A Life Story Turned Demented:Chapter One

Chapter One
I remember the usual humming sound of the dusty, rusted ceiling fan producing the much needed breeze to survive through the smothering heat of East Texas. I was deep into reading the old news clippings that I found in the attic of the main house at Aunt Silvia and Uncle Bruce’s horse ranch. The screened-in front porch served as my office since Aunt Silvia was redecorating the inside of the old house. The patio table served as a desk of which had the clippings and other miscellaneous aged things I found in the attic earlier that morning. One of my greatest finds at that point was some mid-nineteenth century newspapers from the area and from the Houston Chronicle talking about the various cattle that came from the ranch. I was typing quickly on my laptop adding some additional information that I found from one of the newspapers.
I was surprised at how much information I was finding on this place and how quickly it was accumulating. I had already discovered that before the ranch even existed, the area around the ranch was Indian hunting lands and they settled down near the stream were herds of cattle were watered later in the 1930s. Unfortunately, the Indians of the land were forced to join a reservation at the end of the nineteenth century and this land was allotted to a couple Indians, John Goosefeather and Harold Davidson, who sold the deed later in the early nineteenth century during some hard times.
The new owner was a local man named George Herman. He turned it into a cattle ranch and did very well then he disappeared one day after not returning from a ride into the forest. His wife Birdie Herman sold the place in the 1950s to Aunt Silvia’s father Edward Lewis, who turned it into a horse breeding and training business. The ranch flourished and became well known among the horse breeders. When Aunt Silvia and Uncle Bruce took over managing the ranch they turned it into more of a training school than breeding. It is one of the few training facilities that used new modern techniques to train horses. Aunt Silvia wanted to turn the main house into an inn for those who visited and went through training school at the ranch. She thought it would be nice touch to have a room dedicated to the history of the place.
I know many think that this is possible the most boring thing you could do and I admit it is not all fun but it is exciting when you do find something about the culture or society that you never would have expected. Mostly my fascination and obsession is due to my love of history. Not many understand why history is a fascinating subject (mainly due to horrible experiences with boring droning Ferris Buller-like history teachers in the past) but they lack to understand that history is in everything we do it is apart of our world whether we like it or not (How insightful this theory becomes to my present status). For example, I found some interesting information about a strange bout of disappearances associated with the ranch. Mr. Herman was one of them and a couple of cowboys disappeared around the same time. One of the articles from the attic wrote about Mr. Herman’s disappearance said:




"Man Disappears: Body Still Not Found
George Richard Herman III owner of the Birdie’s Pride Ranch was reported by his wife Mrs. Herman to have not returned from his daily morning ride. Hands from Birdie’s Pride Ranch and Pete & Pat’s Ranch searched for Mr. Herman for one week but his horse and his body have not been found. If there is any information to Mr. Herman’s whereabouts please contact Jay Connor, solicitor of Mr. Herman’s estates. A reward of $200 dollars will be offered for any valuable information of Mr. Herman’s whereabouts."





