The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-07-13
Letter from Texas.

placed at our disposal, long ana IN
teresting letter from Texas. 1t is too
long for publication, but we give the
most interesting portions of it in
condensed form. The writer is To-
Gated on the Colorado, west of Huston.
He found the first night, on the prai-
RE, Is miles from any habitation or
timber, with the wild birds screaming,
and the wild beasts bowling around
him, rather gloomy; to which was
added a probable race with prairie
fire, in case the wind should change.
But after becoming naturalized he got
used to such scenes.
OF THE CULTURE AND PRODUCTIVE
NESS OF THE SOIL,
The writer says: There is no prairie
land cultivated in that part of Texas.
They cultivate what they call the Bot
tom land, that is, wood land that fol-
lows along the rivers. On the Colo
RADIO River the wood land is from two
to three miles in width, and as rich
land as there is in the world-two
bales of cotton to the acre is not un-
common here, and 500. bushels of
sweet potatoes to the acre have been
raised. Corn grows well. | rode
through a field of corn about the
26th of May; it was then much
higher than my horse, and beginning
to ear. Most all kinds of vegetables
grow to perfection, but fruit does not
do well. | have not seen an apple
tree or pear tree in Texas. There
are plenty of Texans who never saw
an apple. The Mustang and winter
grapes grow in the bottoms in abund-
ance. The woods are generally a
perfect network of grape vines, be-
ing from one to five inches in diane
ter [ think, from the way they look
now, that two men might get wagon
load in one day.
HABITS OF LIVING.
LIZ there was any ambition amongst
them for things good to eatand drink,
the people might live we'll, but I will
tell you one fact-there is planters
all around here, I know of having
from one to three hundred COWS, with
calves running with them, out on the
prairie, and they have not one drop
of milk in the house. 1t is much
the same way with potatoes. Instead
of having them all the year around.
they have them but a few months.
1t is the same also with beef, Cat
tie mire down in the road and no one
gives them any attention. Although
beef is cheap, and it is but little trou-
BILE to go into the bottoms and get an
unmarked wild one for nothing, yet
most of the people eat fat bacon.
There is no corn beef in the country,
it being either too much trouble to
corn it, or the people are ignorant of
the process.
With all the abundance with which
they are surrounded, the principal
articles of food found on the table
from week to week are corn bread, fat
3 bacon and coffee three times a day,
and this because it is the least trouble.
NM ...r HOGS.
Hogs run wild and are in great
abundance. Some are marked when
young, but hundreds run wild that are
unmarked, and are common property.
A few Mexican wild hogs are found
in this region, unfit for food and dan
gerous to hunt, and emitting as often
sive an odor as skunk, from bag of
perfumery they have on their backs,
They have immense tusks, and often
kill dogs, ruin horses by tearing their
legs, and gnawing down small trees
In which the hunter has taken re-
fuge.
WILD ANIMALS AND GAME. IN
Bears are scarce in this section.
Panthers are seen occasionally; also
leopard cats. There are plenty of
deer, of which fifty TO hundred may
sometimes be seen on the prairies in
herds, feeding near the cattle. There
are some rabbits; plenty Of quails and
prairie chickens, and any amount of
squirrels. Game smaller than deer
is seldom killed, as it is less trouble
to live on bacon. Wild turkies are
plenty, and wild geese in the winter
season. / have seen millions of geese
on the prairies on their way North.
Turkies are often seen running past
the house. and often think if | had
few Evansville hunters out here |