San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-11-23
wrI,tr1 for the Fsrn Pass.
"Reminiscences OF n Texas veteran.
ny C. ERuARp.

When I reached camp about three miles
from Austin, found men sailing and dry
ing beef for our proposed journey.
Merchants were invited by Mirabeau
Lamar, then President of the Republic OF
Texas, to join the expedition to sell goods
10 the Mexicans, the Government furnish
ing them OK teams aud wagons free OF ex-
psnse. The firm of Crocheron a. Cunning
ham, of Bastrop, furnished me with lot OF
shoes TO be sold on commission, but being
poor, also enlisted as volunteer in the
army 10 draw my monthly pay, basides
the profits of goods / might SELL
The Republic being poor in funds, only
issuing her own paper without having any
specie basis, we started out with second
hand OK wagons, often needing repair by
or mechanics, and greatly retarding the
progress of the expedition, for we had to
halt too often to make those repairs.
The supply Of corn meal for bread hard
" lasted over two weeks, -four or crackers
we were not furnished, coffee we had only
for about a month, and not even salt enough
TO last more than two months, but more af-
ter while.
All men were volunteers, some furnish
g themselves with horse or mule, or such
arms as they had, others the government
furnished with ponies and old muskets;
the pay for service was. according to it,
(which We got eight years afterwards.)
Before we started of we had nice pa
rade, travelling from camp to the residence
of the French Consul, who indeed had the
only nice two story frame building in Aus
TIN; even Government officers were then
only kept in log cabins and scattered along
in the village. From thence we marched
through the only streetthere was at Aus
tin and at Bullock's hotel Wa received
handed dinner, aa1 thereafter retired to our
camp. .api shortly afterwards started of,
when Va had on Brushy general inspec-
ton by the President. Government officers
and the elite of Anstin came also to see it.
After we left Austin there was no white
settlement, the whole of our route was only
a partially known wilderness.
From delays by repairs of wagons, our
supply of bseves was reduced, and our gen.
eral had to make trip to the Brazos to
buy more Con a credit, when we were not
vet six weeks gone from Austin
In fact the management was poor. For
for while we were in buffalo range, and
our men wautonly killed buffalos part of
the meat brought to camp and the ration of
beef near three pounds to each man day
was wasted These rations of beef may
seem enormous, but when say that was all
we got, no bread or bacon, &C., for a days
ration then it was only sufficient, but that
eventually got reduced to one and half
pounds of poorest kind of beef, and moth
ing else, for days ration.
Az bad luck would always have it in Tex
as. no hunter could start out with provision
but he could find game, but as soon as his
supply gave out, no game was to be found.
Such was our condition while we had even
those simple supplies described game could
De nau Out Wnen they gave ou', VIC "oio
happy to get mustang meat; our men even
ate snakes and dogs, cowhide and mesquit
beans to apease hunger. And often we suf-
fered for water, and frequently we were
glad to get even brackish water, and it rum
ming over sand beds was warm at that, to
quench our thirst.
As the country before US was unknown,
we had always some ten men days jour
ney ahead of us to find passable route
for our wagons, and also water, and they
sent guide back daily. The ascent of Tex
as is so gradual that we had but little difficult
ty to advance the main labor was to cut
road through Little River bottom, the two
forks of the Brazos, and the Trinity river
bottom; outside of that We had but little
road work to perform, and no serious OBJ
struction.