Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-01-04
AN ODD CORNER OF TEXAS.
How the Land Of Refuge Ha. Been Civil.
lied and Worn Out.
Especial Correspondence

HOW the Land OF Refuge Has Been Civil
lied and Worn Out.
Especial Correspondence
WAsKoM, Harrison County, Tex, Dec q
Il date this by the nearest railroad depot
to which colored boy has agreed to carr,
it; for am as completely bewildered as t
my location as if maps were unknown Afte
much travel in the south, have at las
reached thoroughly old time place-one O.
those in which time has apparently stoot
still since 1859, for this region is certainly NJ
more advanced than then. Still there ar,
signs of change. The negroes are certainly
not slaves, though their condition NAV bt
little better, and the whites divide all time
into three eras-''afoh the wah, "ondoorin
the wah" and "sence the surrendah" It i,
scarcely necessary to add that they are unani
nous in thinking "afoh the wah" decidedly
the best time.
Perhaps they are right, too, for the soil il
now worn out Once it was included in the
famed "red lands of Texas, I" and was thought
OF wonderful fertility. It is a mixture Of
red sand and cheesy clay, and while the black
mould of rotting leaves and g, ass roots lasted
it ltproduced big crops; now cross dozens OF
old and abandoned fields which will not even
produce wire grass or mullen stalks. Unlike
those In South Carolina and other south.
eastern states the abandoned fields here dc
not grow up in pine. Many Of them will not
even produce oak sprouts; they are, in fact,
like patches of complete desert And very
few of the cultivated fields produce as much
as quarter of a bale Of cotton to the acre.
The people are rather despondent. When
asked why the region is so poor and unpro-
gresslve nine out of ten answer, ''Too many
niggers."
Ihey are rather numerous, must admit.
comprising nearly two of the popula.
tion of the county. Even in Marshall. an
important railroad center, they are major
lty, and all have curious air and general
home life, as if they had just moved in or
were just about ready to move away. In
tact, traveller through this section somehow
gets the impression that the negroes are all
nomadic. This began, am told, in the
great rush" to this section when the Federal
armies penetrated louisiana; the owners ran
their negroes over here for safety, and here
they have remained. AS they are in a una
Jorlty, other negroes are constantly coming
IN to be i'll good company, and as many NOV.
ing out because they find themselves too
crowded and "hard pushed to live"
AS one draws near Soda lake and the other
water stretches near Red river, he finds the
land sinking into broad, half swampy fats.
and on the eastern side of the lake, along the
river, are dense thickets where ali kinds of
wild game abound and even the brown bear
is occasionally found. On the east side of
the river, however, is large tract of very
fertile land, containing some of the finest
plantations in Louisiana; and little below
is Shreveport. And this reminds me- that
much of this low land and jungle was actual
lake or swamp before Engineer Shreye
achieved his great feat Of cutting away the
great natural raft"
No part Of the United States has more
romantic history than this region around
Soda lake and the Caddo; and if YOU like
stories favored with blood and adventure
here is the place to hear them. By any old
settlers hearth you may sit through long
evening listening to thrilling stories of how
''Old Rose shot Bob Potter in Soda lake. -
how Finn lived hermit on an island in the
swamp till he was chased down by the dogs
and shot BY the hunters who mistook him for
= wild beast, how many were murdered and
many more robbed on "Campbell's trace"
and how the Regulators of 1s4o 42 hanged,
shot and whipped ti!! the moral atmosphere
was purified, then quarre!ed among them
selves and got up civil war which the re-,
public of Texas had to suppress.
1t was always o fighting region The In.
1ians had this for a military frontier before
the whites came. The Spaniards made it
bheir outpost against the encroaching Ameri.
cans. The "Gachupinos" (Mexican rebels Of
lSlO-l2 marched from here to attack San
Antonio. In this vicinity was one of the re-
cruiting stations of Aaron Burr, and near
here the Cherokees and Texans began their
final struggle before the latter expelled the
former from the state-or rather the nation.
as it then was EARLY in this century Spain
and the United States agreed that all the
region from the upper Sabine eastward to
the Arroyo Hondo lone Of the swampy aflu-
ents OF Red river) should be neutral ground.
As this meant a land without law, it soon
with the lawless from all the ad-
joining states, and the Mexican officer on one
side and American officer on the other had to
furnish military escorts for all the trading
that crossed it.
1t sometimes happened that the heroes of
the neutral ground whipped the escort, and
then their plunder was rich. In one instance
WV AsS2oAeACOAo uACu V"oO4 OucS6 lGl4OWS W
q tree and whipped them terribly to make
them confess where their plunder was buried,
and finally passed live Goals over their raw
and bleeding backs. But they were "gritty
rascals" and kept their secret. In 1912 Lieut..
Magee, a filibuster, induced about 600 or 500
of these outlaws to march with him against
San Antonio. The Spaniards entrapped and
killed all but ninety of them, mutilating
many of those whom they released In those
days it was by no means uncommon to see
man going about on the 'sneutral ground"
with only one ear, the other having been
pared close to his head in Mexican prison.
Such triaing deficiencies as the loss Of an eye,
a few fingers or part Of the nose were too
common to excite inquiry. Indeed, it wasn't
considered good manners in those days to ask
personal questions. It was also liable to
prove unwholesome.
But the good old times passed away. Texas
became independent, and the war between
the Regulators" and g Law and Order
men " cleared the ground for better popu-
lation. The great Texas Pacific now ira
verses the country, and in the fertile sections
there is much life and progress. But over
all this old red land and Soda lake region
there is dulhess and peace that passeth
understanding. Good people, too-plcasant