LIVING HISTORY
John Norman
worked for Frank
Raulerson as a
young man going
back to the early
decades of the 20th
century. He helped
establish Cow Creek,
where he served as
foreman until the
early 1950s. Norman
died in 1993
at the age of 101.
Two of Norman’s
sons followed him
in the cattle business.
Ephraim died
in 2016 at the age of
88. Son Alfred, 86,
longtime foreman
at Triple S Ranch
in Okeechobee, is
retired and lives on
Triple S. Daughter
Stella Rowland lives
in Avon Park and
daughters Bertice
Harper and Josephine
Bennett live
in Okeechobee. John Norman
Cowboy Curtis Arnold worked at Cow Creek for 30 years,
becoming manager of its grove operation. When the grove
was sold in 1981 to a company controlled by Bernard Egan,
Curtis continued to work for Egan and live at the grove until
his retirement in
2008. A mentor to
many of the sons
of the Cow Creek
cowboys, Curtis
died in 2013 at the
age of 82. His wife,
Vena “Vee’’ Arnold,
40
died in 2014
at the age of 80.
They are the parents
of Deroy Arnold,
current foreman of
Triple S Ranch in
Okeechobee County
and a former foreman
and longtime
cowboy at Williamson
Cattle Co.
Will’um Thomas and Curtis Arnold
William Penn “Will’um’’ Thomas, one of the most colorful
cowboys at Cow Creek, worked at the ranch for Frank Raulerson
from the late 1940s. When Raulerson died, he worked for
TL and Jo Ann Sloan until their last Cow Creek parcel was sold
in 1981. He continued to work for Bernard Egan & Co. until
about 2000. Will’um died in 2003 at the age of 79. Wife,
Arizona “Punk’’ Thomas, died in 2015 at the age of 87, just
four months after her sister, Vena “Vee’’ Arnold, died.
Darren Robertson is logistics
manager for Guettler
Brothers Construction in Fort
Pierce. Their sister, Robin
Robertson Longstreet, is a
real estate agent for Mc-
Curdy & Co. in Fort Pierce
and is the owner of Island
Pet Services. She and husband,
J.L. Longstreet, are the
former owners of the popular
Ramp Raw Bar in Fort Pierce.
Donnie Robertson
William Thomas “Tee’’ Sloan
was the son of TL “Tommy’’
Sloan. He died of COVID-19 in
2021 at the age of 58.
William Thomas ‘Tee’ Sloan
After receiving an agriculture
degree at Texas Christian University,
Don Robertson worked as a
cowboy at Cow Creek, living at
the ranch with his wife and three
children. After leaving Cow Creek,
he worked with King Ranch in
Texas and the Seminole Tribe of
Florida, retiring as director of natural
resources for cattle programs. A
50-year resident of Okeechobee, he
Don Robertson died in 2014 at the age of 78.
Darren Robertson
Robin Robertson Longstreet
Diane and Don Robertson had
three children, with two of the
boys working at the old Cow
Creek grove. Donnie Robertson
lives in Texas and is a certified
ultrasound technician whose
business uses ultrasound to
measure potential beef quality
in cattle.
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