Chronicles Old and New
As near as I can tell, this is the 111th Possum Cop Chronicles column I’ve written. Sometimes, I’m all over the place with the stories I tell, but my favorites ones to write are those recounted to me by other game wardens, especially the older guys that I looked up to when I was a young man. I’ve heard a lot of great stories over the years. It’d be a shame if they didn’t get written down.
Fortunately, there are already a few books out there written by Texas Game Wardens that include some great game warden stories. I won’t attempt to name them all, because I might forget someone. I would, however, like to touch on one, Texas Game Warden Chronicles: From Cowboy Era to Helicopter Hunt, by Mike Bradshaw (1947-2009).
I knew Mike, but not well. When I was in the Texas Game Warden Academy in 1990, my class spent a weekend training at the old game warden cabin on Choke Canyon Reservoir. Mike put together a mock deer-poaching scenario along a county road and taught us about “cuttin’ sign” and tracking outlaws through the briars and the brambles and the bushes where a rabbit wouldn’t go. He was very thorough, and he made a lasting impression on me and my classmates.
Stationed in Dimmit County since his graduation from the Texas Game Warden Academy at Texas A&M University in 1973, Mike was renowned for using his tracking skills and outdoor savvy to catch foot-hunters backpacking in to poach trophy deer on big South Texas ranches. On his off time, he liked to fish, especially the Port Mansfield area.
But Mike was also a historian and a writer. On writing Texas Game Warden Chronicles: From Cowboy Era to Helicopter Hunt, his widow, Deborah Griffin Bradshaw, said, “He never did anything halfway – ever. He and I went to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and we pulled the records on game wardens as far back as they had them.” Mike and Deborah would also travel to libraries and newspaper offices around Texas and search through whatever archives were available for game warden info. In addition, Mike interviewed game wardens from all over the state.
All in all, Mike spent 12 years researching and writing his book. The finished product is 336 pages with 150 photographs, and it’s a veritable encyclopedia of all things game warden ever since Texas Game Wardens became a thing. The book is unique in that it is not only chock-full of historical information, but it also includes many personal stories from a slew of legendary Texas Game Wardens.
The book was a labor of love for Mike. He shopped it around to various publishers, but the ones that were interested in it invariably wanted more control over the book’s content than Mike cared to allow. So, he and Debbie started their own publishing company, Mesquite Bean Press, and published it themselves.
Mike retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife in May of 2008 after more than 35 years of service and continued to work on his book. Deborah said, “That’s what he lived for those last few years. On his days off or at night, he was sitting at that computer. He finally put it to rest, and the day he told them to start printing, he died.” Mike passed away suddenly while on a fishing trip in Port Mansfield on January 19, 2009. Deborah put the printing on hold, but in time, saw the project through to publication.
As a young man, I looked up to and respected Mike Bradshaw the game warden. As an older, fellow chronicler of game warden tales, I look up to and respect him as a historian and a writer.
The book is now in its third printing. You can get a copy of Texas Game Warden Chronicles: From Cowboy Era to Helicopter Hunt at www.mikebradshaw. org.
