Bison Road Trip to
Colorado - 2004
[Left to Right]
1st Row: Bill Kibler, David Parsons (husband of
Jeanette Bowland Parsons),
John Weete, Charles Robertson, Jerry Rhome, Ann Robertson
2nd Row: Buddy Burden, John Haley, Gary Hooker,
Sue's husband and Sue Jackson, Fess Miller,
Martin Cude, Mike Dunn, Charles Marshall, Doug Malone, Rick McWhirter
3rd Row: Fess' wife, Ann Kibler, Vicki Thorpe
Goldman, Bonnie Baird Burden,
Jeanette Bowland Parsons, Hazael Hale Taylor, Karen Cude, Annette Inman
Hooker,
Sherri Dunn,
Marti Marshall, Becky Malone, Carmen Rhome, Gini McWhirter
The Story of "Gomez"
Written by Ken McGill, October 5,
2009
After much talking to stock associations, park rangers, and Indian reservation
people, Ken McGill has at last
compiled a
brief sketch of Gomez’s history.
Gomez was born to a very sick mother in the Yellowstone bison herd on Christmas
Eve in 1994. The Sioux
Indians tribal records, which Ken finally stumbled on in talking to a
Cattlemen’s Association person in
Bozeman, Montana, track the Yellowstone herd and mark each new calf with a
number tattooed in their ear.
Cattlemen
in Texas “brand” their cattle the same way. With rustling being as prevalent as
it is, this is just
another way of finding lost or stolen cattle.
Now for some facts about Gomez: Gomez’s mother did not last out the night when she gave birth to her
newborn
son. Lots of Sioux Indians live
on tribal lands around Yellowstone. One family in particular lived
not far from
where Gomez was born. The
youngest son from this family is named Charlie Whitehorse. His
parents are Ben
and Maggie Whitehorse. Their Indian
names are White Elk Man, Moon Shines Bright, and
little Charlie’s Indian name is
Buffalo Hunter.
Anyway, On the night Gomez was born, Charlie was out prowling around as was his normal
custom. He
came upon the
newborn calf half frozen in the new snow that had fallen that day. Charlie
picked Gomez
up, and returned
home carrying the buffalo calf all the way. Once home, Charlie put the calf in
his father’s
barn and sought
help from his mother and father as to how to feed the little critter. Of course
they came
up with a half gallon
of milk with a rubber glove lid. Punching a hole in one finger, to allow him to
feed,
presto! ... the little
buffalo was happy and very hungry.
I am very indebted to Charlie’s father, Ben, for relating this
story to me. I found Ben through a
search of tribal records at the Sioux agency with the help of one of its
employees, Fred Running Bear.
They
keep track of all bison born to the Yellowstone herd. After first talking to
Ben and giving him the
tattooed
number in Gomez’s ear, he told me he thought he had a story I should hear. I
related how we had
acquired Gomez
and some of our group history.
Again, back to the story: It would take a short story to tell about Charlie and Gomez. So
I'll just hit
the
high spots with the following. Charlie took it upon himself (with his parents help) to feed and take care
of
the little calf. Along the way,
Charlie named the buffalo calf Gomez, after an older Indian man who
loved to
tell the children stories
about the old days and how the Sioux hunted buffalo, and how they
used parts of
the buffalo for many
different things. When Charlie found Gomez, he was about 8 years
old. The
calf and the boy grew
together, and after about 6 to 8 months, Gomez was so big that Charlie’s
dad
built a separate shed for Gomez
so he could get out and graze. The boy and the bison were inseparable.
Gomez
was very protective
of Charlie and nothing Charlie did seemed to bother him.
When Gomez was a little over a year old, he seemed to get a wonder lust and
would go and watch a herd
of bison when they came close to his and Charlie’s home. Soon, he began to stay
away from Charlie
longer and longer. He would occasionally come by to see Charlie, but his visits
became less and less
frequent. Charlie grew to be a strong young man of 16 years. He watched every day for
any sign of
Gomez, but as
I said, his visits were less and less. For three or four years around
Christmas, Charlie
would always see
Gomez. Gomez would come and let Charlie pet him and brush his mangy coat.
After
a good meal, Gomez
would always be gone the next morning.
The bison herd in Yellowstone would be watched closely each year and when it
was deemed the herd
was too large, several individual buffaloes would be rounded up and sold to
private interests. Only by
looking at tribal records could it be determined where they wound up. Charlie’s
dad, Ben, looked up
Gomez’s
record and found he was sold in 2005 to the old Charles Goodnight ranch in the
panhandle of
Texas.
They keep a rather large herd there and supplied meat or animals to other
ranches. After talking
to the
Goodnight ranch, I determined that Gomez was sold to a ranch in the hill country
of Texas. This
was in
2007.
The bad news: This ranch sold canned hunts to hunters for deer, elk, antelope, and buffalo.
Gomez
was killed in the
fall of 2007 by a hunter. The hunter kept the meat, and had a shoulder mount
made
by a taxidermist in
Austin. The mount was later sold to a business in Austin that sold mounts and
such to interior designers. Somewhere along the way, Gomez was purchased by the owners previous
owner
Carrie Welch and her husband. Carrie is a misplaced Yankee and moved to
Austin sometime
in the
past.
As things go (we all know
how) Carrie and her husband divorced sometime recently. Apparently
it was not a friendly
affair. Her husband
was the one enamored with Indian artifacts and relics,
and he loved his buffalo
head. Apparently a
squabble developed, and the wife decided he could go
straight to hell
and
held out for Gomez in the
settlement and had her way. She was not desirous of
keeping Gomez and so she
listed him for sale on Craig’s
List. Along came Nancy Hughes and read
the ad and emailed her Bison buddies.
Charles
Robertson decided that we needed to purchase Gomez
and give him to Bill Kibler
to hang at his ranch. Tom Mosby and I
went and picked up Gomez and
delivered him to his new home
this past week. End of story
The author wishes to thank all the people who graciously gave their time and
helped me research Gomez’s
history. The whole story is much more lengthy and has been reduced here for the
sake of finishing the story
more
quickly. I thank the Sioux Indian Agency and the people who were so helpful,
and also Charlie’s dad,
Ben,
and especially to Buffalo Hunter himself. A Special thanks go out to Charles
Robertson and all his
contributors and to Tom Mosby for lending a hand, and lastly to Bill Kibler for
providing a home for Gomez.
I could have
never done this chore without email and a telephone. I will always think of
Gomez as a
Christmas
Buffalo. Every year I hope to be a part of the raising of a toast to Gomez and
all his old friends
and to
his new friends the ’60 Bisons.
Ken McGill October 5, 2009
Class
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