The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1907-03-08
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS
The Brownsville Affair Results in the
Resurrection of Poem


Resurrection of "A Poem
The shooting up Of Brownsville has
had one effect which is pleasing to the
people Of the town. 1t has placed
Brownsville upon the map. Browns
vile has been we'll known to the army
ever since the Mexican war. In the
earlier days, and in fact until about
three years ago, Fort Brown was one of
the most desolate army posts in the
United States. 1t was situated 100
miles from the nearest railroad which
led to the outside world, and the sur
rounding country was a wilderness Of
cacti and sand. Conditions have been
transformed by the building of a rail-
road to Brownsville from the north and
the establishment of irrigation enter
prises. 1t is now rapidly becoming a
garden spot. Water is now doing for
the sandy places around Brownsville
what it has already done in what was
called the sage-brush deserts of Wash
ington- making it productive.
Many years ago, tho, private be-
longing to the United States Sixth cav
airy, while stationed at Fort Brown,
wrote poem entitled Hell in Texas"
This poem was printed on slips on the
old army press at Fort Brown and at
tanned wide private circulation among
the soldiers on the Texas frontier A
copy of it was recently resunected here.
1t reads as follows:
HELL IN TEXAS
The devil in hell, we're told, was
chained,
And a thousand years he there re-
NAMED;
He never complained, nor did he groan,
But determined to start a hell OF his
own,
Where he could torment the souls of
men,
Without being chained in a prison pen.
So he asked the Lord if he had on hand
Anything left when he made the land
The Lord said: Yes, I had plenty on
hand,
But l left it down on the Rio Grande;
The fact is, old boy, the stuff is SO poor,
l don't think you could use il in hell
any more"
But the devil went down to look at the
truck,
And said if it came as a gift he was
stuck;
For after examining it carefully and
WE'LL
He concluded the place was too dry
for hell.
So in order to get it off Of his hands,
The Lord promised the devil to water
the lands;
For he had some water-or, rather
some dregs-
A regular cathartic, and smelled like
bad eggs.
Hence the deal was closed and deed
was given,
And the Lord went back to his home
in Heaven.
And the devil then said: Il have all
that is needed
To make good hell" and hence he
succeeded.
He began to put thorns on all of the
trees,
And mixed up the sand with millions
of feas,
And scattered tarantulas along all the
roads,
Put thorns on the cactus and horns on
the toads.
He heightened the horns on the Texas
steers,
And put an addition on the rabbits
ears;
He put little devil in the bronco
steed,
And poisoned the feet Of the centipede.
The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion
stings,
The mosquito delights you with buzz
zing wings;
The sand buus prevail and so the ants,
And those who sit down need half soles
on their pants.
The devil then said that thruout the
land
He'd manage to keep up the devils
own brand,
And all would be mavericks unless
they bore
Marks of scratches and bites and thorns
by the score.
The heat in the summer is 10
Too hot for the devil and too hot for
men.
The wild boar roams thru the black
chapparal,
It's hell Of place he has for hell.