Robert L. Nixon, Sr.

Devine, Texas

September 4, 2004

Kellen A. Nixon

Palo Alto College

History 1302 - FALL 2004

INTRODUCTION

Robert Leo Nixon, Sr. was born in Valera, Texas in Coleman County on October 2, 1927. His mother Minnie Emma (Bradshaw) Nixon and father Robert Irvin Nixon raised him in Alpine, Texas in Brewster County. Robert L. Nixon, Sr. was born on a pipeline were his father was working at the time. Robert L. Nixon, Sr. lived on the Kokernot Ranch which was thirty five miles South of Alpine, Texas where he was a cowboy on the ranch. Robert L. Nixon, Sr. has five brothers and sisters. Robert L. Nixon, Sr. has two brothers William B. Nixon, and Keesey H. Nixon. He also has three sisters Emma Gene (Nixon) Mosley, Ina Jo Nixon, Lyda (Nixon) Magnus. Robert L. Nixon, Sr. lived in over twenty three different towns in Texas. When Robert L Nixon, Sr. was in school there were only eleven grades at the school he attended he stopped attending school two months before he was to finish the tenth grade. Throughout his lifetime Robert has had many occupations which include: construction worker building spreader dams in canyons in West Texas, he was also a greaser or service man, he ran a rock crusher, he was a hot shot driver that hauled cedar post and hay, a journeyman's carpenter, he operated heavy equipment, supertindent for road construction, water well driller, operated a crane in which he put up all the bridges on Hwy 57 and over 127 bridges in the San Antonio area, worked in the Union, he worked at the Browning Power Plant, a welder in the oil field, during it all on the side he was a preacher, he finally retired as the owner of Nixon Construction in 2002.

Robert L. Nixon, Sr. after a hard days work circa 1981

In 1945, Robert joined the United States Navy he was in the reserves until 1946 because they had a cut off date for all reservist to be turned loose. He spent his military time just a short while in Japan where they picked up 6,000 Chinese and transported them to North China where he spent the rest of his time. He was a board a flagship named the USS Blackhawk which was the 7th Fleet North China Service Unit. He was discharged at Camp Wallace, Texas right outside of Texas City which now no longer exists.

He said after that,"I came back and found sweet lips and got married." He married Evelyn Lou Murphy on August 23, 1946. They had three boys: Robert L. Nixon, Jr., Kenneth G. Nixon now deceased, and Alvin R. Nixon.

Kenneth, Alvin, Robert Sr., Evelyn, Robert Jr. 35th Wedding anniversry

Robert liked to hunt and fish in his spare time. He has been a preacher for over 22 years in which he also was a leader in the Royal Rangers which taught kids survival skills not only to stay alive but stay on track with God. Since the day I was born he has been there for me- this is my Grandpa.

Robert L. Nixon, Sr. preaching to the Royal Rangers circa November 1980

TRANSCRIPTION

What was life like growing up in West Texas in the 1940's?
Life was primitiveand poor it was at the closing of the Great Depression lived on Kokernot ranch lived out of a 1924 Dodge car with big wheels and tires to get over the stumps and rocks. They carried a barrel of water with them a, some gasoline, a chuck box, and bed rolls. When it was time for the evening meal and rest they would stop working where ever they might be made camp and cook over a campfire that is the way he lived for a long time. Didn't live in a house. A later year or two they came up with a tent. When he started attending school him and his brothers and sisters went and picked out a house at the edge of town to live in. There were many people that moved from the North to Alpine that didn't make it and went broke and walked away and let the houses so there were many houses available to live in. They just picked out one at the edge of town and lived in it for seventeen years. While still going to school he and his family was still connected to the ranch work.

Where did you go to school?
In Alpine, Texas at the old red brick two story elemantary school which they tore down about two years ago. Then I went to school at the Junior High School on the west side of town.

Why didn't you finish school?
My dad had heart trouble so he was no longer able to work so he quit school to send his brothers and sisters to school.

