Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning recreates some of his popular radio interviews from “Voices of the Big Bend,” an original production of KRTS, Marfa
Public Radio, which is broadcast throughout the region at 93.5 FM.
by Jim Glendinning
G
ary Harrell was born in
Sanderson on November 13,
1936. Felix Harrell Jr., Gary’s
father, who married Lily McDonald,
worked for 44 years as brakeman for
Southern Pacific Railroad.
The Harrell and McDonald families
have lived in Sanderson, Terrell County,
since around 1900. The Harrells
ranched, and grandfather Felix Harrell
was sheriff of Terrell County. An uncle,
Jim Nance, was a Texas Ranger.
Sanderson was a good, safe place to
grow up in. More prosperous then, with
a population of 2,000 (today it is around
800), it was a center for sheep, goat and
cattle ranching and an important depot
and crew change point for the Southern
Pacific Railroad. In high school, Gary
worked summers for the railroad, which
had a roundhouse in Sanderson where
the locomotives were turned around.
Leaving Sanderson in 1956, Gary
enrolled for one semester at Texas
Western in El Paso to study geology. He
switched to Sul Ross a year later,
enrolled in sociology and geology classes
and played baseball. The geology class
was bluntly told by the university that
there was a glut of geologists graduating,
and job prospects were poor.
When Southern Pacific called him
with a job offer, Gary quit Sul Ross and
started a career that would be the love of
his life. He hired out on June 14, 1959.
In those days, five personnel worked the
train, three in the locomotive and two in
the caboose. Gary’s job was up front as
brakeman, responsible for all of the train
except the locomotive. Today Southern
Pacific crews number two.
The job itself was relatively routine,
maintenance of the rolling stock and
supervision of cargo. The satisfaction
came primarily from being in the
Chihuahuan Desert, observing nature at
work – a romantic life. There was also a
feeling of solitude, detachment from
crowds, being away from an office and
12
Photo by Dallas Baxter
gary Harrell
Sanderson
out in the open. “I was privileged,” he
says quietly.
Two major tragic events occurred in
Sanderson during this period. The first
was the flood of 1965. Eleven inches of
rain flooded the area west of Sanderson,
drained into two draws and swept
through town, washing away a rock-
built wool house. Twenty-six persons
died. Gary’s train was delayed overnight
by the flood, and when he walked into
town the next morning, he saw the full
effects of the catastrophe.
The second tragedy was a head-on
collision between two Southern Pacific
freight trains. This occurred in 1994, the
year before Gary retired, just west of
Sanderson, and resulted in the death of
all four crew members, all Sanderson
men. The company blamed the acci-
dent on crew fatigue, and the crew
change point was switched to Alpine,
further reducing Sanderson’s economy.
Never married because, as he says, he
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2010
Photo by Dallas Baxter
Mona garcIa
Marfa
never found the right woman, Gary
exudes a calmness reflecting a philoso-
phy more typical of former times. He
reads a lot. When asked for a few final
words on his working life and conditions,
he says “I wish we could go back.”
M
ona Blocker was born in 1936
in Houston, the eldest of four
children of Helen and Dan
Blocker, a petroleum engineer, whose
family ancestors (Von Bluecher) came
from Prussia.
Her first life-affecting experience was
in first grade in Petronila Creek, near
Corpus Christi. There, in a one-room
school with 35 kids, 85 per cent of
whom were Mexican, the first two hours
of daily instruction were in Spanish, giv-
ing Mona a command of the language
for life.
Since her mother did not cook,
Mona, as the eldest child, assumed that
role from age 8.
Photo by Jim Glendinning
MIcHael poWell
alpine
After high school in Alvin, Mona
entered the University of Texas in
Austin in 1955 to study art history. Soon
after her arrival, she spotted a tall, dark-
haired student outside the Student
Union. This was Rudy, whose family
came from Spain’s Basque country and
with whom she started taking tango les-
sons. They were married on January 29,
1956.
Rudy was studying geology and upon
graduation in 1958 joined the Sun Oil
Corporation and was posted to
Venezuela. This was what Mona calls
the golden age of oil exploration and
development. Their life was un memento de
duende (a magical moment) with servants,
a large house and status in the commu-
nity. They stayed there 14 years, and all
four children (Cassandra, Gregory,
Anthony and Gavin) were born there.
In 1974, after two years in
Philadelphia, Rudy, now vice president
for exploration, was sent to Lima. It was