LIVING HISTORY
61
Bob and Katie Enns and their eight children about 1968. Gregory Enns is
kneeling on the hood of the family’s Plymouth Fury station wagon.
age of 14 because it was at that age that he and his family
moved into town, an event, at least in his mind, of monumental
displacement. In the 30 years that I knew him, he always
seemed to long for his country life, despite his college education
and white-collar job. He was happiest in the woods, and
it seemed to provide him a certain interior peace.
After those first visits to the ranch with Jo Ann and her
husband, Tommy, Dad somehow wrangled himself into becoming
a volunteer cowboy at the ranch one day a week. As
a newspaper editor, he always worked Saturdays to put out
the big Sunday paper. That left him with Sunday and Monday
off. He occupied his time with family on Sunday but he
needed something to do on Mondays. Why not be a cowboy?
While he was pretty smart about the ways of the Florida
backwoods, as far as I know he had no experience being a
cowboy. But I’m sure the cowboys out there at the time —
Will’um Thomas, Earl Storey and brothers Curtis and Aubrey
Arnold — didn’t mind the extra hand. And, after awhile, he
became proficient enough that he proved of some value. In
town, my dad was known mostly as Bob. At the ranch, everyone
called him Bobby.
The payoff was that he could go hunting at the ranch
and could bring the family to enjoy it as well. I’m sure that
Tommy and Jo Ann didn’t mind having the ear of the local
newspaper editor either. For Tommy and Jo Ann, allowing
Dad and a few close others to use Cow Creek, which we affectionately
referred to as “the ranch’’ in a somewhat proprietary
way, was without qualification. You didn’t need to
call ahead or ask permission. You had a key to the main gate
and once you entered you simply respected the place and the
resource that it was.
My dad had a column at the paper, and sometimes allowed >>
DEBRA SLOAN COLLECTION
Cow Creek Ranch as it appeared around 1960, when ranch owner Tommy Sloan was crossing Hereford and Brahma breeds.
GREGORY ENNS
Cow Creek Ranch was so large that the road leading to the ranch headquarters
was a four-mile long dirt track.