by Billie Farrington Birnie

Woulfter Mountain ( left ) and Gomez Peak ( right , also known as Sleeping Lady ). Photo by Judy Farrington Elkins .

Woulfter Ranch lies at the western edge of the Madera Valley , just below Woulfter Mountain and near Gomez Peak , some 20 miles west of Balmorhea . Like the rest of West Texas , it is beautiful but harsh , cradled between a sky that never seems to sit still and a land covered in mesquite and low brush , harboring plants that scratch and wildlife that slithers , bites and stings .

In 1941 , my parents Casey and Cassie Farrington moved to Woulfter . Casey was fit , having cowboyed since the age of 13 . Cassie was strong of character and resilient , but as a child she had been stricken by polio , which had left her with one weak leg and a pronounced limp that limited her mobility . The two married in 1932 and took up residence with Cassie ’ s mother , Amy Walker , on a farm east of Balmorhea .

Some years later , my mother wrote an account of our family ’ s time at Woulfter Ranch . What follows are excerpts from her journal .

LIVING AT WOULFTER RANCH

During the early spring of 1941 , Case y was hired by Jim Duncan as foreman , to take charge of sheep and cattle that he had moved to Woulfter Ranch , which he had recently purchased from Mr . W . D . Childress . The world was in conflict and World War II was raging , but Casey had been deferred by the draft board , so we , with our three young daughters , Jamie going on 5 , Judy , not quite 3 , and Billie , born the November before , loaded our few belongings and moved from the farm to the old ranch headquarters , located in the foothills of the Davis Mountains , almost in the shadow of Gomez Peak .”

She describes in vivid detail the layout of the four-room house and rock-strewn yard , the gas-operated washing machine , the wood-burning cookstove , the galvanized washtub for bathing , and the meager furnishings :