Dear Kinfolk,

I crossed off another wish from my “bucket list”!

  A visit to Canadian  Texas, in the Texas Panhandle.   Where my gg  grandfather Henry M. and grandmother Sarah, settled in 1870.  Because of  Indian raids , near Fort Griffin, Texas, it forced them and  many pioneers  to move north to Canadian, Hemphill County, in the Texas Panhandle.

My daughter, Debra Sue Mitchell, and I packed up for a weekend trip to Canadian, Texas.  Cousin Lee Haygood graciously invited us to visit his Indian Mound Ranch, where Henry and Sarah are buried.  You can Google the Indian Mound Ranch and learn about the technology he uses today, which allows him to offer fault-free and functional Hereford cattle.

Cousin Lee moving his cattle to another pasture.

Henry, Sarah  moved from Fort Griffin, Texas and settled on Gageby Creek in the north part of Hemphill County, Texas.  Their children were grown and married.  He and his wife lived in an old-fashioned log house.  Two rooms set apart and connected by a picket hall.  They lived in one end of  the house and an old black servant they had raised and her two grandchildren lived on the other end.

The picture is Gageby Creek where Henry settled.  The creek is spring fed and runs continuously year around.  One of his sons, John Henry Anderson, lived three miles below his father.  Another son, William Walter, lived on Spring Creek near Mobeetie.  A daughter, Elizabeth Anderson George lived on the Washita River which was not far from her father.  My  great grandfather, Albert J. Anderson, came to this area about 1893 but stayed only a short time and moved  into Oklahoma when they had the Cheyenne-Arapaho land opening.  

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the ranch cemetery,  where Henry and Sarah are buried .  In the picture above, Lee Haygood is pointing to the white headstone of his ggg grandmother, Elizabeth Anderson.  Henry and Sarah did not have headstones.  Lee explained the rocks below Elizabeth’s headstone, probably mark the site of Henry and Sarah’s grave.  The rock in the foreground is believed to be the site of Henry’s son, Mitchell Anderson.  I am in the middle of the picture and Charlie Laird is in the foreground.  Charlie is the husband of Mary Lou Laird, the gg granddaughter of DeLaney Anderson.  DeLaney was the ninth of Henry and Sarah’s eleven children.

206 years after Henry M. Anderson’s birth in 1809, six of his gg and ggg and gggg grandchildren  got together  to celebrate our Henry and Sarah Anderson heritage. Pictured above, top right Lee Haygood (Elizabeth’s lineage), Jim Lee Anderson (Albert’s lineage), Jim Bill Anderson (William Walter’s lineage) bottom row left Mary Lou Laird (DeLaney lineage) Sue Lynn Krehbiel (Elizabeth’s lineage). Not in the picture Debra Sue Mitchell (Albert’s lineage) as she was the photographer.

Debra Sue Mitchell, our professional photographer.

After a day visiting the Indian Mound Ranch, we were invited to Lee and Jacqui’s home for a steak fry.  Lots of stories,  a few debates, along with one of the best “ranch raised” steaks ever .  The warm Texas hospitality of our cousins was something Debra and I will always cherish.  Hope to go back someday and visit cousin Jim Bill Anderson’s ranch.  He owns and leases about 40,000 acres, near Canadian.  In 2010 he received the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas.  Jim Bill was recognized for allowing wild life and native grasses to flourish while providing a healthy habitat for the endangered prairie chicken.  He told us he has purchased land in Montana and is restoring the grass  on this new ranch. Check out cousin  Jim Bill Anderson on Google.

 This visit was on my bucket list, my cowboy and cowgirl cousins made it especially fun. 

Jim Lee Anderson