| Trail Driver Turns to the Practice of Law by HAZEL OATMAN BOWMAN |
Wilburn Oatman, Sr
There has been a lawyer of the Oatman name practicing in Llano County since 1881.
Left to Right: Julius F. Oatman -1840-1882 / John C. Oatman - 1848-1916 / Wilburn F.P. Oatman 1869-1967
/ Wilburn S. Oatman - 1910 -2004 / Sam Oatman - 1941-
Left to Right: Julius F. Oatman -1840-1882 / John C. Oatman - 1848-1916 / Wilburn F.P. Oatman 1869-1967
/ Wilburn S. Oatman - 1910 -2004 / Sam Oatman - 1941-
Wilburn Oatman, Sr., was an outstanding civic leader and practicing lawyer, a county
and district attorney, and erstwhile trail driver, who took pride in the fact that
his family, on both sides, came literally in ox wagons to the Llano country as
pioneer settlers in the early 1850s, and helped lay the foundation for the town and,
in the course of years, played an important part in the organization and development
of Llano county.
Mr. Oatman was born in the town of Llano on January 17, 1869, a son of the late M.C.
Oatman and Sarah Phillips Oatman. His father was a son of Dr. Hardin Oatman, a
pioneer Llano physician, whose brothers, Clement and John, Jr., were the first of
the family to settle in Llano. Originally from Illinois, they came to Llano from
Bastrop county in 1851, and settled on historic Packsaddle Mountain, in the eastern
part of Llano county. Shortly they moved to what is known as Oatman Creek, some two
miles from the present townsite of Llano, and there they were joined by their
father, John Oatman, Sr., and other members of the family. They settled in Llano
town in 1853 on a tract of land on which the main part of the town is situated and
which was donated as a townsite by John Oatman, Sr.
At the age of 12 years, Wilburn owned his first horse and spent much of his time
gathering "strays" or in helping on round-ups in and around Llano. But working with
cattle at home did not satisfy his adventurous spirit and soon he began to long for
the thrills and excitement of life on the trail. In those days it was customary for
buyers to come to the Llano section each spring and buy cattle to send up the trail
to Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming; and occasionally, the heard was bedded overnight,
or for a day or so, on the open range on the outskirts of the little town of Llano.
On one such occasion, in the spring of 1885, young Oatman, then 16 years old, joined
a herd of the late Col. Ike T. Pryor, which was being made up partially in Llano
county. Luckily, Wilburn arrived on the scene just in time to take the place of a
hand that had dropped out as the cattle reached Llano.
He tells that he applied for the job first to Col. Pryor personally on the streets
of Llano, in front of what is now the grocery store of W. H. Todd, but he was turned
down because of his youth. "Why, you're just a kid," Colonel Pryor said, dismissing
him.
Undaunted, Wilburn rode horseback out south of town about a half a mile to the heard
and asked the trail boss, Lon Mapes, for a job.
"I rode along with him helping drive the cattle for about a mile, showing him how I
could ride," he relates. "Mapes finally consented to take me and give me a trial.
I hurried home as fast as I could go, got my blanket and slicker and a change of
clothes, and told Grandmother good-bye."
With the excitement of a youth about to realize his greatest ambition, he went back
to join the heard. They spent the first night on the old Deats ranch, six miles
west of Llano, and the cattle were penned there for the night.
"WON HIS SPURS"
Bold and confident, young Oatman took his place among the older, more experienced
hands. The next morning the men, wishing to initiate the youth in true cowboy
fashion, gave him the wildest horse in the remuda, and waited for the fun. But the
joke was turned, and the new hand, to the surprise of everyone, rode the pitching
horse from one end of the camp to the other as if it were child's play. The men,
impressed with his nerve and skill as he rode the bronc, forgot their own defeat
and, waving their hats in the air, applauded the feat with cries of "Hurrah for the
Kid!" Thus Wilburn became more or less of a hero in the eyes of his confederates,
and as time went on he proved his worth on numerous occasions....
HIS FIRST STAMPEDE
Mr. Oatman recalls that the first stampede occurred there about midnight the first
night. The men were aroused by a buzzing noise--a sound familiar to every cowman.
In a split second the eight hundred head of cattle were running wildly in circles,
breaking the split-rail pens, and raging pell-mell through the camp. While most of
the hands were scurrying to places of safety, Mr. Oatman had the presence of mind to
grab his slicker and, putting it before him, ran in front of the raging cattle.
After a few seconds, he had broken the line and had them milling and circling, and
soon they were quiet.
