Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-21
To Nearly Ali Texans is the
Rio Bravo Border.
ESSENTIALLY SPANISH IN ALL
Customs, language, Religion, superstitions
and Practices.
A Revelation to the Soldiers and Core
spondents Who Penetrated the SEQ
ton During the Pursuit of the
observation-disclosures Intende
Special to the Gazette.


given a more minute detail and wider range
10 the circulation of the general information
secured relative to the recent attempted
revolution which found its birth IL. the fer
tile brain of Catarino Cara, and its cradle
in the romantic Rio Bravo borderland, than
has been the case in any other similar analr
for many years.
In every land where the press turns out
papers for the amusement and improvement
of the people, the story of Garza and his
thus far futile attempt 10 inaugurate an
other Mexican insurrectiOn has been told,
but it would be more than difficult Tor those
who have read, to realize the peculiar char
aeteristics of the place and people in whose
midst this international comedy-drama has
been enacted. Graphically though the
events of the border disturbance have been
told, descriptions of their surroundings, II
given at all, have been more than meager
1t was with varied sensations Set out on
my recent mission for TIE GAZETTE. l
knew 1 was going 10 meet with much
that would seem strange to me, but l was
by no means prepared to find so many pc
culiar features, both in the face of nature
and in the habits of man, as came before
my observation during my sojourn Hear the
Rio Grande.
l left Austin in the midst of cold rain,
with sleet and snow on the ground, in San
Antonio / waded around in the mud, while
looking sky, and whenI reached the town
of Alice next day and left the railroad, l
found myself in the midst of country
where 1 was told there had not been good
rain in two years.
Joining company of rangers, Irode with
them by day and by night through the sue
ceeding fortnight, and the practical knOWl-
edge gained about the country and the peo-
pie OF that peculiar section bordering the
north bank of the Rio Grande could
hardly have been picked up in any other
way, nor could more novel or entertain
ing means Of exploring the country be de-
vised. Trust the instinct of a Nineteenth
century newspaper correspondent, escorted
by company of Texas rangers, to see all
that was to be seen and to note every sight
and every occurrence out of the ordinary.
There are many people in the United
States who will find it difficult to realize
that there is anywhere in our country
section so foreign in all its elements that
once in its midst one might easily imagine
himself in a foreign land. Even in Texas
it is hard to comprehend that such is the
case, and many Texan will look upon his
informant with superlative incredulity
when told that the borders of his own great
state embrace broad tract of country
where such conditions exist.
Over two centuries ago Spanish mission
aries penetrated into Southern and West
ern Texas, there planting the banners of
the church, and leaving as temporal monu-
ments to their laborS those old missions
which, in romantic ruins, invite the admir-
alton and wopder of the people of to-day.
The cloud was rifted for a moment; the
sunlight of civilization peered in brightly,
but briefly; the clouds rolled together again
and year succeeded year, in which this vast
expanse was an unknown, unheard OF land.
In later times have come the railroad and
attendant progress, but with the utmost
advancement the country In the midst of
which Senior Cara saw fit to set his revo-
lutionary enterprise on foot, presents pecu-
liarities interesting and oftentimes puz-
cling.
The inhabitants are chiefly Mexicans, and
though there are occasionally Castilians Of
a higher class than the ordinary Mexican,
and even Americans of culture and refine
ment, they are few and far between, and
the vast dominant element is Mexican, and
Mexican of that peculiar border character
istic which distinguishes it as a different
caste from the inhabitants of the land of
Montezuma beyond the river. The higher.
class of Mexicans and the progressive
Americans who have settled in the country,
hold the lands. and their herds find sus-
tenance in vast pastures, oftentimes en-
bracing hundreds of thousands of acres
within one stretch Of fence.
Travel through this country would be
somewhat monotonous but for the gates.
Roads and highways wind about among the
chapparal and cactus, finding their way
from pasture 10 pasture. Every Enclosure
is entered by means OF gate, which every
one who opens must shut again behind him.
The chapparal, branching thickly on every
side, interspersed with the threatening,
thorny leaves of the cactus or prickly pear,
and the intervening stretches OF barren
soil, are firing to look at and even the exer-
else of getting down TO drag a gate open,
and getting up after it has been dragged
shut again, is relief
IF IT WOULD ONLY RAIN
this country would be a paradise. The
soil is rich enough and every slight shower
is succeeded by a perceptible growth,
which, however, speedily succumbs to the
dry, hot season that follows. 1t cannot be
that the country is always the dry, hot
desert found it, for the only industry fol-
lowed is the raising of cattle and sheep,
and that industry cannot prosper without
grass on which the fiocks and herds may
feed. The substantial houses which many
of the ranchmen have built give evidence Of
past pros perity, yet the indifference with
which the inhabitants look upon the dis
tress and restitution which follow in the
footsteps of drouth shows that they are
not unused to it.
Each ranch is a little village in itself,
with the rough homes of the laborers clus-
tered about and the more pretentiouS
houses of the proprietors set apart by them
selves. The customs of the country are
such that, every man carries arms. The
Winchester is mans constant companion,
while six-shooters ard long knives may be
safely guessed TO be somewhere handy
about his person. The sparsely settled
character of the country renders -precau-
tons Of this kind quite essential to safety.
Even the lowleSt herder carries with him
a short, heavy sword, known as 4 machette,
which, though ostensibly a tool" kept for
the purpose of cutting up the thick grow
ing cactus, is nevertheless a formidable
weapon, and to the unaccustomed observer
has a most murderous appearance.
have seen a herder leading a flock of
sheep about among the thickets near Patio
Blanco who would have formed an ideal
figure for the stage. Tall and well built,
the faded blanket on his shoulders was
draped in graceful folds; the high-peaked,
broad brimmed hat on his head and the
long boots into which his dingy white pants
were thrust had an imposing appearance;
classic in their cut. and the bold expression
upon his face, together with the long, cruel
looking smacheste" held in his hand, all
TO make him worth more than a
passing glance. He was q sheep herder,
but l confess he was not typical of his
kind As a rule the lower classes OF this
country ara not imposing in their appear
ance, though to me they were always strik-
ing, often picturesque.
The costumes CT the men vary with their
Their main pride is their
big hats, and have seen a magnificent SOM
i1r-eF,o t-aassir1y r-rnUauv tx-.Tb 4,<<or.zf