The Last Cowboy Song (Texas Country Reporter)

Texas says good-bye to a ranching legend, Charlie Schreiner III, known as Charlie III. He single-handedly saved the longhorn from extinction.

Charlie Schreiner III
Y.O. Ranch, TX

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Video Script:: 

it is just after dawn in the western edge of the Texas Hill Country a pasture on the legendary wild ranch burst with color Nature's Way of celebrating good rains on parched lands but that's where the celebration stops button all we know is that they different cemetery then where they buried Louis we don't know exactly where it is they were putting on new road but there's troopers lining the way leading everybody back there okay [Music] when I come to the end of the road and the Sun has set for me I want no rights in a gloom filled room why cry for a soul set free miss me a little but not too long and not with your head bowed low I find it very appropriate that we're all gathered here on the highest spot on the y ou R anch to lay to rest a great man [Music] Charles Shriner the third we just called him Charlie three he had a smile as big as Texas a heart that couldn't be measured with a soft spot for the ways of the Old West you see Charlie three spent his entire life of this spread his granddaddy found it better than a hundred years ago the wire wrench has become a Texas ranching icon a lasting legacy that has outlived the depression the drought and dropping cattle prices his office was the back of a horse and his signature was the unmistakable y/o brand Charlie three gave so much from his heart and his heart finally just gave out Charlie Shriner was an important man it was an important man to this country because the Charlie Shriners of the world built this country they're the ones instead of the left they're the ones that excuse me they're the ones that made America what she is or what she at least has been and should be the people gathered underneath around this tent will never forget Charlie three and they will never forget what he did for Texas you see we all knew Charlie as the man who single-handedly saved the long horn from extinction Charlie Traynor was to Texas a whole lot like another Charlie Charlie goodnight when Charlie could not made an effort to save the Buffalo from extension Charlie Shriner came along and saved the Longhorn an extension for the same reason not because there was money in it not because they wanted to look it important but because they wanted Texas to be Texas and Texas can't be Texas without long horn stairs Charlie Charlie loved techie Tom Blasingame what Matthews Charlie Shriner it seems we're losing all the old Cal man of Texas maybe their time has passed because greatness is getting harder to find these days well this is how Texas says goodbye to a legend of the open range when I hear the word legend one man comes to mind there's no way possible to describe him for he's certainly one of a kind it didn't matter if you rich or poor or even the color of your skin if you were having bad luck he was always there ready to be a friend you could never say enough about this man or the way he lived his life but the things that made him happiest were his sons and Carroll his living wife this man lived life as much or more than anyone that I've ever known and sometimes he'd like to see his cowboys or a trail driver getting thrown he never wanted anyone hurt no broken bones or injuries to their neck but when he looked over his glasses with that devilish grin you could tell he enjoyed a good wreck he knew more of Old West history than any professor who taught in college and what made this man so special was he loved sharing his wealth of knowledge he's gone to a better place now to be with friends and family from the past but in all our hearts and memories I know his name will forever last I know he's looking down smiling down his spirits running wild and free he's the one we all love and will duly miss he's the legend called Charlie 3 rest in peace my friend Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam where the deer and the Antelope play where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day Oh home on the range where the deer and the Antelope play where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day Oh give me a land where the bright diamond sand flows leisurely down the street where the graceful White Swan comes a gliding long like made in the heavenly dream home on the range where the deer and the Antelope play where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day [Music] many years ago we rode horseback with Charlie three in this very same pasture little did we know our next visit would come too late as the people begin to leave this windswept Hill on the y ou ranch one lone figure remains it is loopy Ortega Charlie Shriners top ranch and for better than 50 years day by day side by side loopy was always with his boss even now he wants nothing more than to just be by charlie side the hours pass and the hill is empty with one silent witness [Music] the people who came here today heard a lot of praise for a man who was bigger than words could ever do justice in a way though the greatest honor of the day for Charlie three is the one that no one stayed to see loopy Ortega the loyal cowboy who has lost his boss but still refuses to leave his side [Music]