The New Year's Resolution The New Year's Resolution Starring Walter Brennan in Ten in Texas on the Cabalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. But first, here is James Whitman. This evening, I'd like to say a word about New Year's Resolution. Some of yours are probably concerned with home improvement. To help you make your home beautiful, we suggest SpeedEasy wall finish. SpeedEasy saves time and money because it dries in just one hour. Because you can get those rooms done so quickly, and it costs less than three dollars to do over the average room in one color. SpeedEasy comes in 11 beautiful colors to suit the most fastidious decorator. With a large brush or roller, you can apply SpeedEasy over most interior wall surfaces, including wallpaper. Start the New Year off with a cheerful house. Use SpeedEasy, one of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. The DuPont Company presents Ten in Texas, starring Walter Brennan as Len Struthers on the Cabalcade of America. Every year in August, there's a cowboy reunion at Bellhart, Texas, where old hands of the biggest ranch America ever knew gathered to swap tall tales of the bad days in frontier Texas and to sing the songs they used to sing while herding longhorn cattle across three million acres of panhandle rain. If you were to pause to inquire into the history of the fabulous XIT Ranch, you'd be directed to the leanest and leatheriest of the cowboys. Here he comes, old Len Struthers. Watch him now. He'll unstring the makings, roll the cigarette, and sit back and tell you the story of the big ranch that changed the West. Well, see, King Ranch in South Texas is big, but the old XIT Ranch is three times bigger. Back in 1870, a state legislature decided we need a new capitol building at Austin. So one of our representatives had an idea. Gentlemen of the legislature, the sovereign state of Texas should have a new state house, a state house taken in size and magnificence only to that of the capitol in Washington. Very well spoken, sir, but what do we use for money? Gentlemen, gentlemen, what does Texas have more of than anything on earth? Beauty, brains, and courage. Texas has an abundance of beauty, brains, and courage, but the thing we got the most of is land. Now I propose, I propose we offer three million acres of the panhandle to anyone who will build us a capitol building worthy of the loan, Starsky. Gentlemen, gentlemen, is that all we can offer so generous a party? That's a hand of privilege of becoming a Texan. Some years later, a couple of the Chicago wholesale merchants, John and Charles Powell, took up the offer. They signed a contract out even seeing the land and formed what was known as the capitol ranch syndicate. I first heard about it at a time when, well, I was just a little trigger happy and had a disposition like a deceptive sidewinder. Colonel B.G. Campbell of the old bar BQ outfit called me and Ann Blocker and Johnny Black over for coffee while we was toasting a boot for this campfire. He told us about it. This is going to be the biggest ranch in the west, and I'm to be manager. How about joining me, boys? What do you think, Blacky? I thought we was fixing to get our ropes on a few trays, set up an outfit of our own. Yeah, plenty of mavericks left in the range. Oh, boys, the day of the maverick is nearing an end. We've got big plans for this ranch, boys. Make the run over 150,000 heads. Oh, yeah? Our spread will be 250 miles long by 30 wide. Yeah, bigger than some nations and a lot of states. Ten full counties. Baby, picked out a brand yet, Barbecue? Nope. Let's see, Penn and Texas. Hey, X stands for ten, don't it? Did what I want to school. Here, I got a brand for you. I'll mark it down by the fire line. X-I-T. Stannin' for Penn and Texas. Yeah, it's a good brand, all right. It'd be hard to change. Yeah, you bet I could change it. Oh, that looks good to me. Hi, Charlie. Boys, I'd like to have you meet our big... Oh, wait a minute, Colonel. This is Charlie. Oh, yeah, yeah. Now, this is Charlie, boys. He come west from Chicago to learn the cow business. How do you do, fellas? Well, he ain't got no use for boot black cow punches. Well, I'm very sorry. Just what is a boot black puncher? Oh, don't mind him, Charlie. Then cut his I.T.s on the books, though. It means stander foot or greenhorn. Well, I guess there's no concealing it. I am a greenhorn, all right. But I promise you I'll learn the cattle business or bite. Change it. You're biting off more than you can chew. Well, now, come on, boys. How about it? Join up for the new X.I.T.? Well, so long as we stake you to a brand, I reckon we might as well. The first autumn saw over 20,000 heads of longhorns delivered to the new range. Trails rumbled with freight wagons, hauling lumber, equipment, and food supplies. Every time an outfit brought in more cattle, the