Hector Bazy, Grimes County “Negro” Cowboy
Hector Bazy, an African American cowboy, told his life story in a 30-page memoir entitled “My Story.”
“I first saw the light of the world on the 15th day of January 1851,” Hector begins. “I was born a slave in Grimes County, Texas. My parents were in slavery at that time, and, so, I too was a slave. Fourteen years of my life were spent with my parents in slavery until June 19, 1865.”
“A man by the name of Womack was my “old master.” The master was good to me, although I had to work hard on the plantation from the time that I was able to crawl. I did not regret this in after years, for I am sure that being made to work and to see how things were done made me strong and self-reliant, which gave me strength and a willingness in after years to do things that I would never had the courage or the will power to do what I did.”
Bazy states that his father went to the Civil War as a servant to the young master leaving he and the other children at home with mother. He took the name of ‘Bazy’ because his father was known as ‘Bazy’ on the plantation.
Calling himself a ‘maverick,’ he left the plantation in Grimes County and drifted to Burleson County. Later he moved on to Harris County in 1866 and started the cowboy life. He worked for Paine and Boone from 1866 to 1870. From there he went to Washington County and worked for Holmes and Beaver for two years.
He went on many cattle drives including the Chisolm trail herding 5,000 head of cattle. He described the cowboy life in detail in every page, saying that if they had more to eat then hardtack and bacon they were fortunate. At times they had to eat their meat raw. The cowboy life was hard. The Indians were very active and kept them on their toes and in their saddles. During cattle driving he was on the prairie most of the night even with weather cold and treacherous, quitting was no option.
At the Red River, he dealt with what is called today Oklahoma where he found many
Indians on the war path with the white settlers. He described what happened when they found the Huff family was killed by the Indians. It is known today as the Huff Massacre in Briar Creek, Wise County, Texas. Bazy and other cowboys found them all killed.
They helped bury the family and proceeded to team up with the Texas Rangers to find and punish the Indians for this tragedy. It was a hard fight, but they won. The last Comanche raid in Texas was 1874. Bazy felt he, the cowboys, and Texas Rangers had a lot to do with that victory.
Later he worked for Jerry Burnett, who was a wealthy rancher. He hired Bazy to oversee breeding race horses as well as handle cattle drives. Along his journey he met many interesting cowboys including the Jessie James gang.
He recalled meeting Lee McMurthy in 1877 on the Brazos River. Lee asked him to help him across the river. In 1876, Bazy saved E.B Harroll’s life from drowning.
Years later, Bazy recalled that in 1894, Harroll took him to a bank when he was in Hector was in bad straights telling the cashier to let him have all he wanted because he had saved his life.
Bazy died March 24, 1920. He is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas. Bazy’s cowboy life was a display of courage and survival as an unsung hero. His story could be a movie. He signed his ‘memoir’… ”Hector Bazy, the Negro Cowboy.”
(Written by Carolyn Bessellieu, Two Rivers Heritage Foundation’s African-American Chairman) See www.tworiversheritagefoundation.org for more info and membership.)