By Bartee Haile

Woodward Maurice Ritter was born on Jan. 11, 1905 deep in the piney woods of East Texas at a wide spot in the road called Murvaul.

Besides the finest voice in the musically gifted family, Woodward also had the best mind. Graduating at the head of his high school class in Beaumont, he obliged his parents by taking pre-law courses at the University of Texas.

But cowboy ballads not jurisprudence fascinated the talented baritone. Extended exposure to J. Frank Dobie, the Lone Star histor...