boss is under orders to buy them out, lock, shock, and barrel, to hire them in, too. All of which didn't bring nothing but your will to the X.I.T. And that, coupled with the rules pushed at the governor's hands, is all of us rearing for rebellion. Hey, fellas here. We're getting the bookkeeper, so tomorrow we gotta start signing payrolls and working for it. What? I won't do it. And I won't do it. Orders is orders, boys. I'm quiet now, quiet. Charlie here has invented a little contraption the syndicate wants us to put into operation. Tell them about it, Charlie. I've invented a branding suit. Saved us the trouble of roping and tying calves. What? Doggies, please, huh? Now ain't that just the sort of a contraption the syndicate would come up with? Listen, you greenhorn. When you take a rope out of the hands of a cowboy, you got nothing left. No back-toffs, Len. Orders is orders. Yeah, that's all for me. Before I go, I aim to throw my loop on all the mavericks craze I see. Bookkeepers, doggies squeezers. I'll be hanged before I work for an outfit that don't know how to brand a calf. No, wait a minute. I'm through. Good night, good bye, and bad luck. The devil ain't coming to the old eggside, too. The range of the rattler and the rip-roaring flea. He slouched up the cactus, gave teeth to the ant. So the little red devil can eat off of your pants. Hey, man. Oh, hi. Give us a hand here, will you? We throw the wheel off of Mr. A buckboard. Gee, don't let him know I quit the XIT. Oh, Spokies. Oh. Well, I'll be a ring-tear jinger, a lady. Is this Miss Katie Martin, Len? Ma'am, can I present Mr. Len Souther, one of our unwashed and unvarnished cowboys? How do you do, Mr. Souther? How do you, ma'am? There's a storm coming up, and I was wondering if you could put Miss Katie on behind you and ride back to Lantau. Well, old Smokey ain't never been rid by no lady, and you're gonna like this. Give her a hand, Squeeks. No. Now, ma'am, do you reckon you can ride with all them skirts and them petticoats? Well, I'll manage. No, ma'am. Oh, dear. Hey, have the boys pick out a new wheel, Len. Careful now, Miss Katie. Hey, don't fall off. Well, there's nothing to hold on to. Do you mind if I put my arms... I mean, place my arms around here? Well, ma'am, I'm sort of ticklish, but... Well, if you don't like it, Len, climb down on my horse and I'll take you places. Hush up. Let's go, Smokey. Come on. Hold tight, man. Don't let him get away. It's awfully nice of you to accommodate me like this. Oh, she's such a lovely man, ma'am. Why are you leaving me outside, please? Oh, I'm tired of it. Nothing but rules and foolish goings-on. Bookkeepers, doggies, squeezers. Gee, how come a pretty girl like you's coming out here to this godforsaken country? Well, I work for the syndicate. Work? Mm-hmm. You work for the syndicate? Yeah. I'm the new bookkeeper. Bookkeeper? I'm Ted Beedle. All right, all right, come on. Get out there. Get out there and book your ladies and gentlemen. Come on, now. Good morning, Len. Good morning, sweet. How come you didn't come back last night, Len? Yeah. I thought you were through for good. That fella can change his mind, can't he? Why, you're getting all slicked up, Len. Yeah, that hair oil makes you smell like the morning after a polecat's picnic. And how come you're curling your mustache? Oh, see, come on, fellas. The Colonel wants you up to the big house to meet the new bookkeeper and sign the payroll. Oh, we always do. I for one ain't signing no payroll and ain't going to meet no bookkeeper. How about you, Len? Brackey, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I caught you, Katie. I caught you. Oh, Len. Look at that beautiful view. Never mind the scenery. What's that secret you was going to tell me? Well, the Colonel's going to name you Foreman. Foreman? I don't let the boss know that I let the cat out of the bag. Yeah, so far as I'm concerned, it's still in the bag. You mean you don't want to be Foreman? No, ma'am, not me. Being Foreman in the XIT is like being measured for a shroud. Len Struthers, you think you're a rugged cowboy and you like to tell about how many men you can best in a fight. You brag about having courage and you say that you're not afraid of anything, don't you? Well, I never turned my back on trouble yet. Well, let me tell you, it's easy to go along with everyone else condemning the XIT methods, but it's going to take courage to fight for the big range. Katie, the harness is only buzzing and the rattlers is merely rattling. But one of these days all the hate that's accumulated against the syndicate is going to swarm and strike this ranch all to work. But I'll go along with you. Oh, Len, then you're with us. Did you say us? I'm with you, Katie, all the way. Where's Len Struthers? Looking for me, Blacky? It's not shooting I'm looking for you. We all looking for