The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-08-28
A Truthful Ean Tells the Truth About
Texas.

auo iV'iO"ipS 10 au cAaCt copy OF
private letter from an intelligent gentle
man of Lee County, Mississippi, now pros.
pecting In Texas. Though not intended
for publication. it contains much
that would interest our readers. II ex-
plains itself The letter was written TO 3
niece Of Prof. Deupree, of Starkyille,
Miss, and we take the letter from the
,ofock Journal in which it was first pub
lished:
i ONION CREEK, ELLIS CO., TEXAS,
| juno 90, 1879.
My DEAR CHILD:-As have leisure
this, evening, will write To you and
send it 10 =. 0. first chance. You have
no idea how difficult it is in many parts
of Texas TO find time and material and
opportunity for writing and mailing let
ters. don't know what TO say about
Iesas. tia hard country TO form an
opinion sbout Though have been In
the State about month, and have tra-
versed all the northern, central and ives.
tern parts OF the State, have yet found
no modern paradise. The land is rich
cheap aud boundess, but subject to vista
tions of grasshoppers and drouth. 1t is
very, dry here now. The ground has
cracked everywhere two to six inches wide
and several feet deep. Crop, of course,
are suffering greatly. People haul their
water from creeks and rivers and ponds
for miles. A good drink of water is q
rare rare thing here. and in most parts of
Texas. Timber is very scarce and con-
sequep.ly houses are small and incon.
venicnt. Outhouscs, fences, &C., are
yery poor. These inconyeniences would
be but temporary, provided grasslol
pers and tho drouth did not prevent the
production of good crops; for two or
three good crops in succession would
make good houses and improvements,
since building and fencing, notwithstand-
ing the scarcity of timber, il compartiyc.
y an cheap In Texas az in Mississippi.
Stock raising, to any extent, requires
capital, and TO be successful, must he
carried on in the frontier counties, away
from society and in wild country. But
what troubles me more in making up my
mind to move you all to Texas, is the
people. Texas is full of poor folks, and
most OF them have remarkable poor ways.
heterogeneous admixturc Of people
from all States and countries, nothing
that we could call good, or even tol. IA
Die society no churches and no schools
worth the name; all these things would
be hard TO endure. Yet every one here
Is not only satisfied, but delighted with
its condition. A tanned, lank, slab. sided
Texan, with slouched hat and dirty shirt
will sit on roek, wall his eyes, and ex.
patlate for hours upon the grandeur and
beauty Of this country, its pleasures and
It's wealth, though Mt the same time he
lives in dirty hut infested with Aeas,
bcd-bngs and lizards, and his only furni-
ture few raw-hide chairs, q greasy table,
and bedstead made by boring holes in the
logs of his hut, and inserting poles, the
ends or which are supported by forkcd
sticks, and two black, sleek bed quilts.
His horse lot and stable is q long rope,
his crib, tho prairie, his only stock,
sore back pony. His wife and children
live on fat bacon and orn.bread; dress,
II Mt all, IN rags and dirt, and do all the
work that is done. This you may think
an extreme case, but there are many like
it here. Women become ~ trifling no
the men. l have met some whom /
knew in Mississippi rs good housekeep-
eTs, and fond Of dress and sociuty, but
out here they have fallen into the slo.
venly habits characteristic of the ma.
tiyes. There must be something in Tex
as atmosphere that makes the men lazy
and the women ugly. / have not seen a
pretty woman in the State. AS to the
men raised in Te vas, have yet to meet
one worth nj 4 30 far as industry,
moral characi etc., are concerned.
Their conversa,. IN Ia exclusively about
breaking ponies, and rubbing hair of
the cows to find the brand, killing men
and running races. I have had several
illusions dispelled since coming here.
The wild Texan horse, which imagined
to be so admirable ia but lean pony.
mean aud contrary. / wouldn't give o
dollar for pasture full of them. The
cowboy, that gay and rollicking youth
you have read so much about, IL the
most contemptible specimen of humanity
in the world. have seen many of them,
and Notwithstanding my predictions i'm
their favor, now have more respect for
their steers than themselves. This is sll
q rough hard county, and If we come
here, you must make up your mind to u
hard life for many years. cannot, in q
! letter. describe ali the privations to which
you would be subjected here. ii people in
| Mississippi would live rs hard as they do
here they would get rich in few years.
judging; from the others, when we all
get to 10 like them, We would like Texas
and tie ways of her people
Tns WEST UNEQuAr.ED IN STORY
| TELLIN0-It Ia no use for an Eastern