Amanda always had a strong enthusiasm for education and learning, and it began when a gentleman arrived at the Nites’ home, declaring himself a teacher. Excited at the opportunity to equip their children with an education, the Nites rallied the community to erect a log building to serve the children of Crockett as a school. This chance encounter ultimately led to Amanda’s ability to pen the harrowing and exciting stories for future generations to discover, from her historic days traveling the 800-mile cattle drive better known as the Chisholm Trail. 

The often terrifying and dangerous encounters with the Natives largely vanished after the Cherokees were resettled in Indian Nation, in today’s Oklahoma. But the difficult life experiences did not end there for her family. When Amanda was eight years of age, her father was killed in a knife attack. The killer was identified by Mr Nite, calling out his name before dying: Elisha Clapp.

Portrait of William Franklin “Bud” Burks and wife, Amanda Nite Burks, year unknown.

Amanda’s mother kept the coat that her husband was wearing when he died for the rest of her life, never sewing back the hole where the knife stabbed him. Mrs. Nite, now a widow, continued to care for her seven children, ranging in age from 2 to 22, and Amanda and her sister Lucy often helped as caregivers. Despite suffering the loss of the family patriarch, the Nite family continued to prosper, growing and shipping cotton from their farm on the Trinity River. 

At age 16, Amanda attended a holiday dance where she first met William “Bud” Franklin, a young man who originally hailed from Arkansas, but who had relocated to a neighboring county of the Nite residence. While many say love at first sight is something strictly from the movies, it rang true for these two. They became engaged to wed one week later and married on October 14, 1858. With the new marriage came a true change of scenery. Amanda and Bud relocated to Old Jonesville in Angelina County, where they traded a life of cotton farming near the piney woods to ranching cattle and horses on the rolling pastures. In 1859, they welcomed their first child, a son who they named “John.” Tragedy struck again 9 months later as they lost their only child to typhoid fever. 

While growing accustomed to their new life on the ranch, Bud’s step-mother who lived nearby died suddenly. After once again experiencing a family tragedy, Bud and Amanda took in Bud’s four siblings(Marcus, John, Bob and Maggie) at the request of his step-mother on her death bed, looking after them as they grew up. Shortly after, Amanda became pregnant again, giving birth to a daughter, Lucy, named after Amanda’s mother. Just one year before Lucy was born, Texas had voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Union. Bud found himself enlisting in the Thirteenth Texas Cavalry the following year, in the spring of 1862. Before the end of the war, Bud was granted a brief furlough, where he traveled home to visit his wife and daughter. When his leave came to expire, Bud returned to his post, though Amanda, at Bud’s request, made a spontaneous decision to travel back with him in the wagon and enjoy one more day together, leaving her daughter in the care of aunts and uncles. 

Upon her return to their ranch, Amanda was met with the worst news imaginable for a parent: now 4-year-old Lucy had passed away, likely from having had contracted diphtheria. She was buried next to their son John at a cemetery near their home in Angelina. Heartbroken and grief-stricken from the loss of her second and only surviving child, coping with this tragedy alone due to her husband’s absence as he served in the forces, Amanda suffered another loss as her mother passed shortly after. 

The only good news for Amanda seemed to lie in Bud’s return home as the war ended shortly after these events. When he came home, Bud spoke of the idea of relocating their lives and starting the next chapter somewhere new. Given the unspeakable tragedies suffered during their time in Old Jonesville, Amanda was beyond enthusiastic at the idea of a change of scenery. During his time serving in the Army, Bud discovered a spot he believed would be the perfect location to start anew: a small ranching community named Banquette, west of Corpus Christi along the banks of the Nueces River. During his time in the military, Bud contracted tuberculosis and believed the drier climate would serve him well.

Life in Banquette came with new adventures, as the mustangs ran free, and abundant opportunities were to be found. The move was not without its problems though, as life in Banquette often mirrored the “Wild West tales” found in a John Wayne film, with Native American raids, an inviting climate for outlaws and bandits, and the struggles to be expected near the border Texas shared with Mexico. Despite coping with the recent tragedies in their family, the times in Banquette were largely remembered as “happy years” as they enjoyed great fellowship with the neighbors, success with the ranching business, and setting roots as they built an overall sense of community. Amanda spent her days running the household and caring for Bud’s younger siblings while he focused his efforts on raising cattle and overseeing the horse business. During this time, two of Bud’s younger siblings died – Maggie and Bob. 

The journey was filled with adventure, as Amanda experienced everything from cattle stampedes to an encounter with bandits, great thunder and lightning storms, prairie fires, and plunging her horse and buggy into water, swimming across swollen streams, and fighting off Natives along the ride. 

On one occasion, Amanda found herself the architect of an accidental wildfire. She decided to make a fire for breakfast while the men ventured out to draw water. Shortly after striking a match, the surrounding fields were engulfed in flames. 

“When they learned that it was a woman, nothing was said, except for a remark one of the men made that he was glad he didn’t strike the match.” 

