The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1873-04-12

On The morning II Ne 10th inst, ths crack
Of our drivers vhir night have ben heard |
% our ssoutAt' dashed down the streets Of
New Braumfsls and out into The Lockhart
road. We bid adisu 70 ~ quaint German
town, thiskiuG that mary year may roll
around, 'ess Ne again ret foot in its limits.
Whea Texas counts her iahahitants BY the
niilionA and when the iron horss has taken
IL place Of The stass eoaeh ard mustang
poay, than would Ne Tie to walk dowa the
strssts Of New Braumfsls. read he basisess
signs and - II o many jsw-brsaking names
prsssst thsmsslves - do now. Away ne 20
asross the praiEies, and By aeon have reach
"a ~ tasks Of he. San Marcos vhsrs ws
camp, Sssd our mules, build . Dire. make some
coffee, and take. our dinner We are sow7
travsling IN true Texan style. having our
own provisions, blsnksts, cooking utensils,
water eask, Ac., besides earn for our malss,
Cur fodder for them We WI buy on The road,
'fthsy naks Little hay in THE country, and sv-
ery ons who issds anything besides corn uses
foddsrs) and well NJ needed to have been thus
provided ~ experience proved. Our road tor
The eGst forenoon lay along high rolling
prairis, attending from the Gaudsloupe to
Ban Marcos river. II is partially covered
with mesquit bushes, and occasionally few
stnnted oaks. 1hs land 10 what Is known a.
"hog-wallow prairie." Along the banks Of
the San Marcos, We End elm, cottonwood,
cypress, blackberry and pecan. After leav.
Ing the San Marcos, some three miles, We
struck broad prairie reaching north and
south - far - We could see, and extending
east some twenty miles TO Lockhart. The,
grass on this prairie vas several inches high,
a6brdlng ine pasturage. During the after
noon We saw sone seven or eight herds of
cattle, Numbering from twelve to eighteen
hundred head spice. The hsrdes's were col
lecting them together, preparatory to drive
to Kansas. which ill occupy three months
At least. We travel all afternoon and see an
occasional house, and three or four small
groves Of timber. Between four aui five
o'clock we passed through Lockhart, the
county seat Of Caldwell county. Il isa
town Of soms six hundred inhabitants: pre-.
sents rather = tumb!e-down look; is situa-
ted just on the edge of what is known a. the
''post-oak region. )" We drive on some ten
mics and think about camping; make in
quiry at three places for "foddsr," but find
none. At one Of the PLACES they haze . fine
stack, and we are congrstulating ourselves
that We will get some here. but are met with
the question, '.Ain't your critters sick, mis-
tart" ''Nc, they are not sick. but very tir-
Cd" swell, mister, my old man il afeard il
any one feeds here his critters might get sick.
and be 10 done gone to the corners, and
eackalats can't sell any" ''That settles Il;
drive on Charley. did not understand just
What Charley said, but think it was not any
TOO complimep tary 10 the old man and hi
"critters.7 Asa last resort We gaze "fresd.
man" (whom We met on the road.) sstwt
bits'' il he would get rs some fodder, and
promised to pay for II besides. The 'stwt
bits" and promised pay had the desired re-
suit. In half IN hour be came back viii
two small bundles under his arm, whethe
be ''mAds the fodder" himself. o. some one
else did, We do not trouble ourselves; it Il
| AAVs Wv w w RoA GCui3I VI ouCu OSG08tOue
We have our forage now, unhitch and 60 int
camp, stalking our mules out Ia grass, whil'
We get supper in camp style. Alter supper
We get our fire to going nicely, and spend q
hour OF two in talking and smoking, aite
which spread our blankets on the grouut
and maksa very comfortable night Of il, (ou
| ambulance being occupied by . lady pass
sngsr and her child.) Al day break we On
awakened By the sLrill notes Of bu&le
| coming from ''ftesd3 lars" cabin near By
Our breakfast 10 soon over, and then come
tie harvesting of our mules. We must irs
put on the brides, which operation remind
Cd me OF catching flies when . school boy.
10 done in this manner: You tie your mul
up close to tree, work your left had slowl
along mp his head to his eye, which you clos
with this hand, now work your right han
easily along his neck to his ear and make
grab for il, If you succeed in catching th
ear twist il - hard ~ You can, and hold o
while some ono else puts on the bride; 20
/ mafanot succeed at FIRST, bat try again, r.
Numbering that patience and perseverance,
are essential when dealing with mules; u
balance Of the barnessing is generally easl
Wehave our males harnsssed and are on OF
way again; our rout now lays through 4
"post-oak region. The soil for the mo-
part il yellow sand, with here and there
little white and red. This spost.oak region
isquits billy and some parts rocky. There
moro and bsttsr grass here than we ha,
seen in the State thus far. The woods loo
like northern woods pasture, the tire,
standing some distance apart and very lit
underground between them. Part of the
woods sre set on fire every winter, whis
burns ont TIE underground, and in its pla
comea "post-oak grass" which make vel
good pasture. We Travelled all day throus
this region. making some forty miles; We o
some dozen houses on the road. but only "
of them have any windows in them. We ha,
|, mot till to-day seen the full force of bora
) Greeley's remark about Texas. sShe Dug
to psy for ten million psnss of glass, n
hire ten thousand glaxiers to set them
/ rsctly." b. g. was not any out of the "
in his estimate. This s'post-oak region" e
tends from Lockhart to La Grange, di
lance Of some sixty miles. Twelve nil
from L, Grange we occasionally find SIN
, scraps Of prairie land, and thFee miles fro
|, town We cross quite fn I prairie of t,
miles in width, part Of which i under cul
walton; - We cane along they were pIo
ing their corn, and getting their ground rea
for planting cotton. Ths whole Of the
"post-oak" lands are not considered a. wo,
much for farming, though the land loo