Thomas
Edward Hayes (1899-1963)
Tom was born in Cedarville, California July 23, 1899. Little is known of
his early life, as he never talked of his family. He sent money every month
to his mother but no one ever knew her or her name. He had one brother, Lester.
Tom was very quiet and Lester talked all the time. Tom carried a Bible with
him at all times and read it daily. He never swore. He always treated women
with respect.
Tom first Buckarooed around Cedarville and Alturas, California, then moved
to Harney County, Oregon in 1919. Stub Curry was one of his best friends
and he gave us this accounting of Tom: He first worked for the White Horse
Ranch in south Harney, the ranch owned by the Pacific Livestock Co. (PLS)
Miller and Lux. He then worked for the Island Ranch at Burns, Oregon, also
owned by Miller and Lux.
His personality and the ability to work and handle men gave him many
opportunities as the Buckaroo Boss on many large outfits. He never ever fired
a man. If he didn’t like someone or the job he was doing he would figure
out a way to make him quit. He had a Chinese Cook that put out a terrible
meal, so he started to play a way to make him quit, he took horsehair and
cut up in small pieces and put them in his bedroll. That was all it took,
he left the next morning.
Tom was always neat as a pin, his gear was always clean and oiled and cared
for. He wore chinks, a small brimmed felt hat, a scarf, a tan shirt, black
vest, and two pair of pants, a woolen pair with Levis over them. His horses
performed outstanding; whether it was roping or parting cattle, they never
did anything wrong. Some were cranky.
He had a sense of humor that was different. One day while out gathering cattle
in the fall, there were a lot of hunters and they were shooting all around
the crew. Tom slid off his horse and lay really still. All the hands thought
he had been shot, so they ran over to him, rolled him over. He stayed limp
while they looked for a bullet hole, and then he opened his eyes and said,
“By golly I thought they got me.”
He worked for a dollar a day but whenever he returned to his adopted family
out of Burns, Oregon he brought a big bag of candy bars for the young ones.
While he was home he cut rawhide strings to make reatas. He made good reatas.
He moved to Elko County, Nevada in the 1930’s where he spent the remainder
of his life.
Tom passed away in Winnemucca, Nevada May 31, 1963.
Thomas Edward Hayes was inducted into the Buckaroo Hall of Fame in September
1992.
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