Texian Stomping Grounds Page: 75
162 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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RANCHO BUENA VISTA
Upon the appearance of the fourth dollar, Dofia Simona said,
"Sim6n, you have found a cache of money off in the brush some-
where. Don't be a fool; bring it in where I can care for it for
you. If you don't, some other wandering shepherd will come
and rob you of what you have found."
The man declared that he had found no cache, only those
four dollars. Simona let the declaration pass. After all, the money
was his, and if he wished to lose it, the worry was his, not hers.
A few weeks later, in the spring of 1900, one of Simona's children
fell ill, and she had to depart for Laredo, expecting to be gone
for a few days. She was gone several months. She had left hur-
riedly and had not paid her servants. When she returned, she
found Sim6n Prieto gone. He had taken a horse and a rifle from
the ranch, but no money. At a ranch to the south he had stopped
and bought provisions and cartridges for the gun and paid with
money from a well-filled purse. He never appeared to collect
his year's wages. How did a poor shepherd get so much money,
save through a cache of buried coin?
Long before, between 1882 and 1892, there lived on another
ranch near the Chihuahua an old couple named Buitr6n. He was
a doddering old soul who left the management of affairs to his
wife, a miserly woman who hoarded every penny that came their
way. They had herds of goats, sheep, and cattle upon which they
realized money every year. After buying meager provisions and
still more meager clothing, she hid the remaining money some-
where on the ranch, but she would never tell her husband where
the money was hidden. She promised year after year to do so.
"When I come to die," she would say, "I'll tell you where the
money is, but not before."
For fifteen years or more the two lived thus frugally. Sud-
denly, the old woman died one night of a colic and had no
opportunity to reveal the hiding place of her life savings. The
old man spent all the remaining years of his life digging around
the house, trying to find the money, and all to no avail. He had
the chimney torn down and the kitchen demolished; he had the
door-yard honeycombed with excavations. But he never found
a penny. To this day the money lies buried somewhere on the
ranch.75
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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/m1/83/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.