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PatchWork by Joyce Whitis |
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PatchWork by Joyce Whitis |
Delbert Wise Inducted into Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame
Delbert Wise grew up on a farm near Perrin, Texas in Jack County. His father was a mule trader and farmer and the boy learned the hard work necessary to get a living from the land. After working hard all week, Wise and his friends liked to try riding bulls, cows, horses, mules, anything that came along for recreation. "When I was a kid," Wise said, "folks just let their livestock out to graze the road sides and we'd get a few of us together and see how many we could ride. You know in those days there wasn't a lot to entertain us so we'd just make our own entertainment.
"I started thinking about trying my talents in the rodeo arena but my parents were dead set against that kind of stuff. They thought I might get hurt, I guess, but because they didn't want me to do it, I wanted to rodeo even more. One July I was working in the grain harvest driving a bundle wagon to the thrasher. I had my own wagon and team, had to load up the bundles and haul them over to the thrasher, unload and go back for another load. The day's work was from can see to can't and for that I got $3.
"One of my friends started talking about the big July 4th rodeo over in Stanford and wanted me to go and us ride bulls. I talked to Dad about it and told him I'd get somebody to drive my bundle wagon if he'd let me go so he finally said I could. Well sir I rode my bull in the first go 'round and they gave me $40. I took that money and thought I'd never have another poor day in my life."
Those were really good times to rodeo, according to this retired cowboy. All the big ranches brought their chuck wagons to Stanford and contestants were issued meal tickets so they could eat at any of the wagons. They slept on the ground in bed rolls just as the old time cowboys did and enjoyed the visiting around camp fires at night.
It was 1938 when Wise rode his first bull and 1952 when he hung up his spurs. During those years, he served in the United States Army Air Force in World War II, seeing the world in Australia and the Philippines. He rode some bulls while stationed in Australia where he served 28 months as steward of the NCO Club (for non-commissioned officers). Wise remembers that the seasons are in reverse of ours in the land down under and he enjoyed going swimming on Christmas Day. After the Australian stint in the service, the war was winding down and he was sent to the Philippines where he finished out the war.
Back in the States, Wise took up bull riding once more and included the other rough stock events, Saddle Bronc and Bareback. He also bull dogged some.
"I couldn't handle those big steers, being a small man," Wise smiled "but they began to bring in some of those smaller stock that were about one-eighth Brahma.
They were quick and mean but with a good horse, I could throw one."
In the '40's Wise joined the Colburn Pre-Madison Square Garden Rodeo group in Dublin. He traveled with the rodeo train that went from Dublin to New York City with stops in Oklahoma and Iowa for rodeos and after Madison Square Garden for seven days, went to Boston for another week. Besides performing in the rodeo, Wise worked for Gene Autry, who was a partner with Colburn. One of his jobs was to drive a buggy with pretty young girls who dressed as cowgirls and sang at the rodeo performances. "Autry fired me once for taking the girls out riding around New York but I was hired back the next day," Wise laughed.
Another of Wise's duties was to lead the bucking horses from the train station to the arena stables. He would lead four at a time and the crowd would line up and down the street watching the cowboys and the livestock. There were times when one of more of the animals would get loose and scatter the crowd but nobody ever got hurt that he knew about. Once in Cleveland two bulls got loose and ran about seven miles across town. A policeman started to draw his gun on one of the bulls but when that bull snorted, he turned and ran. Recalling that incident, Wise said, "The policeman was ready to make a Tom Mix draw but when old Honky Tonk snorted at him and lowered his head, the law man turned and you could have put a cup of coffee on his coat tail he was running so hard."
Wise won many contests including the bull riding event in 1946 in the Colburn Bowl. In 1951 he married Frances and in 1952 he retired from bull riding.
A bull jumped into the chute gate at a rodeo in Las Vegas, and landed on top of Wise breaking the cowboy's back, He wore a body cast for six months but has had no further back problems as a result. About eight years ago Wise went back to Las Vegas at the organization of an Old Timers Cowboy Association. He decided to ride a bull and stayed on until he thought he heard the whistle only no whistle had blown when he stepped off. When asked why he didn't stay on the eight seconds needed to score, he said well if he'd made the top ten, he would have had to ride another bull.
Delbert and Frances Wise bought the Audie Murphy Arena and moved it out to their place on the Lingleville Highway, several years ago and for awhile they staged junior rodeos in the lighted arena. This arena is a long step from the thirties and forties events when fans and contestants would circle their cars like old time wagon trains and stage a rodeo in the inter circle. Somebody would shout out, "I'll give a quarter to see Delbert ride that bull of John's" . Someone else would shout
" fifty cents" and soon the hat would be passed with a little pot collected so then Delbert or whoever, would have to step up and try.
In August of 1974, the Delbert and Frances Wise farm became a landmark in history. The three convicts who escaped from prison in Colorado and terrorized Erath County residents for three days, saw the end of their adventure there. As the escapees left the woods in an effort to cross the highway, A German Shepherd and a Great Dane belonging to Lana Wise, rushed out from the house and began to bark. Police officers shot and killed Dalton, Williams and Ulmer were captured trying to escape through a barbed wire fence. Wise had been down to feed his horses that morning and told the law enforcement that his horses were spooked by something in the woods and he thought it was the convicts. This of course proved to be true.
These days nothing so exciting as bull riding or loose convicts happens around the Wise place but just this month, Delbert Wise was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Belton, a fitting recognition of a local cowboy who has witnessed the changes in rodeo through seven decades and continues to enjoy riding horseback but no bulls, please.