A Farmer and His Oxen

Patch and Stormy stroll down a long, dirt path on an early spring afternoon. Charles Oates is in no hurry as he sits atop the wagon pulled by his longhorn oxen—which march in perfect rhythm. He’s a serious farmer, but his oxen are for fun.

Oates owns 1,600 acres of land in the small town of Pottsville, Ark., (pop. 1,041) where he also raises cattle, chickens, mules, donkeys, horses, and sheep. “The oxen are something I enjoy fooling with. I wanted to do this as a kid but didn’t get around to it. When I got to be 65, I decided I had better do it.”

Oates traces his interest in the animals back to when his great-grandmother used her oxen not only for farming but also for long journeys—up to 150 miles. The oxen, which are bulls neutered early in life, could travel as much as 25 miles a day—much longer than horses could hold up.

Oates says oxen—now largely replaced by machinery—are still good farming animals for numerous reasons: an ox can pull a load equal to its own weight; unlike horses, oxen need only grass to survive, saving the expense of grain; and, though slow, they hold up well over distance.

The family history of farming didn’t end with Oates’ great-grandparents. “My father grew cotton in my early life, then went to cattle. I was never encouraged to farm while I was growing up because of the economics of the time. But I was born into it, and I’ve always enjoyed it.”

Oates graduated from pharmacy school and worked in Waldron and Mountain Pine, Ark., before returning with his wife, Jean Martin, in 1958 to the life he longed for in Pottsville—farming and ranching alongside his father.

Oates bought a drugstore, from which he retired in 1989, as well as a home in nearby Russellville. Soon after, he purchased more land in Pottsville, near the property his family had farmed for four generations before him, since the 1850s.

“They all farmed and lived and died within a mile of here. I’m the real wanderer … I live six miles from my birthplace,” he says with a chuckle. “Every day I would rather come to this farm than anything.”

Patch and Stormy are Oates’ second pair of oxen. He recently purchased a pair of milking shorthorn oxen, which he says are more docile and more at ease in crowds. And that comes in handy for one of his favorite hobbies.

Oates is a member of the Mid-South Ox Drovers Association. Members take their teams to parades and schools across the state to educate people about a part of farming that has all but disappeared in the South.

“We will let the kids sit on top of one of the oxen,” Oates says. “I can imagine the stories they go home and tell their parents. Some of them never get that opportunity if they don’t live on a farm.”

Oates trains all of his own animals, starting with the oxen when they are three months old. “It’s just like raising a kid. You try to raise them with the right habits. I start by walking alongside them with a stick. When they get good at that, I put them together on a light yoke.”

Oxen are trained side by side, he explains. The one on the left is always on the left, and the driver always works “off the shoulder,” or to the left of the team. The animals become so in-sync with one another that they, “walk in step like soldiers,” Oates says.

Bobby Harris, a fellow member of the Drovers Association, seeks Oates for advice on proper training of his pair of oxen.

“My grandfather had a team when I was a kid, so I wanted to start my own. When I found out Charles had a team of Holsteins, I went to him. He gave me a ride in his wagon, and that spoiled me. He probably wouldn’t be as gray-headed if it weren’t for me calling him for advice all of the time. I look up to him as a teacher.”

While Oates opts for the modern tractor instead of using his oxen for labor, as did his ancestors, he keeps oxen history alive. And he’s always glad to take time out of his day to teach and let those around him experience the way things used to be.

Writer Benita Duvall lives in Pottsville, Ark.

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