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HornedLizard_OldRip_Brooks_Bill_PaigeTX_11August2023_Reel4166.mp3

Bill Brooks [00:00:00] Old Rip - short for Rip Van Winkle.

Bill Brooks [00:00:06] They were building a new courthouse for Eastland County, and I always thought it was kind of rude, but when they were setting up this courthouse, they put things in the cornerstone. And they put a Bible and different papers.

Bill Brooks [00:00:23] And, as they were closing this stone up, one of the guys saw his boy playing with a horned toad, and said, "Let's stick that in there too."

Bill Brooks [00:00:34] So they stuck this horned lizard in the cornerstone of the building. I thought that was pretty rude, but they did it.

Bill Brooks [00:00:44] And of course, that story never quite died. That was part of the history of Eastland.

Bill Brooks [00:00:50] And 31 years later, February 18, 1928, they knocked down the old courthouse. The county was growing quite a bit. They built a new courthouse.

Bill Brooks [00:01:05] And of course, they opened up this cornerstone and they pulled out a dusty old horned lizard that was still alive.

Bill Brooks [00:01:17] Now, I don't want to say this could not happen, because I have a lot of friends who strongly believe in Old Rip and Eastland, a lot of good Horned Lizard Society members there. So I won't say it's not true.

Bill Brooks [00:01:38] But it was the longest any horned lizard has ever lived - 31 years.

Bill Brooks [00:01:45] Normally they'll live eight or nine years, maybe. And, of course, he was living mostly without food or water. So it's, it's interesting.

Bill Brooks [00:01:57] But, apparently, when they opened this thing out and the guy pulled out a horned lizard, it must have been a slow news day, because it made headlines all over Texas. Everybody heard about this Old Rip, this horned toad that came out of the cornerstone.

Bill Brooks [00:02:16] And he was so famous, he even went up and visited President Calvin Coolidge. Calvin Coolidge made time to come see this horned lizard.

Bill Brooks [00:02:29] And the horned lizard lived for about 11 months after they pulled him out of the courthouse. Like I say, it's hard to keep these horned lizards alive in captivity. The little girl that was keeping him left them out on the porch when a blue norther came in and it got too cold for him. He got pneumonia and died.

Bill Brooks [00:02:53] But you can still see Old Rip. Old Rip is still the most famous horned lizard in history. And you can look at him right now, because he's in a little coffin that's built in to the side of the Eastland County Courthouse.

Bill Brooks [00:03:11] So you can drive to Eastland, go to the county courthouse, and look through the little window and see little Old Rip in his little bed now. He's long gone, but he's still this mummified corpse laying in his little funeral coffin there at the Eastland County Courthouse.

Bill Brooks [00:03:32] And they have yearly festivals, Old Rip festivals, up there in Eastland. It's quite a big deal for people up there now.