More random pictures

Nov 1990-Cowboy Granddad

Skinny Paul and Kim, in Oct of 1976, just a month before Paul left on his Mission to Houston Texas

Can you find your mom?  aunts?  cousins? sisters?

How the Bird family came to Missouri

How the Bird Family Came to Missouri

Charles A Bird Sr. was born in Garza County near Post, Texas on January 14, 1909.  During the early 1930’s, there was a big drought in West Texas.  Charles was single and had a ranching partnership with his father, James Allen Bird, Sr. Cattle prices were very depressed so the decided to move the herd to Arizona and pasture them there until the drought was over.

Charlie was living on the Long H Ranch north of St. Johns, Arizona.  One day he saw this beautiful young dark-haired girl come running by on her horse.  It was Vinnie Margaret Jarvis, daughter of Reuel and Maude Jarvis.  He dreamed of marrying her and riding the range happily ever after.  She was seventeen years old when he took her to Texas to meet his family.  They married in Roswell, New Mexico along the way.  They lived near Post, Texas and raised a family of eight children.  She saw more of the kitchen range than the cattle range.  Their four oldest children, all boys, were baptized in St. Johns by their Uncle Elmo Jarvis in 1949.  Charlie joined six months later in Texas.

Rex Bell was a good friend.  He had a farm in north Texas near Dimmett.  Rex’s father lived in Missouri and Rex had bought a farm/ranch in Missouri and couldn’t decide what he should do with it.  So he asked Charlie for advice.  He had told Charlie what a good cow country it was, but Charlie found it hard to believe because of the snow and cold weather.  However, he agreed to go look.  So in February of 1959, Charlie and Charles Jr. went to Missouri with Rex Bell.

Rex’s property was just south of Hwy 160 between South Greenfield and Lockwood Missouri.  It being February, there remained a few patches of snow with green grass everywhere.  Charlie was delighted to see a spring of clear running water.  He was raised in West Texas and still had about 6,000 acres of ranch land in Garza County near Post.  Water for the cattle was always a concern.  Most years were dry and his 360 acre cotton farm never made much money.  Water was gold!

Charlie told Rex, “If I owned this place, I would sell Texas and buy more!”  Rex replied, “Why don’t you buy some too?”  So he did.  In 1959, he bought a place north of Highway 160 east of Greenfield and south of the Sac River.  Everton was about six miles south.  It cost $50.00 per acres and had a nice spring coming out of a limestone bluff near a creek that ran the width of the property.  Later he was able to buy adjoining land and had about 1,000 acres.  That amount would pasture more cattle than all of his Texas land.  His son, Charles Jr. still owns the ranch today.  Dad named it “The Spring Ranch”  To a West Texas cowboy, it was the promised land.

Dad had a hard time making the move.  Texas was home, but he loved Missouri.  He would run cattle here in the summer and return to Texas in the winter.    In 1961, Keith and Barbara moved up in the summer.  Barbara had just graduated as a Registered Nurse and Keith was attending Texas Tech in Lubbock.  Charlie wanted them to stay the winter and take care of the cattle to see how good they would do.  As you can guess, the cattle did better in Missouri than Texas, and before long Charlie sold his Texas ranch and stayed in Missouri.

Written by Keith Monroe Bird, May 2009

Bird family through the years

Paul, Charles, Beverly, Margo, Vinnie, John, Keith in South Carolina. They took Keith a car while he was on his mission.  Missionaries had to provide their own car back then.

50th wedding anniversary-1984

What great hair!

Trying again to make a good blog to share family history.  This one will let you leave comments, which will make it more interactive and fun.  If you have something you would like to post just email me (alee.bird@gmail.com) and I'll post it!