The Drowning of George Brenton
Harve Kett, a local cowboy and early Sherriff of Baca County, I am sure was excited to set up his camera and get some pictures during the round up that year. He had brought his camera and may have taken pictures that morning, but currently, had his camera set up and was watching the cowboys goof off during their lunch break in the creek. There is a haunting moment captured by Harve in old black and white film that shows several cowboys swimming in a water hole on Carrizo Creek during their lunch break on a hot August afternoon. The picture also shows George Brenton riding out towards them on his horse. Ike Osteen says in his book, A Place Called Baca, that Mrs. Marie Winsor, a daughter of Harve Kett, made him aware of the picture. Marie says that her father told her George Brenton died within minutes of him taking it.
During the noon hour break of a large fall cattle round up, with many cowboys and ranches present, George Brenton rode his horse into Carrizo Creek about 4-5 miles south of Carrizo Springs to goof off with his friends. The day was hot, and I’m sure a swim in the creek sounded like a good way to cool off after the morning’s work. On his way out into the swimming hole, the horse tripped and went under carrying George Brenton under with him. When the horse came up a moment later it was without George.
Fred Hollister, the man considered to be in charge of the roundup, was lying nearby under a wagon in the shade reading. Someone shouted to Hollister that a man was drowning, Fred quickly took off his boots and began diving in the water. Due to the depth of the water, and the cold temperature at the bottom of the swimming hole, it was an hour passed before they located his body. It should be noted that not all cowboys could swim very well, and JA Austin’s account says, “They could only feel him with their feet, and so to recover the body they drug him out with a sack of rocks tied to a rope.” The day was Aug 9, 1891.
The Cowboy Funeral
George Brenton’s iconic funeral was captured on camera by Harve Kett, Harve labeled the picture he took, “A Cowboy Funeral,” and he also etched the brand Bar7L into the photo. Supposedly, so that we know that the cowboy who died worked for the Bar7L (Reynolds) ranch. There are about 30 people in the picture and maybe a few more – it is a bit hard to tell as they are so scrunched together, and some are standing in back. Because George Brenton drowned during a round up time, there were many cowboys present from many different ranches all across southeast Colorado, the Oklahoma panhandle, western Kansas, northeast New Mexico, and northern Texas panhandle.
The picture is unique in the number and variety of people present, the number of famous local characters in the picture, and the fact it captures the funeral of just a regular ‘ole cowboy. George Brenton was nobody famous. Whether or not George Brenton was not well known, his funeral was possibly one of the largest attended funerals in recorded western cowboy history.
George Brenton was a cowboy, not super well known it is said, that was working for the Reynolds Cattle Company at the time of his death. Ike Osteen’s account says that George Brenton worked under Walter Dunn, the range manager and wagon boss for the Reynolds Cattle Company located southwest of Kim near the 7L Buttes. In JR Austin’s account of the Early History of Baca County it is said that he was the, “Bar7L man who drowned.”
Because George Brenton was not well known, there is speculation as to why the drowning happened. Ike Osteen says, “There was rumors that George Brenton killed himself due to trouble with his wife.” JR Austin says that it was an accident, “George Brenton jumped on this horse and rode into the creek expecting to have some fun at the expense of others. The horse stumbled and fell taking the rider under with him. The horse came up but the rider didn’t.” So, like everything we don’t know, and maybe the witnesses at the time didn’t either.
Was George Brenton a JJ Cowboy?
It is claimed in some places that George Brenton was a JJ Cowboy. At the time of his drowning, George Brenton was not working for the JJ ranch, but the Reynolds Ranch. I currently speculate (take it for what its worth!) however, that it is not to say that he had not worked for the JJ ranch in the past. Ike Osteen says that George Brenton’s official residence was in Las Animas, CO at the time of his death. Las Animas is a lot closer to Higbee, the JJ Ranch headquarters, than the Reynolds Ranch would have been. The Reynolds Ranch was located southwest of the present day town of Kim, CO near the 7L Buttes. However, cowboys didn’t always work for one ranch their entire lives. He could very well have been a past JJ cowboy who was currently working for the Reynolds Ranch or hired out to the Reynolds Ranch for the round up.
George Brenton’s Funeral and The Significance of Round Up Time
The picture of George Brenton’s funeral is so iconic due to the fact that it happened during a roundup and includes so many cowboys. Round ups happened due to the nature of ranching at the time. There were very few fences and the cattle roamed freely over large tracts of land and shared water sources and grass with ranches from all over a large region. Cowboys from all area ranches would gather at different locations through the region in the spring and fall to work, sort, brand, and round up calves and cows for sale.
The practice of gathering for spring and fall work kept all the ranches honest doing the work together. Cattle were sorted according to brands and calves were branded with the brand of the cow it followed. It also made the very large job of sorting and working several thousand cattle at each location much more feasible and enjoyable.
If George had drowned at any other time, there would most likely be no picture. We probably wouldn’t even know how he died. But because of the number of witnesses, the fact that there was someone there with a camera, and that there were so many cowboys there to attend the funeral of one of their own – the picture and moment is a unique and priceless moment in time.
Read on about the Carrizo Springs Cemetery
A Place Called Baca, Ike Osteen, 178-183, 1979
A History of Early Baca County, JR Austin, pgs 37,19-2,1956
A Cowboy Funeral, https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/blog/a-cowboys-funeral/
Cowboy Funeral Picture, Harve Kett, Aug 9, 1891