The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1917-05-03
CHAPTER ".
3
At Las Palmas.


Although the lower counties Of
southwest Texas are flat and badly
watcred. they possess rich soil. They
are favored, too. by Il kindly climate,
subtropic in It's mildncss. The Rio |
Grande. jaundiced. erratc as an in |
valid. wringS It's saffron blood from the |
clay bluffs and gravel canyons Of the
hill country but near It's estuary winds |
quietly through low coastal plain
which the very impurities Of that blood
have ltchened. Here the rivers banks
are snl0thered In thickets of huisnche,
ebony, mesquite, oak and alamo.
Railroads. are so scarce along this
division Of the border that to travel
from Brownsville north along the in
ternationnl line one must, for several
hundred miles, avail oneself Of horses,
mules or mOtOrCnrs since rail trunspor-
tation Is almost lacking. And on his
way the traveller will traverse whole
counties where the houses are jacalS,
where English Is Il foreign tongue, and
where poems plow their fields with
crooked sticks as did the ancient
Egyptians.
That pnrt Of the state which lies
below the Nueces river was for time
disputed territory, and long after Tex
ans had given their lives to drive the
eagle of Mexico across the Rio Grandc
much Of it remained u forbidden land.
Even today it is alien. 1t Is q part Of
our Southland, but Il South different
to any other that we have. Within 1T
there are no blacks, and yet the whites
number but one in twenty. The rest
are swarthy. black haired men who
| speak the Spanish tongue and whose
! citizenship is mostly Il matter Of form.
| The stockmrn, pushing ahead of the
ncstcrs and the tillers Of the soil, were
| the first to invade the lower Rio
Grande, and among these "Old Ed"
Austin was pioneer. Like the other
cattle barons. he was hungry for land
and TOOK it where or how he could
Those were crude old days; the pio-
ncrrS who pushed their herds into the
far pastures were lawless fellows, ruth
less. acquistive. mastered by the en-
pirc-bulldcr'S urge for acres and still
more acres.
AS other ranches grew under the
hands OF such unregcnerate owners, so
also under "Old Ed" Austin's manage
ment did Las Palmas increase and
prosper 1t comprised an expnnse Of
rich river-land backed by miles Of
range where BOX A" cattle lived and
bred. In his later years when the old
man handed Las Palmns to his son,
Young Ed" as a wedding gift, the
ranch was known far and wide for it's
size and richness. Las Pamns had
changed greatly since Austin. senior,
! painfully scrawled his santing sigma
ture to- the deed. It was different
ranch now to what the old man had
would have recognized it, for even the
! house was new.
Alaire had some such thought in
mind as she rode up to the gate on
the afternoon following her departure
| from the water hole. and she felt Il
! thrill OF pride at the acres Of sprouting
| corn, the dense green field Of alfalfa
so nicely fitted between their fences.
! They were like clean. green squares of
mating spread for the feet Of summer.
A Mexican boy came running to care
for her horse. Mexican woman greet
| cd her as she entered the wide, cool
hall and went to her room. Dolores
fixed bath and laid out clean clothes
with running accompaniment Of chat
ter concerned with household affairs.
She was great gossip, and possessed
such talent for gaining information
ina! through her husband, Benito, the
range boss. she was able to keep her
mistress IN fairly intimate touch with
ranch matters.
Alalre, as she leisurely dressed her
self acknowledged that 1t was good to
feel the physical comforts OF her own
mousse. even though her homecoming
gave her no especial Joy. She made II
religious practice to dress for dinner
regardless Of Eds presence. though
oSten for weeks at ~ tine sfe sat. ir