Texian Stomping Grounds Page: 7
162 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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ON THE JEFFERSON ROAD
already by, with four wagons in his train. One looked forward
to meeting friends and having fun at the camp grounds along
the Jefferson Road. Now had come the picnic season of the
year.
The utter turmoil and confusion of the first dogfight crossing
was not a picnic, however, with the snarling of fighting dogs,
the restless horses, the sweating, tragic-eyed Negro boys in the
brush, each hugging an angry, beloved, but useless hound, lest
it break loose and be chewed-up in the fray, with the older men
wading into the fights with blacksnake whips, letting the fur
fly with impartial cracks, with dogs that had broken free under
the cruel lash and dashed into the brush with tail between legs,
now stalking back, bristles raised and again full of fight. Only
after all of this was behind him could a novice begin to feel him-
self a veteran of the Jefferson Road.
At camps on the Jefferson Road many ex-soldiers who had
been comrades in arms met for the only time each year. The
wooded creek bottoms, where camp was made, would ring with
the repeated battle cry of the Third Texas, "SORGHUMSEED I"
This famous yell was wished on the Third Texas while in
winter quarters at Tupelo, Mississippi. Some of its men, men
who had been long waterbound in Arkansas, were gifted in the
art of concocting a very powerful beverage from lowly sorghum-
seed. It has been said that a member of the Third Texas, when
properly under its influence, could pronounce "SORGHUM-
SEED" in a tone and volume of voice which would carry five
miles on a still, frosty night.
III
The camps on the Jefferson Road were a good deal like those
of war days. Only men were around them. Each fire roared
warmth and hospitality. Here one, there another, beyond a
third and fourth, with the shadowy trunks of tall trees in be-
tween. And still farther down the creek bottom could be seen
only the glow of the fires against the great limbs and branches
overhead.
The woods were filled with the clatter of camping at night:
the loud peals of laughter; the calls of one man to another;7
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Texian Stomping Grounds (Book)
Collection containing sketches of post-war life in East Texas, including descriptions of early recreations and games, stories about Southern food and cooking, religious anecdotes, Negro folk tales, a first-hand account of a Negro folk play about the life of Christ, and other miscellaneous folklore. The index begins on page 159.
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Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964. Texian Stomping Grounds, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67663/m1/15/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.