The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-11-05
Eastern, Central and Western Texas.

Texas may be, for convenience sake,
divided into eastern, central and west
ern sections. The first, or timbered
portion, has the Trinity river as q west.
ern boundary. This region exceeds the
area of the State OF New York. Central
Texas may be defined as including all
of the vast prairie lands from the Trim.
ity to the Colorado. leaving beyond
territory larger than both of the former,
and exceeding the size OF any four of
our ordinary States, as the western ror-
ton. The first-named is the Oldest in
point of Anglo-Saxon civilization. The
prairie loan lands are in q condition Of
evolution or progression, and, being the
most fecund, the great centers of popu-
lation which multiplied generations will
produce will be located within the
boundaries given. Much of the far
western lands is arid and uncultivable.
The Slaked Plains are the most notable
example. Western Texas will be in
vaded in time by the miner; for its
mineral wealth, as already revealed, is
considerable. The tide of immigration
to this section will doubtless reverse tho
general order of things, and move east
ward through Arizona. Railway COM
munication, hereafter spoken of, from
tho Pacific, will materially contribute
to this result. At present the extreme
point of eastern encroachment is the
city of San Antonio, which is only q
city of the Anglo-Saxon by virtue of
conquest, and marks the limit of dar-
ing. brilliant and intellectual civiliza-
ton, whose impulse was eastward, and
which built garden in the plain about
the time that the French took root in
Indiana, and the good people of New
England were exercising themselves
about the Salem witchcraft delusion. It
is reasonable to assume that history may
repeat itself in this instance.
The wooded country of Eastern
Texas yields q rich variety OF useful
woods-yellow pine, cypress, red and
white oak, live oak, hickory, pecan and
cedar predominating. The Trinity,
Sabine, Neches, Angelina, San Jacinto
and other rivers afford rafting facilities
and water power at times, although wa
ter is an uncertain commodity in the
State, and nearly all mills have steam
engines. A new rail road is to bisec1
the lumber districts, springing from
Denison, near the Red river, anc
traversing the State to Sabine Pass
which is sixty miles east of Galveston
and already an important numbering
point.
The transcontinental division of til,
Texas and Pacific, as well as its mail
line from Marshall westward, afford
an outlet for the northern section, while
the International and Great Northern
road passes through its western tier o
counties, and road toward New Or
leans connects Orange, on the Sabine
with Houston. Before the construc
ton of the railroads one of the creates
difficulties which the prairie settler ha
to encounter was the scarcity and ez
IRENE cost of lumber. It sold as hig
as $50 and $40 per 1000 feet, and wa
often hauled hundreds of miles by o
teams. The Texan lumberman find
his market toward each of the cardint
points of the compass. The cleare
lands in the valleys yield good qualit
of cotton, to the extent of bale OF 81
pounds to the acre. Some rice
grown upon the lowlands bordering th
gulf, as well as the staple known as Sc
island cotton.-Fra7ak II. Taylor,
HnrDey's lfnc0zine.