Section 4: Essential Cowboy Skills Cooks & Other Jobs

Henrietta “Aunt Rittie” Williams Foster Died 1926

She liked to ride horses and it was said she was the only woman that worked with the men. Aunt Rittie would move around and go with the cow crowd from the different ranches. Wherever men were workin’ cattle, she was workin’ with them. She rode sidesaddle and bareback on her white horse.

Josephine Spriggs Green on her great-grandmother “Aunt Rittie”

Henrietta “Aunt Rittie” Williams Foster was legendary among the cowhands of the Texas Coastal Bend, known for her toughness and for working cattle and riding horses along with men. Despite never receiving a formal education, she knew its value and saved her money so that her daughter could go to college. She developed skills and knowledge out of necessity and was well-known as a cowhand, cook, laundress, nurse, and midwife for her community. Foster was born enslaved in Mississippi and was brought to Texas when she was 18.

Coaley Owens Born 1846

Coaley Owens was a chuck wagon cook who spent his working years on the J Buckle Ranch in Oklahoma and the 6666 Ranch in North Texas. Owens was known for his quick meals and was said to be able to jump down from a chuck wagon and cook a meal before you could finish telling the story.

Owens was so respected for his work on the 6666 Ranch that when the ranch owner died, he left Owens a pension of thirty dollars per month for the rest of his life.

Tom “Ball” Rodgers (1880-1953)

They tried to make him quit ridin’, but every chance he got, he would roll up his apron and go out when the young ones couldn’t even do it.

Tom Rodgers on his Uncle Tom “Ball” Rodgers

Tom “Ball” Rodgers was an expert top hand whose skills with horses and cattle were unmatched in the Texas Coastal Bend. He drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail and spent his life working on the Welder Ranch near Refugio. As he got older and could no longer do hard physical labor, Tom Ball became a camp cook known for his humor and storytelling.