General Notes

Custom Field:<_FA#> His first name derived from his Grandfather Willoughby Todd and his middle name from his father's middle name.@@S726784@@Date of Import: Jul 31, 2003
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Will Spradley came to Texas when he was almost two years old and grew up
on Lee County and lower Milam County. He left home about the time his
parents moved to San Gabriel around 1893. B. Elmer's father, a brother of
Willoughby, told him about Will working on a ranch where he trained wild
horses for riding on the ranch.
Another brother, George Wesley Spradley related that when he was
about 12 years old he watched Will ride broncos and bucking horses. He
contracted to ride twenty five hores, three saddles a piece for the pick
of the bunch. In the bunch of horses was an eight year old sorrell. His
main and tail long and flowing and he was a very pretty and good looking
horse, but he was very wild and he ruled the world. So when Uncle Will
set the date to ride him, word was passed out to all counties and towns
within a fifty mile distance, and nearly half the population came to see
it done. When the roper threw the loop on that wild one, he turned to
fight, ears pinned back, eyes flashing, teeth bared and screaming like a
panther and chasing his roper. Another man put another rope on his head
and still anothr man roped one hind foot. They tied him up to a hitching
post and put a blindfold on him. Then they put a saddleon him and he was
ready to ride.
Well my Uncle about that time got cold feet, so he turned to a friend,
Alfred Gentry, who was helping in the work of getting the horse ready to
ride and said, "Al, I'll give you two dollars to ride him." Alfred Gentry
said, "Give it here." Uncle Will gave him two silver dollars and ride
him, he did. When they turned him loose and pulled the blinds off, boy
hehad a wall-eyed fit. He jumped just as high as he could and came down
stiff legged. George Spradley was sitting on the wooden gate and he said
that he could see the tops of the tress under the horse's belly, he went
so high. The horse bucked straight out into the pasture for about five
hundred yards and seeing that he couldn't buck the man off, he reared up
and fell over backwards.
Alfred Gentry kicked his feet out of the stirrups and landed on his
hands and feet and scrambled out from under the horse. When the stallion
rolled over to get up, Alfred hit the saddle again and the horse came
back just like he went, bucking and squealing and having a wall eyed fit.
He bucked so hard and jolted Al so hard that his nosed began to bleed.
When the roper saw that, they ran in and began to lay the quirt on his
rump. When they would hit him on the rump, it would raise the hide, some
time it would bring blood. Well that old horse could only stand so much
of that and began to run, after circling the pasture a couple of times,
they yelled to my dad to (Open the gate, George). They ran about five
hundred feet and headed straight out the gate. Dad said that was the last
time he ever saw that old horse. Uncle Will traded him off before he got
back home, he was so mean to keep around the farm house.