James Oscar Bass married Corrie Bama Edmondson in Tulia, Swisher County, Texas on 14 May 1905.
Their first child, James Oscar Bass, Jr. was born in 1921. Their second child, Carrie Virginia Edmondson Bass was born in 1928.
A correction to the article transcribed below, from J.O.'s grandson, J.O. Bass III:
"Someone said in a previous article that the shop tools were lost. This is not true . About 40 years ago my father and I took them to the Swisher County Museum in Tulia. They built a replica of the old shop. Understand that my grandfather was Sunday school superintendent at the Methodist church and knew all the kids in town. Several young boys would come by the shop and visit after school. Years later when we took the shop tools to the museum 4 of these men were present and they knew EXACTLY where the tools belonged in the shop. Because of this we feel like the shop replica is very accurate."
SPUR MAKER LEGEND LIVES
By Orville Howard: Farm Editor AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS-GLOBE
TULIA --
Longfellow was not around the day J. O. Bass closed his blacksmith shop in this
little West Texas cowtown--the day he poured murky slag water on the last coals
and racked his anvil tongs forever.
But like Longfellow's classic character, a legend had been forged -- legend of the Tulia Spur maker that would span half a century of time and be told and retold wherever cowmen congregated.
There's no physical trace left today of the old blacksmith shop which once stood a couple of blocks north of Tulia's town square. But people still remember, though somewhat dimly. J. O. Bass is also gone. He died at Plainview in 1950 at the age of 80. And with his passing, all of his blacksmith tools have disappeared.
Folks around here remember him as an honest, hardworking blacksmith; cowboys knew him only as the Tulia spur maker; and still others remember Mr. Bass as "an old man who worked at an anvil."
For 25 years, J. O. Bass was known in the Western world as one of the finest spur makers in America. No one knows how many spurs he made or how many he threw away because of some imperfection. He made a perfect spur from a solid piece of metal -- hand-forged and hand-engraved. Spur collectors throughout the nation now seek out the dainty, straight-line riding hardward with going prices now more than $50 for an inlaid set that cost $12.50 a half century ago.
Bass first saw the Panhandle 17 years before Oklahoma became a state. He was born at Atlanta, Ga., and at the age of 9, came west with his parents and six other children to Young County, Tex. A year later, in 1891, they moved north to Motley County just in time to hit the heyday at the vast Matador Ranch.
A younger brother, Elmer Bass, who now lives in Kress, said they
were headed out to the middle of the Panhandle country, but they couldn't get up
the Caprock."We stopped at Quitaque because we couldn't go any farther," said Elmer Bass. "We had two wagons and three yokes of oxen. . . and were hungry."
Historical gleanings show that Bass started his first blacksmith shop in 1897 at Quitaque where he married the former Corrie Edmondson. She also is deceased. Elmer recalled that his older brother made spurs for the Matador cowboys as just a sideline to his regular blacksmith work down in Motley County. In 1905, Bass and his wife pulled stakes and moved to Tulia where he went to a blacksmith partnership with Nolan Jones. Later, he bought out Jones and launched a full-time spur-making business. All of his spurs were hand-forged from one piece of metal, with numerous sets inlaid with copper and silver. He also make bridle bits, and these, too, were hammered out from a single piece of iron. During the years he patented several styles, including the locked-rowel spur and the curb-flange bridle. His favorite metal was that from buggy and hack axles.
"J. O. always said that the best metal on earth came from buggy
axles," said Elmer Bass. "He gathered the axles from all over the Panhandle and
paid a premium for them." J. Evetts Haley of Canyon, rancher and historian, said he remembered that cowboys sought after the Tulia-made spurs when he was a cowboy down in the Midland country in 1915-16.
"When a cowboy came up with a pair of Tulia spurs, he was a dressed-up cowboy," said Haley. "Years ago, I intended to do some research on the Tulia spur maker, but,
somehow, time slipped by and I became too busy with my ranch work." Joe
W. Vaughn, a farmer who lives on the north edge of Tulia has a bridle and a set
of spurs made by J. O. Bass. he can point to the spot where the old blacksmith
shop once stood and says that the late J. O. Bass was one of the finest men he
ever knew.
"When I was just a little tyke, I'd come by the shop almost every night on my way home from school and I'd watch Mr. Bass make spurs and bridles," said Vaughn. "Every one he made was nothing but perfection.
