COWCREEKCHRONICLES.COM
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THE PEOPLE OF COW CREEK RANCH

Here are some – not all – of the people who passed through the gates of Cow Creek Ranch from 1923 to 1976. If you would like to add your biography to the list, contact us.

Founder Frank Raulerson began purchasing parcels that would become Cow Creek Ranch in 1923. A former state senator and longtime member of the state’s Livestock Sanitary Board, he made the 23,000-acre Cow Creek Ranch on the St. Lucie/Okeechobee county line his home ranch. He owned two other ranches, Dixie Ranch and Taylor Creek Ranch, of similar size as well as a smaller ranch in Fellsmere. He sold all except Cow Creek before his death at the age of 80 in 1954. His wife, Annie Louise Raulerson, had died in 1951 at the age of 71, and he left his entire estate to his granddaughter, Jo Ann Raulerson Sloan.

Thomas Leighton “Tommy’’ Sloan and Jo Ann Sloan

Jo Ann Raulerson Sloan was raised by her grandparents, Frank and Annie Louise Raulerson, after the death of her father, Alfred Keightley Raulerson, in a boating accident in 1938. She married Thomas Leighton “Tommy’’ Sloan in 1952 and they had two daughters, Kathy and Debra. Jo Ann inherited Cow Creek Ranch and an estate valued at at least $5 million when her grandfather died in 1954. Tommy and Jo Ann took over the ranch, modernizing the vaccination and dipping of cattle against diseases and by the late 1960s were hailed as model ranchers and featured on the ABC television show Discovery. Tommy became president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and Jo Ann was president of the auxiliary organization, the Florida Cowbelles. The Sloans sold the home ranch sections of Cow Creek in 1976 and their grove in 1981. They sold their North Carolina farm in the 1990s. Tommy Sloan died in Fort Pierce Nov. 10, 1996, at the age of 64. Jo Ann spent the last five years of her life in a nursing home in Franklin, North Carolina, where she died in Dec. 22, 2020, at the age of 90.

Kathy Sloan Blanton was the oldest daughter of TL and Jo Ann Sloan. She learned to ride horses and herd cattle at an early age. She died Oct. 11, 2022, at the age of 68 as the Cow Creek Chronicles series was being published. She was survived by four daughters, 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. “Kathy was always the wild child,’’ her obituary read. “She lived life on her terms.’’ It also noted that she was preceded in death by her husband, Steve Blanton, but was survived by three previous husbands: John Edgar, Thomas Summerlin, and Joel Burman.

Debra Sloan is the younger daughter of TL and Jo Ann Sloan. Like her sister, Debra learned to ride horses and herd cattle at an early age. She attended the Bartram School in Jacksonville and later graduated from Western Carolina University. She managed her family’s Tellico Trout Farm in the 1990s. A past president of the U.S. Trout Farmers Association, she has been an agri-business and aquaculture specialist for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for 28 years. She lives in Tellico outside Franklin, North Carolina.

Diane Robertson was married to Cow Creek cowboy Don Robertson and was secretary at the Cow Creek corporate office and later financial manager. She divorced Robertson in 1970 and was in a relationship with Tommy Sloan until his death in 1996. She married Robert Orme in 2003. He died in 2005. Town clerk of St. Lucie Village for 24 years, she died in 2018 at the age of 81.

John Norman worked for Frank Raulerson as a young man going back to the early decades of the 20th century. He helped establish Cow Creek, where he served as foreman until the early 1950s. Norman died in 1993 at the age of 101. Two of Norman’s sons followed him in the cattle business. Ephraim died in 2016 at the age of 88. Son Alfred, 86, longtime foreman at Triple S Ranch in Okeechobee, is retired and lives on Triple S. Daughter Stella Rowland lives in Avon Park and daughters Bertice Harper and Josephine Bennett live in Okeechobee.

Cowboy Curtis Arnold worked at Cow Creek for 30 years, becoming manager of its grove operation. When the grove was sold in 1981 to a company controlled by Bernard Egan, Curtis continued to work for Egan and live at the grove until his retirement in 2008. A mentor to many of the sons of the Cow Creek cowboys, Curtis died in 2013 at the age of 82. His wife, Vena “Vee’’ Arnold, died in 2014 at the age of 80. They are the parents of Deroy Arnold, current foreman of Triple S Ranch in Okeechobee County and a former foreman and longtime cowboy at Williamson Cattle Co.