you. Ain't we, boys? Yeah, well guess what's the best in you this time? Them new rules you just posted say that no hands of XIT are to carry firearms without special authority. That's right. You reckon it's how you're big enough to disarm me? Well, I reckon we could do it if it's a mindy. Well, then start disarming and if you move a muscle I'll drill you full of lead. Put up your hands, John Blacker, you've got to cover it. It's the greener fin, Johnny. No, no, you don't. Oh, boy, what a shot. Look at that. That's for you, Blacky. Now the rest of you reach. Good work, Len. Take the gun, Charlie, toss him here at my feet. You've got a lot of nerve for a tenner for Charlie. Don't worry about me, Len. All right, foreman, give me the assignment. Starting this morning all hands set in line now, riders will be divided in the crews. We got fence to string. Fence? Fence? Yeah, that's what I said, fence. If they get extra pay in it, it's going to be a long-term job. You feel like working, Mr. Black? I'm not working for any out-fitter. I expect his hands to go on arms. As for string and fence, it's a job for nesters, playing dirt farmers. It's not for me. I'm clear off of here, John Black. Well, Mr. Greenhorn, it's pretty clear to me now just who's been responsible for all the rules around here. Any of you boys coming with me? Or would you rather be nesters working for this Greenhorn and his syndicate? I'm with you, Johnny. Well, that's that. Good riddance. So why in the poles in them wagons? You rest your pile of board and move out. What in the trouble, boys? A little mutiny, Katie. Excuse me. All right, you fellas, let's get going. Well, kids, they got me borking the crew that's to string fence. Two thousand miles of it. I'll miss you, man. Yeah, and this makes me the biggest dog John nesters catches. I know, you know. And you're doing it for me. Katie, I've been warned to ask you a very important question. Hey, Lenz, wagons are rolling. Uh, satellite and rads. Okay, Charlie. Miss Katie, I will. Yes, yes, man. Katie, I'll think of you every time we set a post. Adios. You are listening to Walter Brennan as Lenz Stothers in Ten in Texas on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of Better Things for Better Living through Tenant. We spent months on the job of digging post holes, setting posts and stringing wires to that dreaded barbed wire. Then at Christmas time we came in for shindig. Katie and a few other gals were on hand, but they weren't enough females to go around, so some of the boys tied hankies on their sleeves and laid off like they were ladies for the square dancing. We sure had a time with it. Get in your places like horses in the craze. Oh, God, how we're in circle of the world. Oh, Lenz, so good to dance with you. Katie, I was wanting to tell you how much it's... Back boys in circle of the right, come on, you girls, we'll dance all night. Ah, hi, Lenz. This is more fun than the bar in the month, is it? But I'm sure it's getting kind of tired though, paying off as a woman. Now circle home and clean your own room. Katie, I'll meet you every minute. Oh, and I've missed you, Lenz. I've been going to ask for this. Girl, man, let's put you on the left and right, Lenz. Dogs gone into very heavy FK partner talk, and you never get to speak his own mind. Whoever invents, swear they're the noise. Hey, cut off, kiss that squirrel, kiss that pretty girl around the world. After the holidays, we went out with another load of wire and posts. Much became years in that blasted French line. One night in the dark of the moon, I heard cattle on the move. And it was black and his gang that drove the herd of a choice breeding stock toward the New Mexico line. So I unlimbered my peacemaker and rid him of blazing. The cattle stampeded and headed back to the XIT. I followed it a safe distance until the Russians gave up the chase. Then I went after the herd and had the crudities pretty well in hand when two horsemen read up to me on the wires. Reach for the star, cowboy. Don't pull anything or more and it'll see you full of daylight. I'm reaching. What outfits you with? XIT, who you with? Rangers, just like I told you, Pete. They're old men in coats with the rufflers. Yeah, you're making a mistake here, ain't you? I'm Lynn Struthers, boss of the fencing crew. Take your shooting iron, Pete, and turn these cattle back. I'll take him home to the headquarters. I don't know what to do, Lane. The Colonel quit as manager and Charlie's in Chicago and Mr. Boyce, the new manager, is suspicious of everyone. Why save that herd for the XIT? The Rangers say our own men are working with the rufflers. So Mr. Boyce is firing everyone and bringing in outsiders. Yeah, so that brings us all as rufflers, huh? Are you going on working for a setup like this? Well, Lynn, Charlie has asked me to marry him. Marry him? Well... While