Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1880-05-07
What i Returned Bmigrant Thinks Of Texas

What Returned Emigrant Thinks Of Texas. |
Editors Vandicator.
Some eighteen months ago was taken
very badly with what is known as the
.sTexas fever" In fact, it had been in my
system for years and years, had gre"n
with my growth and siren thened with my
strength, until my desire to go west
had reached fever neat, and l believe al
who have this fever. see i'll their dreams
as saw. beautiful prairies stretching ont,
ETC., etc.
What propose TO do in this short artl-
Gle is. lif the INDICATOR will allow me
little SPACE in its valuable coiumns) to give
nv actual experience as,d few ideas ar
rived at by actual observation. | landed
in Waco one dark rainy night in January,
1879. Plotting up at the Taylor House,
next day opened my hand trunk and
dnnned my best suit. put on my best look,
though felt awful blue, flied my pockets
with my testimonials. letters OF introduce
| ton, &c, and 50 started out to look for
work, thinking that with such passports
| as those. would have but little difficulty
|
| letters set forth accomplishments that L
am sure never possessed But, after
few DAYS fruitless and vain endeavor, L
had nv ewes opened to the fact that it was
4 Mt erly impossible to get work OF any kind
| in Waco.
tried Austin. Waco, San Antonio and
several other cities, and ! came to the con-
clusion that if our Virginia young men
would pull off their coats, put up with
half the prlvations here that they have to
contend with there, they will do thee
times as we'll. My experience was this
after irving all the cities | struck out for
the frontier looking for work. | got the
only two things to do that were to do, viz :
Herding sheep and driving road wagons
AS hold these two things are the only
things Young man can get to do in Texas
with some few exceptional cases OF
course, will give you little idea OF
the duties of these bright openings" for
young men. You are put out on one OF
these immense prairies, two or three nun
dred miles from any other ranch, with BIZ
con. flour and coffee enough to lasta year:
YOU do your own cooking at night, get ny
by day and take your sheep out and just
stand in the hot broiling sun or cold rail-
as the case may be until the sun sinks be.
|: hind the hill You go through that kind
of performance 365 days in the year for the
sum of $3.50. On one occa@ion | didn't
even know what month it was. for youl
only associates are ''cOw boys, VINO nave
> as much idea of the flight of time as the
cattle they herd.
The next '.good opening for young mer
: is that of .sfreighter. +" You are furnished
with four mules and wagon, and start
for Austin or Waco to haul goods out on thu
? frontier some three or four hundred miles
| The monotony of the freighter's life is OF
ten varied by having pistol put to nj
' head followed by polite request to ''poin
| towards heaven" while couple of bol(
( robbers go through your pockets. roll al
: your load out in the road and ride gail.
: off. leaving you sitting like ''bump on {
t loo. y with nothing left to do but wait TO
8 another wagon to come along. Th
f ssfreighter's" life is exciting but not
. pleasant employment.
q A few words about the climate as one o
Q my chief objections to the "lone sta
t State" I was out doors day and night
2 from May 9Th until October 26th; C'cov
8 boys'' don't sleep in houses like folks an'
f only saw it rain once during that time
: Creeks, springs and rivers all dried up AM
J. we frequently had to haul water ten mile
:, for drinking purposes. [ think about tina
! time could have appreciated a cool drin
g of our pure mountain water. In very few
t places can water be found by digging we'll
J. so that is great drawback to this State
), In fact 1 am convinced that larg
e amount of sickness is due to the impur
d water, and it takes an iron constltutlo
to successfully contend with that climate
It Often have been looking for some Ettl
Q shady nook to get cool in, When, in les
time than it takes me to write it, the al
Il is filled with strong odor of sulphur an
IS one of the regular 'blue northers" is o
l. you, yes. on and in you, in fact all over 20
70 and all through you, starting your teeth
y chattering, your knees to knocking togethe
l. like man in the last stages OF ague. Fol
Q tunately they only last short time, but
q takes you long time to get warm 'agal
IS even in the ''Sunny South"
is In conclusion [ will say. If you want t
= be entirely cut off from all social and n
is ligious intercourse, If you want to g
where money is scarce, wages low and bu
Q mess of all kinds overdone, advise you t
o give Texas trial. Yes. they say If 20
II will only come to Texas we will sell 20
r good lands for so cents All acre. That
e true, but suppose all your old August
II county farmers who are thinking of goin
j. West make calculation and see whs
e your land will cost you per acre by tt
J. time you pay $25 per 1000 for plank
i fence in your little farm. You have
IS haul this lumber from two to three hui
F. dred miles in wagons. When it rains 20
j. all make good crops and can't get but eigf
h and ten cents for your corn. When
% don't rain you have to paw this railroa
Q company that sold you these cheap farm
n exhorbitant rates to haul your corn frol
:" Kansas.