The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-10-05
THE RETURN TRIr
Or Our Brookc County Correspondent
from TcxHs 10 West virginIa-Notcsb by

Railway runs northeast from Taylor
through Waco, Fl, Worth, Sherman ant
Dennison. AS you leave Taylor, goin,
North, broad stretches Of prairie land, dot
ted over with large ilocks Of sheep
and herds OF cattle, quietly grazing
throw up, their heads and run oil
for some distance, and then turn and gaze
ut tho locomotive. Here OH one side OF the
track may be seen n hcrler seated on hit
pony watching the sheep picking thcil
evening meal. Farther on In the distance
is the house Of the watcl,mnn, surmounted
with China umbrella trees, und his barns
and stable; while OIL The other hand We
behold broad acres OF cotton, with the
dark green, tive'lobed leaves aud snow
white balls Of cotton, ready for the picker
forming II beautiful contrast with tho
gmysh halfdead prairie grass. Pass.
lug the cotton field We come next 10 n large
wooden building, built somewhat after thu
style Of u northern barn. This, We know
by Its sheet iron smoke.stack and the
wagons surrounding It, some loaded with
loose cotton others with bales, Is the gin
house, where the raw cotton us 1t comes
from the fields, Is separated from the seed,
baled and tied and prepared for market.
This is pretty nearly all Of what is to be
seen, except now and then mail strip Of
brush, or u short, scrubby timber rs YOU
cross u little stream OF water, where here
and there u corntleld comes in instead Of
cotton. From Taylor 10 Waco our route
lies through the counties OF Williamson,
Bell, McLennan, Hill, johnson, Tiavant,
Denton. and Gmyson, embracing some OF
the best farming and grazing counties in the
State OF Texas. Waco is q ilourishing little
city Of seven or eight thousand inhabitants,
on the north bank Of the Brazos river. Tho
country ia very low and nearly level here.
We arrived 'at Waco about 5 o'clock and
stopped twenty minutes for supper. Soon
after leaving Waco the sun went down and
we passed the towns OF Fl. Worth. Sher.
man and Dennison in the night. So We did
not zee the position Of North Texas. When
We awoke next morning we were in Indian
Territory. The towns along the line OF the
railroad through the Territory are nearly
all inhabited by white men. A small
boy about fourteen years old attract.
cd considerable attention. lie seemed to
be doing quite business selling break.
fasts TO the passengers. Those of us who
Travelled in the Pullman had eaten our
breakfast before we met this entertaining
lad. He carried basket well supplied
with ham, light rolls and cakes, also Guns
aud saucers, knives, forks and spoons. a
bottle Of milk and another Of sugar, and a
large boiler full Of hot coffee. II any tray.
eler wished breakfast, he took out OF his
basket a cup and saucer, poured out the
coffee, creamed it and sweetened it, and
prepared II sandwich as nicely rs female
rcsluuranteur. At the town OF McAllister
we looked in vain for Indians. But, rs
we proceed on our way, every once in
while, we would see ut some little
town very dark brown, man with promi.
nent cheek bones, long straight black hair,
and sharp piercing black eyes, either cit.
ting or standing about some
store, or loating near tho depot, whom we
know to be descendant OF the original
"sons OF the forest" The wonder to us is,
how so many white men get into the Ter.
ritory. There were white men keeping
saloons, billiard halls, stores, res.auranis
tobacco shops and hotels. The Territory
or Indian Nation, us some call it, occupies
some Of the finest grazing and farm lands
OF the West. 1t is well watered by the
Arkansas river and its numerous tribu.
taries, and also all those OF the Red river
flowing from the North. We crossed quite
Il number Of small muddy looking rivers
whose names we did not know. The sur.
face Of the country is mostly broad open
prairie, gently undulating, with little hills
and stretches OF timber coming in TO re.
lievc the scene. The soil is very fertile, OF
light reddish brown color, and covered
with the usual prairie grass, which fur.
nishcs abundant pasturage for vast herds
Of cattle. At Vinita we were met by the
news boy selling the national paper Indian
Chiytain, but us it looked very much like
any other American newspaper, and our
eyes were already weary Of seeing, VIC did
not purchase copy. After leaving
he Indian country We came through
the southeastern corner OF Kan.
sas. Here we saw very fine crops
Of corn, the ears hanging almost perpen.
dicularly down the stalks. The fall wheat
was being sown. We saw some hay in the
winrow and shock and many large ricks OF
grain and hay, plenty of houses, hedge
fences and numerous large flour mills, all
going to show the wonderful fertility Of the
soil and the thrift and enterprise OF these
western people. Here we saw trees laden
with fruit, apples, peaches and pears, We
forgot 10 mention that the Indian Territory
also produces splendid apples, peaches and
melons. Another time we may give some
more incidents OF our trip and also some OF
disadvantages as well as the advantages Of
the western country. @. 7.