I've been out stringing fence like a goddamn nester, Charlie Greenhorn's been a feather in his nest. No, Lynn, I've been wanting to talk it over with you, and I... All right, Struthers, Mr. Boyce is turning you loose. So draw your pay and clear off the place. Clear off the XIT? Me? Yeah, you. Oh, Lynn. All right, I'll go. I hope you don't mind if I take more of the horse smoke me with me. He still belongs to me. There's a road from ranch to ranch with my heart and my boots. I found out that Johnny Black's outfit wasn't the only one fighting the XIT. I'd been wrongfully accused, but I refused to let the lie become a fact. I still drew the line on Ruslan. But I needed a grub state, so I finally took a job with Blacky's outfit as its cook. Second month I was with him, they came back from a raid filled to the brims with venom and fire water. They was waiting for us when we came through the drawer. Somebody must have tipped off those rangers. I got a good idea who. What about little Joe? Did he make it? They got him. Never knew what hit him. You mean the kid is dead? You heard him the first time. Oh, poor little Joe. He was too young to die. Yeah, too young to die. And you, you're too old to live. You tipped off those rangers. I did not. They were waiting for us tonight and you're the only man in this outfit that stands for the big ranch. Well, don't blame me if little Joe got himself killed. He was a faller in you, not me. I've waited a long time for this. Good work, Blacky. Let me finish him off. He ain't worth a lit of a single bullet. Here, I'll rope his feet together, tie the other end of it to a saddle horn. Let that old nagger his dragger's cockus back to the XRT way belong. It is said that you'll never convict Johnny Black of rustling. I don't think you should have come in to prosecute the case, Charlie, even if you are a lawyer. You have so much prejudice. But really, Katie, I feel better qualified to handle it than any lawyer we might engage. Well, I'll never forgive myself. It's called to get an assailant. Council for the Cavital Syndicate, will you please wind up your case? The men of the jury would like to get back to the ranches before the calves are all cows. I'm going to do my best, Katie, here. Your Honor, gentlemen of the jury, I'd like to call the defendant, John Black, back to the witness stand. Gentlemen, only the XIT ranch has brought polled Angus cattle to this territory. On the night of August the 28th, Ira Orton, formerly the Texas Rangers, caught Mr. Black and his men driving a herd of polled Angus cattle bearing his brand. Black, where did you get those cattle? I bought them. Where did you buy them? From a man. When did you put your brand on them? Well, now I don't rightfully remember. You see, on our ranch we don't wear our men out keeping a lot of records. Gentlemen of the jury, I charge that the defendant here has been changing the XIT into his own brand. You can stand there and make the charge all day. But if you can't show the jury how it's done, mister, then you just ain't got no case. Is there anybody in the house who thinks he can change an XIT brand into mine? Yeah, I can do it. Len Struthers. I thought... Len! Oh, Len! Your Honor, I should like to ask for a recess. You've had too many recesses now, sonny. Go on with the case. Let me step down from the witness stand, Mr. Black. Gentlemen of the jury, for new evidence, I should like to introduce a former employee of Mr. Black's ranch. Take the witness stand, Mr. Struthers. Oh, yes, sir. That was good, huh, Blacky? Well, there's one thing you didn't figure on that drunken moment of yours. Good cowhorses like my smoky won't run far away. There's a catch on these ropes. Well, the witness, you swear to tell the whole truth and not look too heavy-guarded? I do. Mr. Struthers, here's the next XIT brand mark and a piece of chalk. Will you demonstrate? Yeah. Now, here's the way Blacky and his boys done it. You notice that the T slants just a little. Now just cross the I and extend the inside lines of the X like this, and continue the stem of the T until the lines meet and form the point of the star. The rest of it's easy. I would say that's my engineer. Gentlemen, we rest our case. Oh, man, it's so good to have you back. We'll celebrate, Len, as soon as the jury comes in with a verdict. We want you for best man at our wedding, Len. Wedding? You mean the... Oh, Len, I don't know what to say. Well, Katie, I reckon we know your own mind. Oh, I wish you and Charlie a lifetime of happiness and ten starwood sons. All of them Texans is a capital brand. The jury is ready with his body. Len, it's an open and shut case, thanks to you. Order, order. You say the jury has arrived with a verdict? Yes, Harry Bobb. John Black is not guilty. And we'd like to try the capital syndicate for persecuting an honest cow man. After 27 years of