Texas Longhorns, Cowboy Boots, and $21.6 Million in Gold Coins

[Jim Oaks]

A couple of weekends ago I hit some old gravel roads near home just to get out of the house, enjoy the day, and test my new fridge out in the bed to make sure there would be no issues with it getting power and seeing how well it cooled.

That little Sunday drive turned into an unexpected adventure that just seemed to keep snowballing.

I live in Nocona, Texas. 7-miles from me is the location of Red River Texas. It's where the cattle drives in Texas crossed the Red River into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) on their way to the trains in Kansas to get shipped to markets in the east. That trail north out of Red River Station was called the Abilene Trail. Later called the Chisholm Trail which is a story all in itself.
Millions of cattle came through here. A cowboy once wrote that he was here in Red River Station waiting for the water in the Red River to drop, and that there were an estimated 30,000 cattle here waiting to cross.

Ever heard of Justin Boots? H.J. Justin's boot factory was here until he passed away, and then his sons moved the business to Fort Worth, Texas. H.J Justin is buried here. When the business moved, Justin's daughter Enid started the Nocona Boot Company here. They got so big that Justin Boots bought up the stock. Enid died in 1990, and the business was moved to El Paso in 1999. Enid is buried here. The old Nocona Boot employees formed the Montague Boot Company which was purchased by Fenoglio's in 2014 and is now the Fenoglio Boot Company. Even though it's a newer company, it has generations of boot makers going back to the Nocona Boot days. They make 200-250 pairs of cowboy boots every day in this small Texas town.

Nokona Leather Goods was started here in 1926, and today are the only company that actually makes baseball gloves in the United States.

In 1894, four men robbed the First National Bank in Bowie, Texas and got away with $18,000 cash and $10,000 in $20 gold pieces. When they were caught the $18,000 in cash was recovered but not the gold coins. The gold coins were claimed to have been buried along the Red River in a 3-4 mile stretch west of the US 81 bridge which is about 15-miles from here. That gold today has a value of $21.6 million. It was never found.

That's the abbreviated version. I ended up writing the whole story and posting it on the main page. I struggled with it though because the story just kept growing.

Red River ~ Chisholm Trail Adventure - The Ranger Station

On this adventure I explorer the Red River, Red River Station, the Chisholm Trail, Justin & Nocona boots, and a lost gold treasure.

www.therangerstation.com

I've learned so much about the Chisholm trail that I'm actually thinking about following it as close as I can on gravel & dirt roads from here to Kansas and retracing this historic cattle drive.

I'm not going to go looking for the gold. But if I did and I found it, there'd be signs. LOL.

 

[RobbieD]

I'm not going to go looking for the gold. But if I did and I found it, there'd be signs. LOL.

Well, if suddenly out of the blue you buy a bigger refrigerator, the cat will be out of the bag.



Seriously, though, good on you Jim, for finding stuff like this and writing about it. It amazes me, at all of the history in this country, that's right under our noses but is forgotten. And all that we have to do, is open our eyes and open our minds.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I just keep going further down a rabbit hole. On thing leads to another and last night I learned that there's a former German POW camp near here and I've literally driven through it and didn't know.

I have to go back and take a closer look now.

 

[bobbywalter]

out west of town i was checking out some runs a few years back with rocky in my silver ford i had at the time. it is awesome out there. but no way i can get these guys to move there.

there was a great dane guy out there where we were wandering around...and some places out by Wichita Falls.


i was up out at the other end out in casper the week before last time i was out.

 

[Jim Oaks]

There's a Great Dane breeder not far from me named Blevins.

You don't want to go to Wichita Falls. My preference would be Decatur. Rural but 30 minutes from Fort Worth and really close to Lake Bridgeport and an OHV park. It actually surprises me how many nice lakes there are in Texas.

 

[bobbywalter]

There's a Great Dane breeder not far from me named Blevins.

You don't want to go to Wichita Falls. My preference would be Decatur. Rural but 30 minutes from Fort Worth and really close to Lake Bridgeport and an OHV park. It actually surprises me how many nice lakes there are in Texas.

yeah there was one a lil ways past the breeder that i was running the pocket fisher with..

didnt see a sign. then i seen a sign. and got out of there.

 

[Curious Hound]

Great video, Jim! Might be your best one yet. Great background music. Good choice of fonts for titles. The video was clear with great color. Oh, those beautiful blue skies. And the history narration kept my attention. Love it.

 

[superj]

thats awesome there is so much stuff up there, historically. i love reading about that kind of stuff.

if they shut down the base i work at, red river army depot has always been on my list as a back up