Tuesday, February 13, 1990
The Battalion
Page?
Hull-of-a-barn
Caneck! Caneck!
Kirkpatrick purchased his Aggie class ring in 1924 for $14.
Above: Thagard Kirkpatrick, an Aggie, has been married to
Mary, a Baylor Bear, for 54 years. Left: Travelers have been
bringing gifts to the Kirkpatricks ever since they painted their
barn. This shirt was given to Kirkpatrick when he was 80 years
old, the first year the barn was painted.
S ometimes Mother Na
ture has a peculiar way
of bringing fame to peo
ple.
Thagard Kirkpatrick, Class of’24,
is the proud owner of a maroon “Gig
’em Aggies” barn and the ranch on
which it sits, 60 miles north of Col
lege Station in Reagan.
For people traveling Highway 6 to
Texas A&M by way of Waco, the
barn serves as a signpost marking
the path to the University.
The barn was once an eyesore, a
rusted tin shack that housed the
First State Bank of Reagan before
Kirkpatrick bought the 200 acres of
land in 1942. However, in 1980, fate
changed the lives of the Kirkpatricks
forever.
“We had a big storm that blew off
some of the tin on the side of the
barn,” Kirkpatrick said. “After I put
the tin back on, it looked ragged.”
At first, he painted it red, but later
painted it maroon, for his alma
mater. Then he added the “Gig ’em
Aggies” design. “I made my teasip-
per son-in-law paint the S,” Kirkpa
trick said.
Since then, many people have
stopped to take pictures of the Kirk
patricks’ barn. “The people are won
derful,” said Kirkpatrick’s wife,
Mary.
“It’s especially fun during the
football weekends,” she said. “When
they pass by, they’ll honk ‘Hullabal
loo Caneck! Caneck!’ ”
The biggest surprise visit came in
1982, when former A&M head foot
ball coach Jackie Sherrill brought his
team to the ranch for a picture ses
sion on their way to Dallas for the
SMU game.
Sherrill gave Kirkpatrick a jersey
with the number one underneath his
name, and an A&M cap, which he
still wears.
“I wrote Jackie Sherrill and asked
him to bring the team back for a bar
becue, but he never answered,”
Kirkpatrick said.
Through the years, Kirkpatrick
has heard many stories from Aggies
about where they have seen pictures
of the barn. “One boy saw a picture
of the barn in Spain,” he said. “A-
nother one saw a painting of it in the
(Rio Grande) Valley.”
Though he never intended to
popularize the barn, Kirkpatrick
likes the notoriety. “I’ve gotten a mil
lion dollars worth of fun out of it,”
he said.
Kirkpatrick is the first of three
generations of Aggies. His son Do
novan Kirkpatrick, Class of ’62, is a
lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army,
and his two granddaughters are also
Aggies.
Kara Kirkpatrick graduated in
1986, and Kathy Kirkpatrick is a se
nior English major.
Although old age has kept the 90-
year-old retired rancher from going
to an A&M football game since the
last time they went to the Cotton
Bowl, Kirkpatrick said he hopes to
see A&M make it to the Cotton Bowl
again before he dies.
Kirkpatrick also hopes new head
coach R.C. Slocum will bring the
football team to his ranch the next
time they pass by. “I still want to
throw a barbecue for the team,” he
said.
Story and Photos by
Phelan M. Ebenhack