The heard crossed the Llano River about two miles east of Castell, and then struck
the trail north, going by way of Pontotoc, Brady, Baird, Albany, Fort Griffin,
Throckmorton, and to Harrold in Wichita county, which was then the terminus of the
Fort Worth and Denver railroad. They crossed Red River at Doan's Store, which was
the last post office in Texas on this route. They then passed through a gap in the
Washita Mountains, and continued in a north-westerly direction to Las Animas. The
trip consumed about one hundred days, and Mr. Oatman's salary was $30 a month....
As the heard approached Las Animas, Col. Ike Pryor rode out to meet them in a
buck-board drawn by two horses, having with him the purchaser of the cattle. They
could be seen approaching over the open prairie country several miles in the
distance. One of the Colonel's first remarks, upon reaching the heard and seeing
young Oatman, was "Well, there's that d--- kid!"
BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES
Upon his arrival in Las Animas, Mr. Oatman went directly to a store, which he
remembers well to this day, and bought himself a large, broad-brimmed white hat with
four cords around it, a pair of striped California pants, a pair of boots, and a
typical cowboy overshirt. This new paraphernalia replaced his almost thread-bare
duckings, which he had worn on the long drive.
The return trip was made by train. When Mr. Oatman reached home, he had between $50
and $60 in money, which, in those days, was no small sum for a boy of his age.
The following spring he made his second trip up the trail, going with another heard
of Colonel Pryor... After returning from his second trip up the trail in the summer
of 1886, Mr. Oatman went to work in a printing office in Llano, where he was
employed for about two years. Stirred by the ambition to secure an education, he
entered old Add-Ran College in the spring of 1888. He was accompanied by one of his
boyhood friends, the late John Duncan, of Llano, the two young men going by
stage-coach from Llano to Burnet, where they caught the train for Thorp spring.
That fall he and Mr. Duncan re-entered the school for the entire session, taking
with them another Llano student, the late George Breazeale.
The next year Mr. Oatman entered Southwestern University at Georgetown, from where
he was graduated in 1893. He returned to his native town and began practicing law.
In 1894 he was elected county attorney, succeeding Judge W. C. Linden, now of San
Antonio. He held this office two terms, after which he practiced law in
partnership with his uncle, the late John C. Oatman.
In 1900 he again returned to public office, this time as district attorney, filling
out the unexpired term of Judge Linden, resigned. He resumed his law practice in
1903 in partnership with Judge M. D. Slator, who ranches near London, Texas. This
partnership was dissolved in 1910. During the past seven years Mr. Oatman has had
associated with him in his law office his only son, Wilburn, Jr.
and district attorney, and erstwhile trail driver, who took pride in the fact that
his family, on both sides, came literally in ox wagons to the Llano country as
pioneer settlers in the early 1850s, and helped lay the foundation for the town and,
in the course of years, played an important part in the organization and development
of Llano county.
Mr. Oatman was born in the town of Llano on January 17, 1869, a son of the late M.C.
Oatman and Sarah Phillips Oatman. His father was a son of Dr. Hardin Oatman, a
pioneer Llano physician, whose brothers, Clement and John, Jr., were the first of
the family to settle in Llano. Originally from Illinois, they came to Llano from
Bastrop county in 1851, and settled on historic Packsaddle Mountain, in the eastern
part of Llano county. Shortly they moved to what is known as Oatman Creek, some two
miles from the present townsite of Llano, and there they were joined by their
father, John Oatman, Sr., and other members of the family. They settled in Llano
town in 1853 on a tract of land on which the main part of the town is situated and
which was donated as a townsite by John Oatman, Sr.
At the age of 12 years, Wilburn owned his first horse and spent much of his time
gathering "strays" or in helping on round-ups in and around Llano. But working with
cattle at home did not satisfy his adventurous spirit and soon he began to long for
the thrills and excitement of life on the trail. In those days it was customary for
buyers to come to the Llano section each spring and buy cattle to send up the trail
to Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming; and occasionally, the heard was bedded overnight,
or for a day or so, on the open range on the outskirts of the little town of Llano.
On one such occasion, in the spring of 1885, young Oatman, then 16 years old, joined
a herd of the late Col. Ike T. Pryor, which was being made up partially in Llano
county. Luckily, Wilburn arrived on the scene just in time to take the place of a
hand that had dropped out as the cattle reached Llano.
He tells that he applied for the job first to Col. Pryor personally on the streets
of Llano, in front of what is now the grocery store of W. H. Todd, but he was turned
down because of his youth. "Why, you're just a kid," Colonel Pryor said, dismissing
him.
