Reynolds-Gentry Barn

The cattle business could be a good life for those who worked hard – and had a little luck. Money made from cattle drives often built homes and barns on ranches throughout the West. One such sizable structure became the stable for Thoroughbred racehorses and game cocks, not the kind of livestock found on a typical ranch.

After the Civil War, like many men trying to make a living in the West, George T. Reynolds trailed his herds to northern and western markets. It was on a drive to California in 1868 that he met Matt B. Gentry in Salt Lake City. Gentry was driving racehorses to Texas. The two men hit it off, and Reynolds hired Gentry to work on his ranch. In just a few years, Gentry became foreman of the Reynolds Cattle Co., a vast empire of several ranches. The meeting marked the beginning of a Reynolds, Matthews, Gentry relationship linked for generations in both business and friendship.

In 1877, Reynolds and his wife, Bettie Matthews, built a two-story stone house and barn of long-leaf Texas pine on their Throckmorton County ranch. The lumber was hauled by wagon from the Texas and Pacific Railroad line at Eagle Ford, west of Dallas.

Gentry, wanting his own herd and ranch, purchased the Reynolds’ beautiful stone house and pine barn in 1884. He converted the 35-by-50-foot barn and 12-foot L-shaped shed into a stable for Thoroughbred racehorses he kept for show and breeding purposes.

The barn had six stalls with a window in each one. Entrance into the barn was through the tack room. On the walls were large knobs from which saddles hung by ropes. Bridles and lariats were kept overhead. A stairway connected the tack room to the hayloft. Gentry kept a box of “doctoring medicine” under the stairs and a horse saddled in case of emergency.

In the loft, prairie hay was stored and tossed from the north window to feed horses in the nearby pasture. Under the loft was a carriage room for a Spaulding hack and a buggy, accessed through double Dutch doors. The hack was used as a funeral hearse when needed.

Next to the carriage room were two granaries divided by a partition. Each room had a trap door and a chute to dispense corn and feed to the stall. In nearby sheds, Gentry kept sheep, hogs, milk cows and game cocks. Like the racehorses, they were kept and admired.

When the roof had to be replaced in 1910, the intricate hipped dormer windows were replaced with a plain A-frame roof. It sagged and fell apart, so when the barn was moved to the National Ranching Heritage Center, the old roof line was returned.

The original color of the barn was confirmed as dark red from paint remaining on some of the timbers. A few pecan posts had deteriorated, so Watt Mathews, a nephew of the original owner, authorized the moving crew to cut and trim pecan logs as authentic replacements from the barn’s origins along the Brazos River in what was called locally “Reynolds Bend.”

Ethel Matthews Casey provided her recollections in 1976 during the barn’s dedication. She described Mart Gentry as “loved by every cowboy, cook and helper; boss of all he surveyed.”

Of the barn, she recalled that it had sheltered Longhorn cattle and Spanish ponies and later Thoroughbred horses and game chickens. “This old barn rang with the laughter of children playing hide-and-seek and other games.”

J.A. Matthews and the Reynolds brothers, W.D. and George T., operated ranching interests near Albany for five years before separating to form two cattle companies. The Reynolds Cattle Co. eventually had most of its holdings in the Big Bend country of Texas. Matthews established what is now Lambshead Ranch near Albany. Mart B. Gentry, who established his own Gentry Ranch, was associated for 54 years with the Reynolds Cattle Co. He was described by Sallie Reynolds Matthews as “one of nature’s noblemen.”