The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-09-17
Letter from an Old Maury County
nam,


MCKINNEY, TEXAS, Aug. 23.
p. III. NELSON, Maury County, Tenn.
Dear Sir:-In compliance with my
promise TO write to you on my "returr
from the west" L now drop you the
following few scattering notes of the
country 1 saw snd my trip through it.
On Tuesday morning, the 10th of this
month, our party, some twenty-five
strongly equipped; somewhat cavalry
like with five wagons and ten days rs-
tioDs, started West, /" and l may remar
to show that ours was a civil crowd, that
We had in our number the Rev. w. p.
Cloyd-C. P. Church.
Our "march" lay from here to Pilot
Point; 8 thriving town % miles distant
in the corner of Denton County. Thence
to Gainsvilie. tSsntY-fOnr miles further
and the county seat OF the great county
OF Cooke. From there to st. Joe, TWEEN
ty miles further, thence twelve miles
further to Montague, county seat OF
Montague County, and from there to
Henrietta, the prospective county seat
of Clay County. We had quite a pleas
ant trip most Ofthe wSy-hRving been
delayed q short time ut Montague and
BellknAR RiiFeE by having rains and
high waters. FrOm the tipe We left
Collin County until within five miies
of GAINESVILLE, we were in what is known
here az the Gross Timbers," which is n
we'll amhsred body of country inter
pSrsed with rich valleys and prairies of
black and red sandy lanI, also 0 good
grazing region. GapiRville is q beauti-
full and thriving little town of some six
or eight hundred population, aud is sur
rounded by lands of n quality that can
not be surpassed anywhere. Here for
thirty miles on our route is vast prairie,
with but a small proportion Of timber;
after crossing which We came ipt6 Ehe
West cross tImbers. This body OF Tins
bered country lies one hundred feet be-
low the prairie. 1t is quite a grand
sight to stand on the "Jump-OfT," and
look over this body Of timbered Coun
try. 1t is open woods and principally
pOst~oak, with occasional slips of prairie.
In this locality saw corr" that would
yield fifty bushels per acre. After pass
ing Jim Ned Peak on thS Lett giJd TO the !
south and beyond Mantsgus, 10 New |
Henrietta, all is q prairie country, OF
grades. and is q fine grazing |
country. New Henrietts, as previously |
stated, is trying to be the county seat of
Clay county. Old Henrietta is three
miles west and also wants to be the
g on, seems t. he sqHeWhat defective.
rhe new town has two dry good stores,
/ grocery, blacksmith shop, School
house, two lawyers, q three story stone
Touring mill, with q saw mill attached,
md q telegraph Office, being on the w.
J. frontier telegraph line. via Fort Sill,
Tacksboro, &c. A block is offered tol
my man who will build on it or lot
n the -bussiuess Cert of town. On the
forth as you approach he'd lliver. you
ind the finest farming land anywhere
o be met with, but destitute of tim ber-
lesr bluff banks to the river On The
Vest oR Bag Wachita, you also find fiue
ands but no tiIai0sE, We next turned
'Outh-we tor the Blue arOge country,
where we found plenty Of timber.
But on this part of our rout there was
90 much sand. We now turned east by
way OF the Buffalo Spring, where we
ounj al abundance oftimber and grass,
mt no settie4sleptS for twenty miles.
his region Is known as the Pough |
Trough which the Indians made tffsif
aids into Wise and Jack Counties. Our
1urney next brought us to Victoria j
'eaa, ~ Montague County, which is
ONE two hundred feet above the prairie
ountry, and affords q grand view OF !
he surrounding country. North are \
asst prairies stretching out to Red River (
nd West and Southwest. After PASS I
le Lhe town of Montague we turned a
tile So4th-ssst to Valley View. Here !
-e have stretched out Peiore uP fer thir> q
: miles one of the finest sections OF C
,untry the eye ever beheld, especially
n grazing, and after the grass has been
Zhausted it can be put under cultiva>
on-Ss ths soil is of the very first
1Ality. !
To sum up, the scenery of the wnoie OF
II trip, will say it was grand, and
airing the whole of my travel after
ossing Elm Creek never saw a snake,
og or squirrel, b4t one rabbit, some 6
yer, turkey and plenty of antslopeS, ;
be last, like the Mule cared Rabbit,
avs upon the prairie and cannot be e
'iven TO the woods. y
Lands in Cooke County can be bought n
prices ranging from $l.25 to $500 per G.
re. In Montague and Clay from 80 d
nts to $3.50 per acre. No man can 4
avel over this country in an earnest y
arch for a county to live in, and fail n
be suited, provided he has the nerve n
try a frontier life. The country is q
healthy, as there is no nat II
al cause of sickness to be discovered. fC
an emigrant win only describe the