"When I got a little older, I guess about 16, I asked Mr. Bass if he'd make me a set of spurs," Vaughn continued. "And it just happened that he was finishing up a set of silver and copper inlaid spurs for a cowboy in Arizona, and he let me have those. I still have them and wouldn't take $50 for the set."
A serial number along with "Made By J. O. Bass, Tulia, Texas," was stamped on every set of spurs made by Bass after he went into the business fulltime at Tulia. These spurs have a distinct styling: A straight-line, rectangular shank, and they are rather small as spurs go.
Each spur was hand-forged on an anvil. The silver and copper inlay was welded to the spur by sheer force and heat. The towels were hand-stamped, then filed by hand to a perfect roundness.
In 1923, or maybe it was 1925, no one remembers for sure, J. O. Bass closed his blacksmith shop in Tulia. He was in failing health, and had to leave the forge behind. He took up farming in the Tulia-Plainview area where he spent the rest of his life.
J. O. Bass, Jr. of Plainview said as far as he knew, there are no tools left of the old family blacksmith shop which once was a landmark for the cowboys of West Texas.
J.O. died in a Marlin, Texas hospital while being treated for cancer.
=================================
J O Bass made some spurs in his day,
some fetching between,
$5,000. 00-$7,000.00 a pair on todays market
He started out in Quitaque, Briscoe Co TX
for a few short years
then moved to Tulia, Swisher Co TX
The spurs marked with Quitaque are much more valuable. contirbuted by FG memeber #46842176
===============================
J.O. Bass (James Oscar) was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1879, one of seven children. His family moved to Texas when he was 11 and settled in Quitaque in the Texas panhandle. It's unknown exactly who taught Bass the craft of blacksmithing and bit and spur making but he learned well and his pieces always exemplified the highest quality. Bass began working in general blacksmith work in Quitaque for ranchers and cowboys. In 1905 Bass and his new wife moved to nearby Tulia, Texas where he would live and work until the tail end of his life. Bass was one of the few masters who worked continuously instead of employing others in his name and did a lot of custom order work and as such most of his work is high quality and quite rare. Bass did all his own work.
James Oscar Bass married Corrie Bama Edmondson in Tulia, Swisher County, Texas on 14 May 1905.
Their first child, James Oscar Bass, Jr. was born in 1921. Their second child, Carrie Virginia Edmondson Bass was born in 1928.
A correction to the article transcribed below, from J.O.'s grandson, J.O. Bass III:
"Someone said in a previous article that the shop tools were lost. This is not true . About 40 years ago my father and I took them to the Swisher County Museum in Tulia. They built a replica of the old shop. Understand that my grandfather was Sunday school superintendent at the Methodist church and knew all the kids in town. Several young boys would come by the shop and visit after school. Years later when we took the shop tools to the museum 4 of these men were present and they knew EXACTLY where the tools belonged in the shop. Because of this we feel like the shop replica is very accurate."
SPUR MAKER LEGEND LIVES
By Orville Howard: Farm Editor AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS-GLOBE
TULIA --
Longfellow was not around the day J. O. Bass closed his blacksmith shop in this
little West Texas cowtown--the day he poured murky slag water on the last coals
and racked his anvil tongs forever.
But like Longfellow's classic character, a legend had been forged -- legend of the Tulia Spur maker that would span half a century of time and be told and retold wherever cowmen congregated.
There's no physical trace left today of the old blacksmith shop which once stood a couple of blocks north of Tulia's town square. But people still remember, though somewhat dimly. J. O. Bass is also gone. He died at Plainview in 1950 at the age of 80. And with his passing, all of his blacksmith tools have disappeared.
Folks around here remember him as an honest, hardworking blacksmith; cowboys knew him only as the Tulia spur maker; and still others remember Mr. Bass as "an old man who worked at an anvil."
For 25 years, J. O. Bass was known in the Western world as one of the finest spur makers in America. No one knows how many spurs he made or how many he threw away because of some imperfection. He made a perfect spur from a solid piece of metal -- hand-forged and hand-engraved. Spur collectors throughout the nation now seek out the dainty, straight-line riding hardward with going prices now more than $50 for an inlaid set that cost $12.50 a half century ago.
