After spending an abundant amount of time searching the caves in the modern-day area of Carlsbad Caverns for an infestation of the Brazilian free-tailed bat colonies that thrived within many veins of the expansive cavernous system, John David Ogle (Sally Baxter’s great-grandfather), known to his family as Papa, developed a deep love for the open and arid land of West Texas, which was located just south of the caverns. It was in this area that he and his long-time friend, Mr. Meyers, spent much time harvesting large hauls of the very popular nitrogen-rich bat guano in the labyrinth of chambers that formed the underground system of caves. During those years of spending the days inside the cool caves and the evenings camping underneath the expansive starry night sky that John David eventually made the decision to move his family from San Angelo to begin ranching in the far reaches of the remotest corner of Texas where the air was dry and any curious adventurer could see for miles from atop even the most modest of hills.

It was in 1916 that Mr. Ogle purchased that first piece of land near Pulliam Creek in the Big Bend area. Over the next twenty years, the family spent much time living off of the land by planting and harvesting turnips and butter beans, finding odd jobs here and there, trapping wild life to provide meat for the table as well as animal skins to sell, and, as the story goes, they moved often – something that many people were forced to do as a survival tactic during the Great Depression. But, one of the most important life skills that made a difficult world a little bit easier to endure was the connection between neighbors and the coming together of community to help one another through a shared time of hardship. When it came to neighborly affection and building meaningful relationships, that was one thing in that the Ogle family was very proficient. Though the family quickly built a lasting companionship with many who lived on the surrounding ranches wherever they lived at the time, one of the most significant friendships was the one that John David developed with Ross Maxwell.

Ross Maxwell (1904-1993) was originally from Sparks, Oklahoma. He earned a doctoral degree in geology from Northwester and then moved to the Big Bend area in 1936 to work for the National Park Service by surveying the vast region and creating documentation of the land for the government. Nine years later, because of his knowledge of the region, Maxwell was chosen to become the first Superintendent of Big Bend National Park in 1945 and eventually became a professor of Geology at UT Austin.

John David Ogle met Ross during the first year that he came to Texas and they quickly became close friends. In between the years when he surveyed Big Bend and when he was promoted to the Superintendent position, Maxwell worked at National Monument sites in Arizona and would often travel overseas as he performed different geological surveys in various regions of the world. It was during his time in Arizona and visiting the many foreign lands that Ross would periodically return to visit his friend, John David.

The Ogles quickly learned that few things naturally flourished in the Big Bend Country; that is, few things except yucca and cacti. Papa Ogle developed a late-in-life hobby of growing a cactus garden at the old place at Tornillo Creek in Brewster, County, and he began his tiny farm by collecting indigenous succulents from the surrounding area. He and Ross Maxwell shared a passion for the numerous succulents that grew in the area and they would spend hours sitting amongst the small garden discussing “the weather and the price of cotton”.

As time passed, Ross Maxwell would often stop in at the area of Big Bend after returning from one of his exciting adventures as he galavanted the world. He would often bring with him exotic cactus (before it became environmentally unacceptable) from far away places for John David to add to his growing collection. When Maxwell would spot an unusual species growing in uncharted places of the earth, he would place it in a tiny pot to make the long journey to its new home in the arid wastelands of Texas. John David always looked forward to Maxwell’s visits when he would receive the unique gifts from his friend, but little did he know that this long-tenured friendship combined with his natural touch for nurturing the flourishing dessert flora would become an unexpected blessing in his later years. 

In 1931, John David’s beloved wife, Mamie (m. 1894 Sherwood, TX), had a devastating stroke. He took her to the doctor to see what could be done to help her recover, but, it was during that visit that John David discovered his own diagnosis of mouth cancer. Following Mamie’s passing, Papa continued to tend his nursery of cacti as a way of bringing peace in the midst of grief and helping him to forget his own diagnosis. Yet, what had begun as a hobby along the Tornillo Creek riverbank eventually turned into an unexpected blessing.

As he continued to expand his cactus patch, carefully and diligently multiplying the gifts brought by his friend over a period of so many years, an idea occurred to John David. He approached an acquaintance in Boquilla and asked him to make some goblet-shaped pots just big enough for a single small cactus. When he received the order, he began to dig up a few of the succulents, plant them in the pots and then load up his truck bed with as many of the tiny pots that would fit. Heading east to the big city of Houston, he would find a busy street corner and set up a make-shift shop or even travel door-to-door in a few neighborhoods. It was there that he would sell the beautiful spiny creations in a Coastal Region market where cacti were considered rare and exotic. The money he would raise from selling his beloved crops would be used to fund his cancer treatments for over a decade, giving him extended years that he might not have had otherwise.