ago. Albert ran the farm up until 1906, when his son John took over.

“My great-grandfather, John F. Trickett, was a justice of the peace and a farmer,” John said. “He died when I was almost two years old and is buried near Booneville. I visit his gravesite a couple of times a year.

“The person who had the most impact on the growth of the farm was my grandfather, Daly Victor Trickett. He is the one who built the place to the size it is today (1875 acres). He grew a cotton crop at Circle T one year when he was young, and used the money he made from selling it to attend the University of Arkansas in Little Rock for one semester. He took accounting courses, because he knew he wanted to go into business for himself someday.”

Daly married a Booneville girl named Mary Roberts, whose family owned the local funeral home. She and Daly lived in Little Rock briefly while he worked for

Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Company.

“Ironically, he always said there was oil under Circle T, but he was off by one hydrocarbon,” John said. “There turned out to be a good bit of natural gas down there in the Chismville field.”

Daly and Mary moved to Shreveport so Daly could work for a relative in the Russ family. They owned Kiss Russ, a fine luggage and specialty store. The store went out of business in 2016, after 105 years in business.

Daly then went into the tent and awning business in Shreveport, eventually buying out the original owner in the 1910s. He ran Shreveport Tent and Awning Company and Shreveport Mattress Company until the 1950s, when John’s father, James, took over the businesses. Daly also owned a furniture store that was later owned by John’s uncle, Ed Trickett. Both businesses are now closed.

“Daly always wanted to move back to Circle T to run cattle, which he did from the 1950s until his death in 1966,” John said. “Circle T went to my father, Albert, who maintained the property as best he could. He became a Methodist minister after he sold the family businesses in the late 1960s.”

Since Albert took over, the Tricketts have leased the cattle rights of the farm. Harold Walker is the current cattleman at Circle T and the place is owned by a limited partnership controlled by John and David. The original house is not standing, but the house their grandfather built in the 1940s is still used.

John and David are now caretakers of the farm, and they have fond memories of summers spent there as children.

“My brother and I looked forward to visiting Circle T every summer when we were young,” John said. “Our grandfather kept horses for us to ride and we loved going around the place in his 1950-something DeSoto. That car probably didn’t have a working shock absorber and he actually wore roads into Circle T using that car.”

Today, David lives in Denver and is a mostly retired educator. John lives outside Charleston and is retired from what he refers to “a very non-glamorous side of the movie industry.” Their dedication to the farm is still strong, and that commitment was exhibited on Eclipse Day. Tricketts from all around traveled to Circle T to observe the eclipse.

John speaks fondly of the family who are now farming the land. The Walkers don’t actually live on the farm. John and Dave have a tenant in the house who takes care of the area around it. His name is Logan Carson and he lives there with his new bride, Leah.

“Harold Walker has made a huge difference in the place,” John said. “The previous tenant didn’t exactly live up to his brush-hogging duties, and Harold and his sons have spent a lot of tractor time clearing areas for their cattle. Harold has been one of the pumpers that works the gas wells at Circle T, and when the cattle rights came available he figured, ‘Well, I’m here every day and want to get into the cattle business.’ He’s a fine man and we appreciate how well he looks after the place.

“Modern farming after World War I and World War II went too far in the direction of thinking chemicals could solve all the problems farmers encountered,” he said. “We are now getting back to old ways in the way the soil is treated – both physically and chemically – so that farmers are more a partner with the land, as opposed to the land being the servant of the farmer. Farmers today ask what the land is capable of doing, instead of telling it what to do.”

That said, John is concerned about the future of the family farm.

“Even though methods are swinging back to a more natural way of doing things,” he said. “Farming is very expensive and no less risky than it has been historically. If farmers don’t have cash reserves, or very friendly bankers, there’s always the risk of running out of cash at the right/wrong time.”

Regarding Circle T being named a Century Farm, John said, “I’m very humbled. David and I love Circle T and are very conscious of how lucky we are to have such a legacy. We look forward to passing it along to the next generation of Tricketts.”