Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-04-29
A Horseback. Ride r.rousn re.ns.

AT a RANCHO NEAR THE NuECEs. 60 Mills I
SOUTH or san ANTONIO, April 9th. 1863. !
MEssgs. EprroRs.- Since my last | have Wis
tied San Antonio, and the country to the North
west of that city. ! am now en- route to Corpus
Christi whence shall return to Austin. | left
San Antonio in driving rnin, bound for the
mountain country in Bandcra and Kerr counties.
On arriving In the suburbs, found the roads
split up more N considerable" to use Tex
asism and l accosted swarthy Mexican, clad
in his greasy blanket and inevitable sombrero,
with the inquiry: (Which is the road to Ban
derai'' "No entende,'" was the reply. Again
- Ia this the Bandera road ?"-pointigg to the
muddy wagon track. 49, No entiendc, senor.'"
All. carmena dc la Bandera = asked, in my
sum total of Spanish. "'Si scnor,"-with
perfect delugc Ut additional information which,
being in Spanish, was totally unable 10 utilize,
and consequently, rode oil with an English
." thank you" and muttercd anathena at my
perplcxity, for | knew the road forEcd somc-
where ahead and there was no house for MILES
Fortunately took the right road, and at dark
reached nvOncr's rancho, eight miles from San
Antonio, and here remained over night. Heb
nef has fine herd Of horses, some six. hundred
in number; but horses here, are far less valuable
than at the north, anhroken ones being worth I'M
average OF twenty dollars each III gold, while
good saddle animals rarely brig over forty. |
speak now OF "stock" horscs-a northern horse
being worth double or treble these prices
The country on the line of the Nucces, is The
horse country par erceRence of Texas, some in
dividuas owEing upwards Of three Thousand
head. Grain or hay Is never fed cut. nor are the
horses sheltered winter or summer. Each stock
man has his mark and brand, and the horses,
cattle and sheep roam on the vast prairies until
wanted, when they are hunted up, pcnncd and
selected. The life Of stock-raiser is the most
dashing, yasabond, independent existence imag-
Unable. Always riding at gallop, with flcrccly
jingllng spurs, is your true Texan. At intervals,
during the spring, hail storms occur in this
section, and then the unsheltercd stock suf-
iers terribly Mr.. Burton, who lives Oh the San
Antonio and Corpus Christi road. and with whom
put up last night, lost over two thousand head
Of sheep by one storm last year. saw their
| bones in great piles where they died. They
were in pen nj the time Of the storm fear
you Will say | am taxing your crcduty (hut
| everything is taxable now-a-days) when say that
Single hail stones were picked up hours after the
storm, which weighed upwards Of three pounds
| Glass and shingles were in great demand in San
| Antonio after the storm.
| But to resume my trip TO the mountains.
| reached lyInan's rancho on the evening of the
second day out from San Antonio. Here found
that the Indians were on the war-path and had
| caused Mr.. Crawford to Graz sh into the BUSH
| re, Me evening btiorc. ut q point about a mile
distant. lie escaped, and u scouting party wen,
90 the trail oi the red man aud brother. Crlw-
| ford said they came near killing him with lhrii
arrows-in fact that he had IN drro,r escape
had about hundred miles yet to travel in
the mountains, and 1yran checred inc by sug.
Scsting that The lrdlans would 90 for my ''hnir
that they woul take hair of me without "A duult
The next morning, however. decided 10 gp on
and II Is quite evident that came ont safely. OF
] should not now be writing this letter. / saw
no Indians except n large rattlcsnake, which
killed hut | saw an arrow PARTLY buried in ,
horse = fink while was crossing some noun
tlins between the Medina aud Guadalupe o
course Kept an eye on the bushes, and was IRE
pared u change my blse" iu case the red ln,tr
SAD "whoop or anything Of that sort.
found the climate among the mountains u!tlcl
Ike that ct Delaware, the season being about two
weeks later than i'll the praries. This arises from
the elevation OF the country which is 200O to 40Ot
leet above the sea. Wheat grows mngniicently
but the grasshoppers have been great pest fo
three years past. do not think, however, iron
my observations, that they will do much dnmug
; ~ Texas this year. Cattle and horses thrive il
the mount,ins, but the Indians are very trouble
some. rev persons are killed, hut the deprcda
tons on stock, and particularly on horses, are
great annoyance.
The sccIery throughout Bandera and Ker
cooniies is beautiful in The extreme. The air at
water Is very pure, and consumption is un
known-in fact many resort here for the pnrpos
OF recovery, which is, in the majority of cases
quite rapid. Objects at u distance OF five mic
appear within rifle range, SO deceptive is the ut
mospherc, and the nights, even in midsummer
! are delightfully."- cool ! saw men of seycnt-
that appeared but fifty years of age Land /
fertile III the valleys, and range from fifty cent
10 Two dollars per acre in price. The seasons
however, arc very dry-in fact, that entire Dor
ton Of Texas which lies west Of Colorado i
subject 10 long and continued drouths. Still /
is u great cattle, horse and sheep country Thinl
OF purchasing herds of cattls ut two to tire,
dollar. per head; yet this can be- done through
out lhis entire region. | am speaking now o
what are termed stock cattle Those rannin.
, from one to -four years of age.
Mr.. Maverick, Of San Antonio, once owned
over 0uuOO head OF cattle, aud immense drove
! oil horses. AT one time in the past cattle wer
so low 1t would not pay To mark and bran,
them, aud Maverick allowed so many of his I,
run unmarked that when stock men found M
unbranded animal they would say, shat i
Mavericks, From this, unmarked yenrng
have come to be called 9 Mavericks" Mnyericl
also pays taxes on over 1,00O000 acres IL hnd
and he is not by ''long chalk, the hrpcs
stock or land owner in Texas. One poor fellow
2 Mr. Robinson, of Sllado, Bell County. own,
!Ory square leagues
King, OF Nucccs County, owns nearly lou, O0l
head Of cattle, and scores of men on the Nucct
own 1000 10 20,O00 head each When packine
establishments arc put in complete operation
md the beef shipped ahroad, some people will
make gigantic fortunes. Think of bllyints bceyps
NJ eight 10 ten dollars each.
san Antonio Is u strange old place-half Span
lsh. halt American--aDd q busy place, whers gold
and silver rlnk resl!esslg on the car, There Il