Rex Cauble

Rex Cauble (August 15, 1913—June 23, 2003) was born in Vaughan, Texas, to cotton farmers, Lou Butts and Fred C. "Buddy" Cauble. He was a millionaire businessman who became wealthy as a wildcatter. In the 1970s, he founded two high-end retail, western-wear stores comprising Cutter Bill Western World named after Cauble's world-champion cutting horse, Cutter Bill; one store was located in Houston, the other in Dallas.

At age 67, Cauble became infamous when he was indicted under suspicion that he was bankrolling what was "reportedly the largest marijuana-smuggling operation in Texas during the '70s." Members of the Cowboy Mafia were "caught in the seizure of a shrimp boat carrying 22 tons of high-grade Colombian marijuana to Port Arthur, Texas." In 1982, the jury convicted him on all counts. The trial judge sentenced Cauble to serve concurrent five-year sentences for each count and ordered forfeiture of his share in Cauble Enterprises. After serving five years, Cauble was released from prison based on a combination of time served and good conduct. Cauble pleaded innocent to the charges

Early life Rex Cauble grew up on his parents' cotton farm in Vaughan, Texas. As a young boy, he had his own horse, but not one he bred and raised on his own, an aspiration that followed him into adulthood. In the 1930s, Cauble worked as an oilfield roughneck and wildcatter, which developed into a lucrative business that eventually made him a multimillionaire.

Rex married Josephine Hughes Sterling in 1952, and adopted her young son Lewis Rex Cauble. and Cutter Bill. During that time, Cauble first met Charles "Muscles" Foster, a professional rodeo cowboy, but a very troubled man whom Cauble took under his wing.