Rex Cauble (August 15, 1913—June 23, 2003) was born in

Vaughan, Texas Vaughan is an unincorporated community in southern Hill County in Central Texas. It is located approximately eight miles south of Hillsboro, at the intersection of Farm Roads 1947 and 310, and roughly half a mile from Aquilla Lake Aquilla L ...

to cotton farmers, Lou Butts and Fred C. "Buddy" Cauble. He was a self-made millionaire known for his flamboyance as a Texas-size businessman who struck it rich as a

wildcatter A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration oil wells drilled in areas not known to be oil fields. Notable wildcatters include Glenn McCarthy, Thomas Baker Slick Sr., Mike Benedum, Joe Trees, Clem S. Clarke, ...

. In the 1970s, he founded two high-end retail western wear stores comprising Cutter Bill Western World named after Cauble's world champion cutting horse,

Cutter Bill Cutter Bill (1955–1982) was a Quarter Horse stallion and the 1962 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Open World Champion cutting horse with record earnings for the year. He also won the 1962 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) H ...

; one store was located in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, the other in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. At age 67, Cauble became infamous when he was indicted under suspicion that he was bankrolling what was "reportedly the largest marijuana smuggling operation in Texas during the '70s." A U.S. Attorney "labeled the dapper 67-year-old Denton, Texas, millionaire a 'general' in the '

Cowboy Mafia The Cowboy Mafia was the nickname for a group of marijuana smugglers who operated in the United States during the 1970s. At the time they were reportedly the most prolific drug smugglers in Texas. The nickname was given to the group by the Dallas ...

' of drug smugglers". Members of the Cowboy Mafia were "caught in the seizure of a shrimp boat carrying 22 tons of high-grade Colombian marijuana to Port Arthur, Texas." Many people who knew Cauble believed his ranch foreman Charles "Muscles" Foster had deceived Cauble and was the real leader of the smuggling operation. Cauble was indicted on a total of ten counts including three violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (RICO), three violations of the

Travel Act The Travel Act or International Travel Act of 1961, , is a Federal criminal statute which forbids the use of the U.S. mail, or interstate or foreign travel, for the purpose of engaging in certain specified criminal acts. The Senate legislation ...

and four counts of misapplication of bank funds. In 1982, the jury convicted him on all counts. The trial judge sentenced Cauble to serve concurrent five-year sentences for each count and ordered forfeiture of his share in Cauble Enterprises. After serving five years, Cauble was released from prison based on a combination of time served and good conduct. Cauble pleaded innocent to the charges and maintained his innocence until the day he died.

Early life

Rex Cauble grew up on his parents' cotton farm in Vaughan, Texas. As a young boy, he had his own horse but not one he bred and raised on his own; an aspiration that followed him into adulthood. In the 1930s, Cauble worked as an oilfield roughneck and wildcatter which developed into a lucrative business that eventually made him a multimillionaire. Rex married Josephine Hughes Sterling in 1952, and adopted her young son Lewis Rex Cauble. By the 1960s, Cauble owned several ranches where he stood the legendary

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at ...

stallions

Wimpy P-1 Wimpy P-1 was the first registered Quarter Horse for the American Quarter Horse Association, or AQHA. Life Wimpy was foaled on the King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas on March 3, 1937.Beckman "Number One" ''Quarter Horse Journal'' March 1990 pp. 36 ...

, Silver King P-183, Hard Twist P-555 and

. It was during that time when Cauble first met Charles "Muscles" Foster, a professional rodeo cowboy but a very troubled man who Cauble took under his wing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cauble, Rex 1913 births 2003 deaths American Quarter Horse owners and breeders Cutting (sport) American cannabis traffickers Cannabis in Texas People convicted of racketeering Wildcatters