Careers for Area Residents

John Hackworth, rancher and farmer

A self-made man of means, innovation and stamina–John is a longtime familiar name in the De Soto community. Both a rancher and farmer, he raised cows and harvested hay for 40 years as his second career. Retiring from his first career of 30 years from General Motor’s Fairfax Plant, John said, “I had nothing to do.” He soon would have plenty to do.

Upon retirement, coworkers took up a collection for John, which gave him the money to buy two cows and one calf. These were added to his first (pregnant) cow, who came from Mr. Kiby. “Shiner” was his first cow that was butchered. These first few cows would turn into having 50 cows–mostly black breeds, angus, long-haired Highland, and Galloways. He partnered with many in the community, Gifford Knapp, Mr. Kiby, Larry Prior and Steve Pruden Sr. raising buffalo on Steve’s property. His combined efforts with area friends would turn into over 100 cows/buffalo that he would help raise. John would do the calving and Gifford would fatten them up. They would then take them to Overbook Auction House in Kansas.

John’s early days gave him training as a farmhand, which began at the young age of 14, and provided housing. Being self-sufficient at a young age, he was determined and did finish high school. He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and stationed in Panama. He brought his newly wed wife, Darlene, to Panama. There his duties were aircraft radar, which included watching and patrolling the skies.

He also served as a milkman for three or four years, prior to being hired at General Motor’s. With interests in engineering, he developed tools for the assembly lines. He also gained much knowledge about automobiles, which was utilized in his own “John’s Garage,” where he had a home garage specializing in Corvair and DeSoto repairs, and was a highly-regarded auto fleet mechanic.

Along with his cow herd, he also baled hay. Don Farmer, a fellow member of De Soto Baptist Church, where the Hackworths also have been longtime members, asked John to bale their property in Fort Scott. As he reduced his cow herd, he increased hay baling, renting land and helping to clear land.

Working with Bob Light and Raymond Klamm, he would bale 100 hay bales a month for Kill Creek Ranch.

John’s workday began at dawn. Daily meal breaks were taken at 10 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm–with him returning to his cows and fields in the evening before heading home for some well deserved rest.

As a neighbor to the Hackworths, I remember many a night seeing the brightly lit headlights of John’s tractor coming down the road after a long day’s work. He traveled our rural road from dawn to dusk, with his faithful companion Ollie. He had to call it a day when a stroke forced him to officially retire from his work’s passion of cows and hay. Truly a farmer, rancher and friend to many, John is a rural legacy in De Soto.

–interview with John Hackworth by Rose M. Burgweger, publisher/editor