After roughly 90 days, the Burks reached their final destination in Kansas, where the cattle were sold. Homesick and ready to return to Texas life, the two journeyed by rail from St. Louis to New Orleans, and by boat from New Orleans to Corpus Christi and Galveston, and ultimately Indianola. 

Five years after completing their drive on the Chisholm Trail, the Burks relocated to what is now modern-day Cotulla, where there was no shortage of water or wood, two things Amanda often grumbled about missing during their days in Angelina. In Cotulla they continued doing what they best knew how to do: ranch cattle and horses, while also raising sheep. They named their ranch “La Mota”, in reference to the grove of trees in front of the lake across from where they would build their new home. This home became “ranch headquarters”, and the site where Amanda would manage the operation herself for the next 50 years once her husband had passed.

In early 1877, Bud ultimately succumbed to the tuberculosis he contracted during the war, leaving Amanda a widow. Before passing, Amanda asked Bud what he wanted her to do and he encouraged her to stay and run the ranch without him. Amanda did just that, and over the next five decades ultimately turned their 2,520-acre ranch into a 43,000-acre operation spanning multiple counties in South Texas. During this time, Bud’s brothers, Marcus and John, helped with the many responsibilities and duties required to manage a ranch of this magnitude until their untimely deaths . Bud’s sister, Rhoda, married J.W. Baylor, who helped her to develop the ranch into a tremendous and prosperous operation . Amanda’s hospitable tendencies never disappeared. With the remarkable success of the ranch, Amanda built a two-story home on her land, near modern-day Cotulla. When her-in-laws, the Baylors, passed away, she took in their children and provided them a home. They ultimately “grew into” running the ranch as she aged and had less energy to manage the responsibilities herself. 

Amanda never remarried, but always maintained a heart for family and giving, which was evident in the many people with whom she offered support and a sense of “home.” In her later years, she enjoyed building friendships with others who also had firsthand experiences of life on “the trail.” On September 15th, 1931, Amanda passed on at the ripe age of 90, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of adventure, entrepreneurship, community, and kind-heartedness. She was buried next to Bud at La Mota, which has remained in the family for multiple generations. 

While selling cattle in Texas and Louisiana provided little financial incentive to ranchers during this era, the real money could be found by driving herds up to Kansas where the railroad reigned prime, and 4-5 times the price for cattle could be offered. In 1871, Bud decided to embrace the unknown and venture off onto the 800-mile cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail from San Antonio to Abilene, Kansas. Accompanied by roughly 20 fellow cowboys and a head of 1,000 steers as he made the trek, it wasn’t but for a day that Amanda’s brother-in-law sent a message urging Amanda to join them on the trail. Joined by a Black servant of theirs named Nick, and two of their ponies, Amanda loaded into their wagon, and hit the road en route to meet the rest of the crew. 

In order to ensure the cows grazed sufficiently and became fattened up before the sale, Bud and the cowboys only pushed the herds about 10 miles each day. Amanda never ventured too far away from the group, though at one point she did find herself lost and ultimately ended up at her sister’s place to have a tent made, a prime amenity for one trekking across the frontier for several straight months.

Map of the Chisholm Trail

Amanda Burks with family on La Mota Ranch.

University of Texas San Antonio

Libraries Special Collection

Fun Facts & Trivia

• A school named in Amanda’s honor, the Amanda Burks School, continues educating children to this day in Cotulla. The first school in Cotulla was constructed as a frame building in 1882, before it was rebuilt as a two-story brick structure in 1909. It was named the Amanda Burks School shortly before her death in 1931. The school was rebuilt again in its current building in 1953.  In 2021, yet another new elementary school building was built and the District retained the name, Amanda Burks School.

• In her later years, Amanda enjoyed sharing the wild tales experienced on the Chisholm Trail with anyone who would listen, becoming a source of inspiration for numerous authors, journalists, and movie producers. 

• During her lifetime, Amanda was nicknamed “The Cattle Queen of Cotulla” and in 1923 was elected “Queen of the Old Time Cattle Drivers’ Association.” 

• When first arriving at La Mota, the region was largely uninhabited, and the nearest neighbor could not be reached for many miles. Today, Cotulla has grown into a city of more than 3,700 residents and the Burks were able to witness the area’s first “boom” during their lifetimes.

• After Bud’s passing, Amanda was only ever seen dressed in all black.

• Amanda was a force to be reckoned with and played an integral role in the success of Cotulla. When she passed, her obituary was printed on the front page of the newspaper, “The Cotulla Record”. 

• In 1925, Amanda rode in the Trail Drivers’ Association Parade in San Antonio, and was met in front of the Gunter Hotel in the receiving line when the Pony Express riders arrived. 

Amanda Burks, “Queen of Trail Drivers,” in the Trail Drivers Association reunion parade in San Antonio.

University of Texas San Antonio Libraries Special Collection

A newly rebuilt “Amanda Burks Elementary School” in Cotulla.

Photograph by James Hulse, 2022