William Penn “Will’um’’ Thomas, one of the most colorful cowboys at Cow Creek, worked at the ranch for Frank Raulerson from the late 1940s. When Raulerson died, he worked for TL and Jo Ann Sloan until their last Cow Creek parcel was sold in 1981. He continued to work for Bernard Egan & Co. until about 2000. Will’um died in 2003 at the age of 79. Wife, Arizona “Punk’’ Thomas, died in 2015 at the age of 87, just four months after her sister, Vena “Vee’’ Arnold, died.

After receiving an agriculture degree at Texas Christian University, Don Robertson worked as a cowboy at Cow Creek, living at the ranch with his wife and three children. After leaving Cow Creek, he worked with King Ranch in Texas and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, retiring as director of natural resources for cattle programs. A 50-year resident of Okeechobee, he died in 2014 at the age of 78.

Diane and Don Robertson had three children, with two of the boys working at the old Cow Creek grove. Donnie Robertson lives in Texas and is a certified ultrasound technician whose business uses ultrasound to measure potential beef quality in cattle.

Darren Robertson is logistics manager for Guettler Brothers Construction in Fort Pierce. Their sister, Robin Robertson Longstreet, is a real estate agent for McCurdy & Co. in Fort Pierce and is the owner of Island Pet Services. She and husband, J.L. Longstreet, are the former owners of the popular Ramp Raw Bar in Fort Pierce.

William Thomas “Tee’’ Sloan was the son of TL “Tommy’’ Sloan. He died of COVID-19 in 2021 at the age of 58.

Cowboy Earl Story worked at Cow Creek from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. After leaving Cow Creek, he was a tractor operator for Agri-gators. He died in 2011 at the age of 70. Wife, Joan Story, died in 1998 at the age of 57. They were the parents of three children. Son Mordie Story and daughter Nancy Sparkman live in Okeechobee. Son Earl Story Jr., who was mentally disabled and one of the best-loved children at Cow Creek, died in 2018 at the age of 54.

Aubrey Arnold worked at Cow Creek from the late 1950s and was foreman when he left the ranch in the late 1960s. Wife, Ethel, was a cook at the ranch in those years. They divorced in 1974. Aubrey died in 1984 at the age of 54. Ethel remarried and was a longtime tractor driver for Osceola County. Their son, Steve Arnold, followed his dad into the cowboy life and has worked at Perry Smith and Sons farms of Okeechobee for the past 37 years. Daughter Patty Boney lives in Okeechobee.

George Harrison “Junior’’ Mills worked as a cowboy at Cow Creek from 1970 until it was sold in 1976 and continued working for the new owner Charles Vavrus one more year. He continued working as a day cowboy into his 80s. His wife, Betty Mills, known as “Miss Betty,’’ was a cook at Cow Creek during the same period. After leaving Cow Creek, she returned to school and became a licensed practical nurse, working at Raulerson Hospital and later the Okeechobee County Jail. Junior died in 2006 at the age of 87 and Betty died in 2012 at the age of 85. Their son, Buddy Mills, followed his father into the cowboy life, working as a day cowboy in his early years and competing in rodeo events. He worked for the Florida Department of Agriculture and later was an agriculture teacher for 21 years at Yearling Middle School in Okeechobee and rodeo coach for the middle school and high school. He lives in Okeechobee County. Brother Kent Mills also followed his father into the cowboy life, working as a cowboy at Arrow B Ranch in Highlands County from 1979 to 1980. Trained to operate heavy equipment under Cow Creek grove manager Curtis Arnold at the Cow Creek grove, Kent began working as a heavy equipment operator with the South Florida Water Management District, retiring in 2014. He now runs a u-pick farm in Oxford, Florida. Junior and Betty’s daughters, Marge Chandler and Marty Mills, live in Okeechobee, and daughter Cheryl Woodson lives in French Camp, Mississippi. Daughter Ernestine Caldwell of Reedsville, Georgia, died last summer in a car crash.