operation, the greatest of all cattle empires sold out. Men who fought the syndicate finally whipped it. Men who woke up one day to find that the very things they'd condemned the HIT for had enveloped them on all sides. The ranchers that pay today use the same money to buy the cattle. The ranchers that pay today use the same money to buy the cattle. The ranchers that pay today use the same money to buy the cattle. The ranchers that pay today use the same money to buy the cattle. The ranchers that pay today use the same money to buy the cattle. The ranch that changed the West. I reckon you all want to know about the wedding of Charlie and Katie. I reckon you all want to know about the wedding of Charlie and Katie. Well, you know how women have had their rides changed their minds... Hey, wait just a minute. Oh, Katie, come on out here and meet the folks. Oh, Katie, come on out here and meet the folks. Howdy. Yes sir, this is Mrs. Lynn Struthers, folks. Ha ha. Took more plot than them planning to land this old goot than them rascals ever used to lust for the life out of the X.I.G. Ain't that right, Pa? Yes, right my history. Our star Walter Brennan will return to our capital gate microphone in a moment. Now here is Gaines Whitman. Cattle ranching today is very different from what it used to be in the day of the open ranges. Romance still rides with the herds, but now science rides along. Stock men know much more than they used to about feed for one thing. Many of the discoveries which have improved the diet of human beings, like vitamins, are used to improve the diet of range cattle. It is known today that cattle have diseases just as we do. And veterinary science knows more about the diseases, more about how to cure them. An animal in need of medical treatment or surgery gets veterinary care that compares very well with the care you or I receive in a hospital. The number of cattle on the range and their health affects your table and your pocketbook. For those are some of the factors which help to determine how much meat is available and what price you must pay for it. Chemistry is making a number of contributions to the welfare of America's herds of beef cattle. The DuPont Company manufactures a compound with a long chemical name, phenothiazine, which is the best known remedy against intestinal worms that cause cattle to lose weight and sometimes die. A most effective remedy against external screwworms is smear number 62, developed by the Department of Agriculture. In this chemical, disanilamine is the active ingredient. Another DuPont chemical which contributes to the supply of meat is disodium phosphate. The soil in some parts of the country is lacking in phosphorus, and cattle raised in those areas lose weight and energy, gets creepy as cattlemen say. Cows often become barren, though no calves are born. But with disodium phosphate added to their feed and drinking water, they stay fat and sleep, bear more calves, and the calves are heavier. Still another compound manufactured by DuPont, DDT, shows promise of controlling life, horn flies, ticks, and other parasites that make life miserable for the cattle. Not only is it practical and efficient to safeguard the health of cattle, but it's more humane, reflecting greater thoughtfulness and kindness to animal friends that must be helped, since they are unable to help themselves. Genothiazine, disodium phosphate, DDT, disanilamine, in special formulations for the use of cattlemen, are DuPont's better things for a better living through chemistry. And now here is Walter Brennan. Well folks, next week, Cavalcade is going to bring you Joseph Cotten and Claire Trevor and the story of Donald McKay, the American who built the first Clipper ships. I'll be listening with you next Monday night when Joseph Cotten and Claire Trevor are heard in Build Me Straight on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. This is the moment to pause at the end of the year which has brought victory on the battlefront, and for each to resolve to undertake with renewed determination his own task. There is much to be done to bring back peace and bountiful plenty to the exhausted world. Each in his own way may have a part in the opportunity the New Year brings for all of us. Here's a wish that it may be a happy year of achievement for every one of you. The music for tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Ambruster. Walter Brennan will soon be seen in the 20th Century Fox Technicolor Production, Centennial Summer. Our Cavalcade play was written by Walter Hanks Richards and was based on a Reader's Digest article by Lewis Nordyke. This is Tom Collins inviting you to listen next week to Joseph Cotten with Claire Trevor in Build Me Straight on the Cavalcade of America, brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This is a national broadcasting company.