Undaunted, Wilburn rode horseback out south of town about a half a mile to the heard
and asked the trail boss, Lon Mapes, for a job.
"I rode along with him helping drive the cattle for about a mile, showing him how I
could ride," he relates. "Mapes finally consented to take me and give me a trial.
I hurried home as fast as I could go, got my blanket and slicker and a change of
clothes, and told Grandmother good-bye."
With the excitement of a youth about to realize his greatest ambition, he went back
to join the heard. They spent the first night on the old Deats ranch, six miles
west of Llano, and the cattle were penned there for the night.
"WON HIS SPURS"
Bold and confident, young Oatman took his place among the older, more experienced
hands. The next morning the men, wishing to initiate the youth in true cowboy
fashion, gave him the wildest horse in the remuda, and waited for the fun. But the
joke was turned, and the new hand, to the surprise of everyone, rode the pitching
horse from one end of the camp to the other as if it were child's play. The men,
impressed with his nerve and skill as he rode the bronc, forgot their own defeat
and, waving their hats in the air, applauded the feat with cries of "Hurrah for the
Kid!" Thus Wilburn became more or less of a hero in the eyes of his confederates,
and as time went on he proved his worth on numerous occasions....
HIS FIRST STAMPEDE
Mr. Oatman recalls that the first stampede occurred there about midnight the first
night. The men were aroused by a buzzing noise--a sound familiar to every cowman.
In a split second the eight hundred head of cattle were running wildly in circles,
breaking the split-rail pens, and raging pell-mell through the camp. While most of
the hands were scurrying to places of safety, Mr. Oatman had the presence of mind to
grab his slicker and, putting it before him, ran in front of the raging cattle.
After a few seconds, he had broken the line and had them milling and circling, and
soon they were quiet.
The heard crossed the Llano River about two miles east of Castell, and then struck
the trail north, going by way of Pontotoc, Brady, Baird, Albany, Fort Griffin,
Throckmorton, and to Harrold in Wichita county, which was then the terminus of the
Fort Worth and Denver railroad. They crossed Red River at Doan's Store, which was
the last post office in Texas on this route. They then passed through a gap in the
Washita Mountains, and continued in a north-westerly direction to Las Animas. The
trip consumed about one hundred days, and Mr. Oatman's salary was $30 a month....
As the heard approached Las Animas, Col. Ike Pryor rode out to meet them in a
buck-board drawn by two horses, having with him the purchaser of the cattle. They
could be seen approaching over the open prairie country several miles in the
distance. One of the Colonel's first remarks, upon reaching the heard and seeing
young Oatman, was "Well, there's that d--- kid!"
BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES
Upon his arrival in Las Animas, Mr. Oatman went directly to a store, which he
remembers well to this day, and bought himself a large, broad-brimmed white hat with
four cords around it, a pair of striped California pants, a pair of boots, and a
typical cowboy overshirt. This new paraphernalia replaced his almost thread-bare
duckings, which he had worn on the long drive.
The return trip was made by train. When Mr. Oatman reached home, he had between $50
and $60 in money, which, in those days, was no small sum for a boy of his age.
The following spring he made his second trip up the trail, going with another heard
of Colonel Pryor... After returning from his second trip up the trail in the summer
of 1886, Mr. Oatman went to work in a printing office in Llano, where he was
employed for about two years. Stirred by the ambition to secure an education, he
entered old Add-Ran College in the spring of 1888. He was accompanied by one of his
boyhood friends, the late John Duncan, of Llano, the two young men going by
stage-coach from Llano to Burnet, where they caught the train for Thorp spring.
That fall he and Mr. Duncan re-entered the school for the entire session, taking
with them another Llano student, the late George Breazeale.
The next year Mr. Oatman entered Southwestern University at Georgetown, from where
he was graduated in 1893. He returned to his native town and began practicing law.
In 1894 he was elected county attorney, succeeding Judge W. C. Linden, now of San
Antonio. He held this office two terms, after which he practiced law in
partnership with his uncle, the late John C. Oatman.
In 1900 he again returned to public office, this time as district attorney, filling
out the unexpired term of Judge Linden, resigned. He resumed his law practice in
1903 in partnership with Judge M. D. Slator, who ranches near London, Texas. This
partnership was dissolved in 1910. During the past seven years Mr. Oatman has had
associated with him in his law office his only son, Wilburn, Jr.
Oatman Land Titles, Inc.
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