Cowboy Howard Pickering Sr. and his family lived at Cow Creek from 1960 to 1965. Pickering’s father-in-law, Sherrod Evers, owned and operated two sawmills at Cow Creek. Howard Pickering Sr.’s son, Howard “Sport” Pickering Jr., was a summer cowboy at Cow Creek and later worked at the successor ranch, V Bar 2, as a day cowboy. He now is a detective for the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office. Howard Pickering Sr., who also worked at the Okeechobee Sheriff’s Office, died in 1987 at the age of 50. Besides Sport Pickering, two more of Howard Pickering’s sons also work in law enforcement: James Pickering is a detective for the Okeechobee City Police Department and Kenneth Pickering, who also worked for V Bar 2 Ranch, now works part time for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office after retiring as a lieutenant with 35 years of service. Howard Pickering Sr.’s wife, Phyllis Story, lives in Okeechobee.

Jimmy Percy started working as a summer cowboy at Cow Creek in high school in the 1960s. After attending the University of Florida, he returned to Cow Creek and became its general manager until the final sale of the ranch property in 1981. After Cow Creek, he was fresh fruit manager at Ocean Spray in Vero Beach, general manager of the Winter Haven Growers Association, and later a real estate agent with Mark Walters & Co. He died in 2009 at the age of 61. His wife of 39 years and high school sweetheart, Julie, died in 2006. Their sons, Jamie and Jason Percy, are Marine Corps veterans. Jamie is owner of J.S. Percy & Associates LLC Home Inspection and Renovation Group in Port St. Lucie and Jason is operations manager for Reliance Orthopedics in Nashville, Tennessee.

William “Bud’’ Hallman was raised in Palm Beach County and as a young boy worked at his grandfather’s Red Cattle Ranch. Wanting to strike out on his own, he worked as a summer cowboy at Cow Creek in 1970 and 1971. While working as a day cowboy at Circle H Ranch, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Nova Southeastern University. After attending law school at Nova, he worked as an assistant state attorney in the 5th Judicial Circuit and later in private practice before being appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush as a judge in the 5th Judicial Circuit, where he served from 2003 to 2021. Now retired, he has his own herd in Sumter County. Throughout his legal and judicial career, he competed in rodeos and is a two-time Florida state champion steer wrestler. At age 69, he still competes in rodeo steer wrestling competitions.

West Palm Beach psychiatrist Jack Wright and wife, Sally, had a small house at the Cow Creek home place in the 1970s next to their friends, Tommy and Jo Ann Sloan. The Wrights would visit and hunt during the weekends, traveling from their home in Palm Beach County. A World War II veteran, Wright died in 2011 at the age of 89, just three months after his wife of 56 years.

Bob Enns began working as a volunteer cowboy at Cow Creek in the early 1960s on his off days as editor of the Fort Pierce News-Tribune and soon began writing about ranch life in stories and his column, On the Level. He had a camp on the grove side of the ranch until the grove was sold in 1981. At the invitation of Bud Adams, Bob moved his camp to Punkin Hammock on Adams Ranch after the sale. Bob died in 1990 at the age of 63 and his ashes were spread at Punkin Hammock. His wife, Katie, Jo Ann Sloan’s birthday twin, died in 2021 at the age of 90. Bob and Katie were the parents of eight children, including Gregory, author of the Cow Creek Chronicles series and publisher of Indian River Magazine.

Jan. 2023

See the original article in the print publication.

HEAR THE COW CREEK CHRONICLES PODCAST

Listen to the podcast here

Read the series to date online:

Part 1

Frank Raulerson creates Cow Creek Ranch and develops his granddaughter, Jo Ann, to take it over.

Part 2

Jo Ann and her husband, Tommy, take over the ranch in 1954 when Frank Raulerson dies.
Writer and publisher Gregory Enns shares his link to Cow Creek Ranch.

Part 3

Tommy and Jo Ann buy an old farmhouse in North Carolina while the family undergoes tremendous change. Kathy gets married and has children and Tommy reveals another extramarital relationship. Tommy’s free-spending ways continue, putting Cow Creek Ranch at risk.

Part 4

Financial problems persist for TL and Jo Ann Sloan even after they sell their beloved Cow Creek Ranch.

Part 5

The conclusion: Cow Creek Chronicles writer Gregory Enns shares his journey in reporting the series and visits Cow Creek and Tellico while also catching up with descendants of the Cow Creek cowboys.