How far was it from your house to school?
There was no transportation for him to and from school so they had to walk three or four miles to school. One day after a snow storm came through there was about ten inches of snow on the ground and his sisters feet and hands froze because they didn't own jackets since it only snowed a two or three times a year. A neighbor helped her but it made her fingers crooked for the rest of her life. They didn't make it to school on that day.

How old were you when you left home?
I joined the US Navy when i was seventeen i lacked a few months of being eighteen.

How much money did you make while working?
Made 75 cents a day and my daddy made a dollar.

Why did you choose construction as your main occupation?
Soil conservationists came into the area started building spreader dams in the canyons. He was making 40 dollars a month working for them. They would live on the jobsites and they would move from one place to another with the caterpillars and trailers. They had to build roads to cross creeks. One day they built one and a guy fell off the road about fourteen feet and the tractor made it out and so did the guy it turned him white and he got in his vehicle and left and he hasn't been back since that is when my boss asked me if I wanted to run the tractor and that is how i got started in consruction.

When you were working where did you stay?
Stayed in a camp on the ground in a bed roll a chuck wagon and a kitchen tent

Why did you move so much?
To follow construction work where ever the work was.

What was the Cold War about?
Was told that our greatest problem was the Russians building nuclear bombsand Cuba tried to get the Americans to help but they turned against the United States because we wouldn't help them. Russia was sending nuclear components on ships to Cuba. John Kennedy told the Russians to take the nuclear components back or the US would drop a bomb on them.

Did the Cold War effect your line of work?
Oh yeah it sure did, but the only thing that didn't affect what he did was when he was working for Brown Root Constrruction a branch of Haliburnten and we loaded a whole petro-chemical complex there which went to Russia that was erected as gasoline and fuel plant for Russia. We were threating to kill them all and supply them all at the same time.

What was your worst fear during the Cold War?
Cuba came near to attacking the US.

What brought the Cold War to an end?
Ronald Reagan talked them into putting there arms up and they built a network around the area to protect the Americans from missile attacks.That began to change things and they got a new ruler over there too.

ANALYSIS

I learned a lot from my grandpa during this interview. I also learned to appricate what I have and what he didn't have when he was growing up. Hearing about how my grandpa didn't have anything but the clothes on his back for years has made me realize how much we take for granted now days. I found out why my grandfather was born in Valera and not Alpine. I found out how little wages were back in the old days. I think that the Cold War would have been brought about if we wouldn't have bombed Hiroshima then it wouldn't have stirred up all the conroversy, but that is how the chips fell. I am greatful of Mr. Myers giving me the opportunity to do this project on my grandpa because otherwise i wouldn't have done it. Learning about the history of the Nixon clan has taught me a lot about my background and how the way that i am.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Valera, Texas Map Quest. com, Inc., Valera, Tx US, 2004, http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&address=&city=Valera&state=TX. Valera, TX is where my grandfather was born at in 1927. It is Northeast of San Angelo. The reason why my grandfather was born there was that his father was one of the ten best pipeline welders in the United States and was on a pipeline in Valera at the time working for what is now Texaco.

Kokernot Ranch Casey, B. Clifford. A Century of Texas Cattle Brands (Fort Worth: Fair Publishing Company, 1936). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/KK/apk2.html. Kokernot Ranch is the ranch in West Texas that my grandfather grew up on. He spent most of his childhood on the ranch being a cowboy.

Alpine, Texas Map Quest. com, Inc., Alpine, Tx US, 2004, http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=address&searchtype=address&address=&city=Alpine &state=TX&zipcode=&search=++Search++. Alpine, Texas is where my granfather attended school and also was the first place he ever lived in a house.

Royal Rangers The General Council of the Assemblies of God, Royal Rangers, 2000-2002, http://royalrangers.ag.org. Royal Rangers a christian based organization to help young men learn survival for life.

Cold WarThe Cold War Muesum, 1997-2004. http://www.coldwar.org. The Cold War was a war that was going on while my grandfather was growing up.

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