Bass first saw the Panhandle 17 years before Oklahoma became a state. He was born at Atlanta, Ga., and at the age of 9, came west with his parents and six other children to Young County, Tex. A year later, in 1891, they moved north to Motley County just in time to hit the heyday at the vast Matador Ranch.
A younger brother, Elmer Bass, who now lives in Kress, said they
were headed out to the middle of the Panhandle country, but they couldn't get up
the Caprock."We stopped at Quitaque because we couldn't go any farther," said Elmer Bass. "We had two wagons and three yokes of oxen. . . and were hungry."
Historical gleanings show that Bass started his first blacksmith shop in 1897 at Quitaque where he married the former Corrie Edmondson. She also is deceased. Elmer recalled that his older brother made spurs for the Matador cowboys as just a sideline to his regular blacksmith work down in Motley County. In 1905, Bass and his wife pulled stakes and moved to Tulia where he went to a blacksmith partnership with Nolan Jones. Later, he bought out Jones and launched a full-time spur-making business. All of his spurs were hand-forged from one piece of metal, with numerous sets inlaid with copper and silver. He also make bridle bits, and these, too, were hammered out from a single piece of iron. During the years he patented several styles, including the locked-rowel spur and the curb-flange bridle. His favorite metal was that from buggy and hack axles.
"J. O. always said that the best metal on earth came from buggy
axles," said Elmer Bass. "He gathered the axles from all over the Panhandle and
paid a premium for them." J. Evetts Haley of Canyon, rancher and historian, said he remembered that cowboys sought after the Tulia-made spurs when he was a cowboy down in the Midland country in 1915-16.
"When a cowboy came up with a pair of Tulia spurs, he was a dressed-up cowboy," said Haley. "Years ago, I intended to do some research on the Tulia spur maker, but,
somehow, time slipped by and I became too busy with my ranch work." Joe
W. Vaughn, a farmer who lives on the north edge of Tulia has a bridle and a set
of spurs made by J. O. Bass. he can point to the spot where the old blacksmith
shop once stood and says that the late J. O. Bass was one of the finest men he
ever knew.
"When I was just a little tyke, I'd come by the shop almost every night on my way home from school and I'd watch Mr. Bass make spurs and bridles," said Vaughn. "Every one he made was nothing but perfection.
"When I got a little older, I guess about 16, I asked Mr. Bass if he'd make me a set of spurs," Vaughn continued. "And it just happened that he was finishing up a set of silver and copper inlaid spurs for a cowboy in Arizona, and he let me have those. I still have them and wouldn't take $50 for the set."
A serial number along with "Made By J. O. Bass, Tulia, Texas," was stamped on every set of spurs made by Bass after he went into the business fulltime at Tulia. These spurs have a distinct styling: A straight-line, rectangular shank, and they are rather small as spurs go.
Each spur was hand-forged on an anvil. The silver and copper inlay was welded to the spur by sheer force and heat. The towels were hand-stamped, then filed by hand to a perfect roundness.
In 1923, or maybe it was 1925, no one remembers for sure, J. O. Bass closed his blacksmith shop in Tulia. He was in failing health, and had to leave the forge behind. He took up farming in the Tulia-Plainview area where he spent the rest of his life.
J. O. Bass, Jr. of Plainview said as far as he knew, there are no tools left of the old family blacksmith shop which once was a landmark for the cowboys of West Texas.
J.O. died in a Marlin, Texas hospital while being treated for cancer.
=================================
J O Bass made some spurs in his day,
some fetching between,
$5,000. 00-$7,000.00 a pair on todays market
He started out in Quitaque, Briscoe Co TX
for a few short years
then moved to Tulia, Swisher Co TX
The spurs marked with Quitaque are much more valuable. contirbuted by FG memeber #46842176
===============================
J.O. Bass (James Oscar) was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1879, one of seven children. His family moved to Texas when he was 11 and settled in Quitaque in the Texas panhandle. It's unknown exactly who taught Bass the craft of blacksmithing and bit and spur making but he learned well and his pieces always exemplified the highest quality. Bass began working in general blacksmith work in Quitaque for ranchers and cowboys. In 1905 Bass and his new wife moved to nearby Tulia, Texas where he would live and work until the tail end of his life. Bass was one of the few masters who worked continuously instead of employing others in his name and did a lot of custom order work and as such most of his work is high quality and quite rare. Bass did all his own work.
Bio by: Mike2001
Gravesite Details
Funeral Director: Lemons
