Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1882-05-12
Letter from Texas.
AUSTIN, April oath, 1881

AUSTIN, April gath, 1852.
Dear Uncle Il have few leisure mo-
ments tonight and thought would occupy
them in writing to you. Suffering consider
ably with dyspepsia and feeling bilious
attack coming on, thought I'd try to cut it
short by going off for few days, so about
two weeks ago | left on Tuesday evening
and went down to San Antonio and spent
the night, next morning boarded the train
again and went down on the Rio Grande
near Laredo, having some acquaintances
down there who own sheep ranches; thought
I'd tell you something about that country.
There are no settlements except on the rail-
road and at the county seats and all small
towns. San Antonio is the second city in
the state and pretty place, the American
part is built with brick and stone. 1t has
some nice stores and elegant residences.
The Mexican part, the houses are built of
logs daubed with mud, with stakes driven
in the ground and also daubed called
Hackels; there were some adobe houses.
The greatest disadvantage is the narrowness
of the streets, but the residences look COSY
and pleasant. A beautiful river called the
San Antonio runs through the town and
another small stream called San Pedro
through another part of it. The city is
situated in u beautiful and fertile country.
1t has an immense wool trade; it is also a
great lumber market, and altogether does
an extensive business. Its population is
81 900. The market was well supplied with
cabbage, peas, beans, onions, lettuce, dew
berries and strawberries. 1t is also quite
winter resort for nvalids from colder
climates. Corn was nearly ready to tassel
In some places and few oats were being
cut After leaving it for forty or fifty
miles little or nothing is cultivated except
now and then little garden on some stream.
l went to rancho in Lasalle county and
remained two nights and one day. | got
on Mexican mustang and spent nearly the
whole OF that day riding over the country,
and was much pleased with it, | did not
see u single house during all that time
while riding many miles and being able to
see objects for long distances around. en-
countered herd of wild horses, deer, wild
turkeys, two species of partridges, plover and
rattle snakes of huge dimensions.
The soil is varied, of light and red, sandy
and black, stiff, occasionally red clay. 1t Is
rich and would produce almost anything in
some places if 1t was seasonable or could be
irrigated, but it hardly ever rains and the
small rivers and streams nearly all go dry
In the summer season; here and there is a
small living lake that does not dry up but
gets low and then the water near the bottom
has salty taste. Along the river courses
there grow live oak, post oak. elm and
blackberry. The country is the finest for
grazing / ever saw, they never feed stock Al
all, some portions are adapted to cattle and
some seem as if they were made especially
for sheep growing. The cattle look better
than they do in the neiChborhood of Austin.
are fat and sleek. 1t pays to fence for cattle
and the pasture selected is covered with
mesquite bushes or trees that grow from ten
to about twenty-five feet high, a luxurious
growth of underbrush, weeds and vines i'm
spots and in the intervals are MESQUITE and
prairie grass rich and nutritious, These
mesquite bushes and tangle underprowth
afford ample protection to cattle from the
northers, the sun and flies. and when n man
gets a start il is very profitable. ''''''
land 10 oo,,;,r so,.oo -, A..
has ADVANCED in ,r;ca 7, ~o oS,a snvie anu
acre mr. now and ,hon rsno ho" o. Pei
leosed Fenc;ng ,s exnans;,a a,,d o van "
scarce and h;yh saIl;nir oIi , GU Tvs C SIC
~ s40 Enr eor,n,n,, 7r s',r sn1 wy i,onl eio
n great dnmand int 80 b',, '.,S .iene 70
n rancho fannad IN IA nJ% uu' mnea you ~,
COWS thov ara go, I'LL Say 'nVusanu
NOT cost ~ noh LILY ,i ,n any, II goes
RIM with ,ha oo,,,s W o ,u ~ 'nen nc Ga'ves
SOFA In Inc ,,astr S tmu ~ w'en yea no ou arc
AVERAGE Trom ps sSn ,or SaV oaGn LUZ cows
eoual 10 20 oo0 wher '0 , $40 "a 1hn Wy,
small con xo'HoV h mmon year oia. ror
best business. The sheen range is different
from the cattle, il is in immense nrairies
covered with cactus, that looks like il has
been planted and This the sheen faad an
when it is Young and tender There are
little thickets of cRaparral that afford abnn.
dant protection from cold and the hot snn
the intervening spaces are covered with
mesquite grass, something like blne grass