The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-01-02
BoUTH TEXAS RANCH.
jonathan B. Pierce's Won
derful Estate.
|ANCHo GRANDE DESCRIBED.
! Rhode Islander Carved .
20 Fortune In Texas-A RE-
markable Man.


markable Man.
bton, Texas. December 2i.-lt wa
hard ride OF fifty miles through
notion lands, across rivers. creeks
Ious, over long stretches Of drip
kirie and now and then a wooded
that we entered a great park-liko
b the east bank Of the Tres Pala-
afar I had observed what appeared
big thicket skirttng the range. On
approach / discovered it to be a
rose bushes from twenty to thirty
from fifteen to twenty feet wide
ty seven miles long. 1t stretched
hs the eye could see. Tie driver
opened the gate that marked
gap in this impenetrable hedge.
The horses walked within the con.
khe estate could see, far Off toward
III RIVER Vut VI tuC uioSe
ads in all this Southern country.
have been the long. dreary ride
the Quagmires of the Cancy Dot
may have been the hard pulling
water soaked prairies near the
river, or both, that lent enchant-
the view, but whatever the reason
re that no more charming picture
disclosed to me than that when I
ed upon FL Rancho Grande. 1t was
WING aside sonbre curtain and
big a masterpiece of art. The
kpanse Of level prairie between the
dge and the homestead was like
W lawn. High-bred cattle browsed
rich verdure.
hber this was mid-December on the
b coast. The air was laden with
De- the sun was just low enough
reat dome 70 show the homestead
Picturesque and hospitable Sarnish-
With glorious background of noble
lordly elms the pure white of the
Hiding had a perfect setting. The
structures on either side served
ter the charms of the picture.
part of the North or East, where
j homes and well kept estates
ou<h "a cOShG MOuiu u
but in South Texas. in a country
hown and seldom traversed; in a
where the whistle of locomotive
PR been heard. 1t Is no wonder that
IT evoked from me an exclamation
IRE.
le approached the buildings new
were discovered to our view. The |
fwas dotted with Indian pinks and
les, buttercups, daisies. marigolds
|benas, while within the confines OF
PENS of the house chrysanthemums
Destic roses, nodding in the gentle
breeze, babe us welcome.
never heard of Jonathan e. Pierce
few" weeks ago. and had never
b until the day drove up to his
While we sat in his room late at
lmoking, i asked him to tell me
y OF El Rancho Grande. He laugh.
lclared there was not much to tell,
p. in bits and snatches, with 0c
digressions as the recoIiections OF
OF long ago awakened other sub
4 conversations, he narrated the
his life. He was born in Rhode
|Orty-eignt years ago, he told me.
IN his rather oNned was poor, but
II known 10 the skilfui and scien-
fculturist was practiced to adj I
The elder Pierce
bis children to do thoroughly and
Ithing and everything they under
le Impressed upon them the virtue
|nce and perseverance. Thirty
Ears aso. when but raw youngster
u Pierce came 10 Texas. He knew
farm, he knew carpentering. he
acksmithing and he knew plumbing
ght there was in the great stats
chance for young man to ad-
the world more rapidly than in thu
East. What he saw when. he be.
in Texas was different from what
but he never forgot tho
inculcated in his mind by his ,
he went TO work as cowboy for q
n named Grimes and received SIC
(. His life was very hard and the
s vsfy rough. He inquired why
es were not grown and was laughed
vas told the soil OF Texas was no {
anything but cattle. There was ,
G in Texas In those days but cat
men who told him Texas soil
account were oder than he and
! In Texas longer. but he was moi I
When the opportunity offered he
ound and planted in little patch
'etahle seeds as he could procure. G
III was a handsome crop There q
se,aDles In the Grimes household q
70 and more respect was shown Y
lnkee's judgment. |
Pierce hadn't come 10 6
erely to show the Grimes family
HOW vegetables. He loved rugged =
was ambitious to make a name {
re. Old Grimes was one of the t
cattlemen of the State, and his !
trayersed the whole country tribu- !,
he Texas ports. In all his trips S
prairies and through the valleys o
the young cowboy from Nev :
never saw a more beautiful spot !
one on the banks Of the Tres h
river. al what is called Deming's N
u Matagorda county. The first n
saw 1t he drove same stakes in n
ND and resolved that there he :,
life was spared 20 him and hi. a
rrospered. make his home some ii
IN he rode away and followed the q
ne never forgot the land where s
anu the elms grow so thick and el