“Bridgetown on the Red”

By Bob Balch

In the year 1919 Bob Ray Gilbert and Emil Marcy, farmers, neighbors, and friends, who live along the Red River in an area west of Burkburnett, Texas, are faced with a decision which will change their lives and the lives of several of their friends who join with them in their quest to protect their farms and mineral resources from the madness all around them as the oil boom surrounds their farms, and a city of 10,000 springs up almost overnight at the south end of a mile long toll bridge over the Red River which becomes known as Bridgetown. This is their story, and it has an unusual twist when Emil Marcy tells the group a secret told to him many years before by his famous cousin, Captain Randolph B. Marcy, U.S.A., who led the Expedition of 1852 to find the head waters of the Red River in order to establish the boundary line set forth in the Treaty of 1819 between the United States and Spain. Oil like gold brings out the worst and the best in men. We will see some of both as this story unfolds. Hopefully, the reader will be both educated and entertained as the oil boom at Bridgetown on the Red comes to life in the pages of this book. World War I has ended and thousands of doughboys converge on the area looking for jobs in the oil boom. Millionaires are made over night as gusher wells burst forth their black gold from within the earth. Greed, dishonesty, and fraud always accompany money, and there is plenty to go around in Bridgetown. How will Bob Ray Gilbert and Emil Marcy fare in this fast paced new world which their farms and lives become thrust into overnight? If you read the book, you will feel good at the end because truth and honesty win out over larceny and greed. As echoed by Bob Ray Gilbert at the end, God Bless America.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 15, 2005
• ISBN: 9781463484095

Bob Balch

Bob is a native of Seymour, Baylor County, Texas, where he was born in 1947. Being a baby boomer and growing up in the post World War II era, he enjoyed the slow pace of small town America. He spent many leisurely days roaming the areas around his hometown with his friends. This included frequent trips to the Brazos River to hike, swim, seine for minnows, hunt, and trap game. Lake Kemp was another favorite spot for boating, swimming, water skiing, fishing, duck hunting, camping, and for just hanging out with friends. Between Seymour and Lake Kemp he enjoyed outings with his scouting buddies, and two of their favorite spots were the Craddock Ranch and the old George Place. It was on the Craddock Ranch that the famous Permian era bone bed was first discovered in the late 1800s which has attracted much attention from the scientific community down through the years. As a Boy Scout, Bob learned about these discoveries and even did some fossil hunting himself. He earned the Eagle Scout award along side his friends, Bill Whitley and Ken George, the current owners of the Craddock Ranch and the George Place, respectively. Bob graduated from Seymour High School in 1965 and went on to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he earned a BBA and JD degrees in 1971. He took a geology course as an undergraduate, and the field trips during that course brought back memories of his experiences on the Craddock Ranch and the old George Place. Now over forty years later serving as a director of the Whiteside Museum of Natural History in Seymour, his interest in this bone bed has been renewed. This eighth book, D-Don Lives! is his tribute to his hometown and the people who have made this story come to life. Bob has lived in Wichita Falls, Texas, since 1974 with his wife, Deborah Ann, where they raised two sons, Trey and Josh, both of whom are doctors who practice medicine in both Texas and Alaska in the fields of physiatry (physical medicine and rehabilitation) and interventional pain management. Bob practices law in Wichita Falls but maintains close contacts with his hometown about an hour away where his mother still resides at the age of 97. He hopes the readers of this book learn some history of the area and enjoy this tale of dimetrodons. A lot has transpired since I first started writing this book in 2014 and completing in 2015 with revisions through 2017. Many new specimens have been found and assembled for research, education of the public and study. New dig sites are opening up for study including the Ross Place owned by Joe Clay Ross. We appreciate the opportunities provided by all of the landowners in allowing us access to these sites. The future is bright for the Whiteside Museum of Natural History that has become a world class museum in the City of Seymour, Baylor County, Texas, my hometown which I am proud to say I grew up in and continue to visit regularly.

Book preview

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DEDICATION

I. THEY DON’T CALL IT THE RED RIVER FOR NOTHING

II. BOOMTOWN U.S.A.

III. BLACK GOLD

IV. THE ARRIVAL OF DELANO

V. THE RECEIVER BRIDGE

VI. THE MUSHROOM EFFECT

VII. OLE SALTY

VIII. RAGS TO RICHES

IX. A SLICK TALKER

X. THE SCAM

XI. GOD BLESS AMERICA

XII. EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This is an original manuscript. It is a work of fiction. References are made in this document to actual historical events and some characters are actual people who existed on this earth. Otherwise, the story is purely fictional and certain editorial license is taken in referring to these historical events, figures, places and persons.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The cover of my book Bridgetown on the Red is an original oil painting created by my good friend and client, Helen Lee Portwood, a fourth generation Texan born into a farm and ranch family whose roots extend from Missouri to Texas. She grew up on a ranch on Miller Creek in Baylor County, Texas, and her love of the West is clearly evident in her art. She specializes in paintings depicting western scenes with horses and cowboys with colorful backgrounds. Her paternal grandfather, W. H. Portwood, as a young man worked as a wagon boss for Dan Waggoner, founder of the great Waggoner Ranch along with his son, W. T. Waggoner, which is mentioned in my book. This painting depicts a scene overlooking the Red river and a view of the coming clash between the farmer and rancher’s placid way of life as opposed to the exploding oil industry as the old cowboy sees the oil derricks headed his way in the bed of the river. Thank you Helen Lee for this beautiful portrait of what this book Bridgetown on the Red is all about and its depiction of the people who lived through this oil boom.

Bob Balch, 2/03/05

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of those folks who actually lived through the oil boom in this part of North Texas and Southern Oklahoma during the early 20th century, and who contributed so much to our way of life and the quality of life which we enjoy and which continues on into the 21st century. The rich history we enjoy of this era will forever leave its imprint on the footprints of time. I also dedicate this book to my friends who I incorporate into this story. I won’t embarrass you by naming you here, but you will recognize yourself wandering through the pages of this story. Thank you for your encouragement and your friendship. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not also dedicate this book to my wife, Debbie, and my two sons, Trey and Josh, who have been after me for several years to write a book. Well, this is my second undertaking, and this one’s for you. I love you and thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and help in bringing these works to fruition.

Bob Balch, Wichita Falls, Texas, 3-6-04

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, institutions, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or institutions or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Various people who had actual lives in history appear through this fictional story, and their fates in this story are entirely invented.

I. THEY DON’T CALL IT THE RED RIVER FOR NOTHING

It was just getting dark when Bob Ray Gilbert, better known as Ole Salty, drove the last of his cattle out of the river bottom where they were grazing contentedly into the pasture above the cut bank of the river. A storm was brewing to the west, and he didn’t want them to get trapped if a significant rise in the river happened over night. Bob Ray had lived along the river for most of his nearly 60 years of life and knew how the water could come in torrents when storms to the west dumped large amounts of rain into the water shed.

The year is 1919. The great war in Europe has ended and returning soldiers are anxious for a fresh start and are pouring into Burkburnett, Texas, to find jobs in the newly discovered "oil