Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-04-15
Another Letter from ChOctOw,
CLARENDON, TEXAs,
March, 24th, 1897. !


March, 24th, 1897. !
Editor Greenbrier Independent:
On my way yesterday by rail from
Fort Worth l was in q reminiscent
mood, and, looking out over towns,
farms, orchards and pastures, could
but contrast Texas of to-day with
the Texas of quarter or half cen
tury ago. Then there was glamour
about the very name of Texas, for
it was suggestive of all that was
wild and romantic. Then the sweet
heart sang to her lover:
The Lone Star State our home shall
The wild gazelle we'll chase over the
The tigers cub we will bind with a
chain"
And his heart leaped with fond an
ticipation as he dreamed of home
in the wild West with f1ocks and
herds growing about him on range
free and unlimited.
Then the man who was IN debt be.
yond his depth gave up all and
moved with his family to the south
west frontier. The young man left
the old time worn farm, and, a few
weeks later, with spurs and leather
breeches, was mounted on bucking
broncho and chasing long horned
steers over hill and prairie. The
criminal fled TO Texas and was out
of reach of his pursuers.
But the romantic days of Texas are
gone. There is no more free grass.
No longer does the long-horned COW
roam at will over a range bounded
only by the horizon and the man
on horseback. Even the shapely,
picturesque long-horns are dropping
off and the white-face and polled are
taking their place.
In those days one could stand on
an eminence and at a glance see great
fiocks of deer, wild mustangs and
wilder cattle. Herds of buffalo miles
in length wallowed on the plains.
Wolves and mountain lions chased
them, and in the light of the moon
Indians made raids. Sometimes
they surprised and killed settlers,
carrying the children away into cap.
tivity, but more frequently were
content to round up and drive away
all the ponies they could find.
But the buffalo and the men who
bounded them are gone. The deer
the antelope and the wild mustang
where are they? The Comanche
and Apache, then terror, are now
less feared than the growing cur.
The cowboy with his broad som
brero, peg-heeled boots, belt of car
tridges and six shooter, and Winches
ter in the saddle scabbard, has giver
place to very genteel gentleman ir
white shirt on gentle pony.
No more is his wild whoop heard
as he, in company with a score o.
his fellows, dashes through the town
firing guns and pistols at random
recklessly and rapidly, or rides int
the saloon and shoots out the lights
and the bottles from the shelves.
No more does he go on the long
weary drive to far away Montana
The plow has crossed the trail ant
the rattling car carries the steer.
The big annual roundup is no
what it used to be when all the COW
men within a radius of a hundred
miles met and cut out their brands
and ate Mavericks, and around The
campfire smoked their pipes, bur
nished their firearms and told thrill
ing tales of war with sheep men
narrow escapes from Indians, and o
hunger and thirst when followin,
cattle that had drifted hundreds O
miles away.
The frontier has vanished. Th
wild West is nowhere to be found
All is commonplace, slow, dull an
prosy.
The pioneer who followed tn
trail of the buffalo, always movin
in advance of civilization, has com
to his journeys end. There are n
savages for him to fight, no bi
game for him to hunt. His range |
cut off. Everywhere he hears tn
engines shrlll whistle and the tram
OF multitudes Of men.