But that was not the best thing that happened to me that day. I had drug a crate down from the attic marked 1925. First I had to get crowbar to open the nailed lid. I thought that maybe something good like a lamp would be inside but I was not expecting what I found. When I found Mrs. Herman’s journal and other personal items she once owned, I jumped up and down shouting loudly.
“Aylie, what’s the matter?” Aunt Silvia looked alarmed as I danced a jig or what vaguely resembled a slaughtered jig, around the porch table. She looked concerned for maybe a minute then her wrinkled face broke into her gap-toothed smile.
“Look what I found,” I sang. I held out the old journal and turned to the page that told to whom the journal belonged.
Aunt Silvia looked down where I pointed and her eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Aylie, this is excellent, do you think it will provide some good information?”
“Oh yeah, it’s bound to. I am especially interested to see what she said about the disappearance of her husband, Mr. Herman.”
“Oh, yes, my Father told me that story when I was younger to frighten me from wondering too far into the forest to the West of the ranch.”
“What forest to the west, and why did your father warn you?”
“Well, Dad told me that I was never to go by the woods to the west of the ranch. He said that people tended to go in there but never come back out but I thought he was buying into the stories that old David told about his life as a cattle hand.”
“Do you remember the stories that this old David told?”
“I think I remember the gist of the story but hold on, let me think how it begins.” Aunt Silvia’s wrinkles emerged on her forehead as she silently strained to remember.
“Well I can’t exactly remember but I think David said that he was either a foreman for the land or cattle hand at this ranch before it belonged to the Herman’s. This incident occurred when I think some sort of severe thunder storm had come through. There were a lot of fallen trees and in the aftermath I think there were a lot of dead and missing cattle which devastated a lot of the ranches around here. I remember that part because Dad said that he remembered my grandpa telling him a story of how he found a calf stuck in mud up to its neck.”
I smiled and tried to get her back onto topic.
“Where was I, oh yes, the missing cattle. So David said that he and a few other men went out looking for the missing cattle but they got caught in another turbulent storm so they had to take shelter in a thicker forest that they had never seen before.”
At this point Aunt Silvia remarked about how they did not know back then that standing under trees while it was lightning was not a good thing and we got off topic on other things that people did not know about back in the day. So I guided her once again to go back to the story.
“This was forest that they went into was west of here. David said that one of his companions refused to go into this forest claiming that it was haunted. The other cowboys teased the man that was afraid but still he insisted that they continue in another direction, despite the storm. David said that the man was so insistent that he was not going in the forest that he claimed the man would have gone on alone if David had not decided to go with him so he would shut up. So they all agreed that they would meet in that spot in the morning after they broke camp while the other men went into the forest. David said that they rode for awhile and found shelter underneath a rock hanging. David and his companion waited the storm out through the night and when morning came they packed up and went to meet the other men. His companion reluctantly followed him back to the forest to where they agreed to meet. They waited there for hours but there was no sign of the other men so David and the other man headed back thinking that they missed the men because after all it had been some hours. When they got back at the camp near the ranch, the men were not there. Their horses had made it back with the men’s saddles still intact. They sent out a search party but the men could not be found they had disappeared into the forest never to be seen again.”
After hearing this story, like any good historian, I wanted to find out if there was any truth to the story. I researched this David to see if he really existed. After asking the ancient librarian and looking through mountains of microfilm, I finally was able to confirm the majority of Aunt Silvia’s story. There in fact was a man named David Longbourn who worked for John Goosefeather and Harold Davidson for a little while then worked for Mr. Herman. There was no newspaper clipping for the cowboys’ disappearance but only an old log book kept by Goosefeather and Davidson writing down who they hired. There were three men named Jameson, McDaniel, and Carrey that had “left without notice no payment given” written next to their names but unfortunately this did not confirm the disappearance into the forest like the story claims.
I also was able to confirm that in 1904 there was a series of storms that caused a lot of damage involving cattle and houses. So, Aunt Silvia story was true but as to the disappearance of these individuals could have been explained more practically with they got lost or found better jobs. These were all common possibilities when it came to ranch hands; they were usually nomadic, never really staying in one town for a long period.
After typing all the information I found from the library, I decided it was time to read Mrs. Herman’s journal. It was kind of ironic that while I was reading this journal a bad storm had decided to visit the ranch so I temporarily moved my things into my room that I was staying in since my computer and the historical papers would have been drenched with gusts of rain pounding through the porch.
I was not exactly curled up with a good book; it was actually a dull journal. Birdie seemed to complain about the heat and Mr. Herman’s tendency to wear out his clothes at a rate that kept her mending pile overflowing with clothes. I did not get why Mr. Herman had so many clothes that the pile would become so big but that was an irrelevant question to my fascination with the disappearance theme. Mrs. Herman began to become interesting towards the end of the book where she relates her boredom with the people out here and that she wanted to go back to New York where there was social life. She went on to say that Mr. Herman would not let her, reading between the lines it seems that the ranch was not doing to well. Then, Mrs. Herman does not write until a couple months after Mr. Herman’s disappearance. This is when it began to get interesting.



"April 25, 1937
After months of searching for George there is still no trace of the man. I did not realize how much I loved him till he was not here. There is no one here to tell me that I look ridiculous in the pearls but beautiful in the silk dress. Many people here suspect he died on the trail while some of my friends in New York suspect that he ran off with another woman. Either story I refuse to accept. The only plausible story that I will possibly believe is the Indian man’s. This man says that the forest swallowed George. This man said it was an old Indian tale of how this land was once the entrance to their gods’ lands and the forest was the gateway to the other life of the gods. At first I thought that this was a ridiculous notion but I am beginning to believe because I do not want to face the other possibilities. One afternoon I rode past this forest and it seemed alive and foreboding. I did not go in because I had rather have my men with me being the silly goose that I am. I have scheduled a few men to go with me tomorrow and the Indian man to see if this is true or if George really has left me for good."



The next entry was even more interesting than the last.


"May 1, 1937
George is really gone! After months of looking it has come to nothing! I truly hoped I would find him there but alas nothing. The Indian man led us into the forest on a little path that after awhile it seemed like we were going in circles but then we happened upon a large rock shaped like a hat."



She continues on in detail for several paragraphs about seeing different trees and flowers along the way but nothing that was too important that I should include.



"It took us many hours just to get to this point and the other men wanted to go back because they did not like the looks of the trees. Cowboys are really superstitious creatures underneath the gruff exterior. After much deliberation we turned right after the rock and began climbing a rock cliff that allowed us to see for miles around so that we could get our bearing and head back to the ranch. I could not help but look down and I did not like what I saw. There was a large crystal lake that lay at the bottom of the gorge. I was watching the lake and thinking how beautiful it was while the boys argued which way to go home. While looking down into that lake, a feeling came over me; I knew that my George was gone forever. I do not know why it suddenly occurred but the thought breaks my heart. I need to face the evidence and resolute myself that George is not coming back. Right now an ache so deep has come over me that I do not think I can live on without him. I know I can not but I must try!
We finally managed to get back to the ranch following a creek. Now weeks after that day, I can not stand this place without George and I will refuse to live here without his presence. I am going to sell this place of bad memories and return to New York."




I felt sorry for the woman, how sad to not find the one you loved. Up to the point of visiting the forest Mrs. Herman had been so determined that her husband was alive. I then wondered what about this cliff they had climbed and lake that moved Mrs. Herman to give up hope that Mr. Herman was alive? Deciding that I wanted to go and see this place to see why Mrs. Herman had been so moved to believe that her husband died and take some pictures of this lake or cliff, could help go along with the story and display. At this point I thought this would be fun and adventurous thing to accomplish but I had no clue how this decision impacted my future.