The Life and Times of Hallie Stillwell: A Rancher and Texas Legend

Hallie Crawford Stillwell 

(1897 - 1997)

Hallie C. Stillwell was a West Texas Pioneer who worked as a teacher and then settled down and became a Big Bend legend as a sharp-shooting ranch wife on horseback. As well as being a member of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, she authored two autobiographies. Hallie was born in Waco, Texas in 1897 and by 1910 she was in Alpine, Texas. "Six years later she received a teaching certificate, strapped on a six-shooter and set out for the town of Presidio on the Rio Grande, a major crossing point for Pancho Villa's raiders. When her father accused her of going off on a wild goose chase, she stood her ground. ''I'll gather my geese,'' she said, a retort that established her independence and provided the title for an autobiography" (Thomas).

Hallie was a fearless and courageous woman. "As a rough rancher, chatty newspaper columnist, justice of the peace, chili cook-off queen and mistress of a museum devoted to her life, Mrs. Stillwell, who was known as Miss Hallie far beyond the sweeping curve of the Rio Grande, became a Texas tourist attraction" (Thomas). After teaching and fending off drunk soldiers for some time in Presidio, she took a safer position in Marathon, where she decided to marry Roy Stillwell. "Though Mr. Stillwell owned a 22,000-acre spread 45 miles south of Marathon, he was a taciturn, hard-drinking, poker-playing widower more than twice her age. He may not have seemed a suitable husband, but the first time he drove up in his sporty Hudson Super Six, she later explained, ''He decided he liked me, and I decided I liked that car'' (Thomas).

Shortly after their marriage, Hallie moved to Roy's ranch 45 miles south of Marathon where they lived with three misogynist ranch hands. "After her husband died in 1948, she soldiered on alone until 1964, when she turned the ranch over to her two sons and moved to Alpine, where she became justice of the peace for the Connecticut-sized Brewster County" (Thomas).
The end of her life was spent amusing tourists and writing a sequel to her autobiography, "I'll Gather My Geese."

Works Cited

Thomas, Robert. "Hallie C. Stillwell, a Rancher And Texas Legend, Dies at 99."Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 24 Aug. 1997. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/24/us/hallie-c-stillwell-a-rancher-and-texas-legend-dies-at-99.html?src=pm>.