Oral History Collection
| MAIN ENTRY: | Tate, George M. |
| DATE OF INTERVIEW: | October 11, 1984; March 29, 1990 |
| LOCATION OF INTERVIEW: | Weatherford, Texas |
| INTERVIEWER: | Richard Mason, Robert Clark |
| LENGTH OF INTERVIEW: | 2 hours, 30 minutes (total) |
| SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE: | George M Tate, former South Plains resident, discusses farming, maize, cotton, irrigation, Texas Tech and dairy operations. He then reviews his experiences in the West Texas ranching industry. |
| TAPE ONE, SIDE ONE: | George M. Tate Born: December 9, 1911 in Okeene, Oklahoma To Akin Reasons Land promoters Farm Size Location Akin School Students Neighbors Crops Irrigation well Pump Description Irrigation technique Cream Transportation Arch Lamb Maize J. E. Mackelroy, elevator operator Thrashing machine Kaffir corn Description Hygira Maize (early 1970s) Cash crops Feed crops Cotton Cash benefits Team animals Horses Reasons Advantages over mules Equipment Two-row Lister Tractor (1923) |
| TAPE ONE, SIDE TWO | Harvest Technique Thrashing Technique Winter wheat Kansas Black hull wheat (mid 1920s) Cotton (again) Irrigation (1918-1927) Varieties Storm proof Gin (Akin, Texas) Pearson sections Colonel Pearson Texas Land Development Company Description Labor Operations Texas Land Development Company (again) Demonstration farms Colonel Pearson’s death Thrashing (again) Custom work Weather Blizzard Description Cattle Sandstorms (1926) Black Sunday (April 23, 1935) Tate (again) To Texas Tech Living quarters Garvin Tate, cousin Free ride FDR’s NWA program Financial assistance Mr. Ford Cotton farm Texas Tech (1930) Description Campus life Anecdote: about the boys chasing a rabbit Curriculum |
| TAPE TWO, SIDE ONE: | Tate (again) Animal Husbandry, his major Vocational Agriculture, minor Teaching career Eola, Texas Texas Tech (again) Anecdote: boys’ involvement in an eraser fight Instructors Incident: Masked Rider Origin Arch Lamb Need for a pep squad Switch to the Red Raiders Pete Cawthon’s idea Arch Lamb (again) Red Raider Rider (September 26, 1936) Crowd’s reaction Saddle Tramp organization Red Raider (again) Uniform Tate (again) Teaching career (again) Job opportunity (Spring 1939) Interview (Fort Worth, Texas) Ranches To Weatherford, Texas (again) Housing Wages Ranch Hired hands (laborers) Tate’s raise Operations Cattle and goat buyer Acquisition of new ranches Apache Ranch Fruit and vegetable industry Onion crop |
| TAPE TWO, SIDE TWO: | Onion crop (continued) Slaughter’s Veal Ranch Size Sale Other ranches Tate (again) Ranching interest Feedlot business (1968) Family life Drought Goat business |
| TAPE THREE, SIDE ONE: | Background Born: 1911 Parents To Texas Grandparents Immigration Grandfather Oklahoma settlement Family to Texas Panhandle (1914) Texas Land and Development Children Education Attending Texas Tech Employment Garland Tate Return home Getting shot by neighbor Help from National Youth Administration to finish college Employment Teaching vocational agriculture, Eola, Texas |
| TAPE THREE, SIDE TWO: | First ranching job with Wyatt Hedrick Expansion of ranch properties Wyatt Hedrick Death Character Personality Operating Apache Ranch, Kansas (1973-80) Building ranch for daughter, Weatherford, Texas Tech career Development of Masked Rider (1936) First ride at TCU game First Tech Rodeo Hackberry Johnson General Reminiscences |
| RANGE DATES: | 1911-1990 |
| BULK DATES: | 1911-1990 |