The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 531
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
There are no trees upon the river, the growth is principally
brush wood and small mesquite, at some points wood will be
scarce. The crossing of the Pecos has been used for many years
by the Indians. The banks are low, bottom firm and hard, and
the water more shallow than at any point touched by the road,
yet the depth is too great for fording, and a good ferryboat will
be requisite.
On the Eastern bank there are more hills and large lakes:-and
all great bends are on that side-therefore I consider the Western
bank preferable, in this I was confirmed from the fact that an
old trail much used by the Mexicans and Indians passed down
that side.
On the 18th I camped all night with Captain Duval's Com-
pany of Californians:-he hired Mr. Johnson, who was returning
with my party to San Antonio, to guide him to El Paso, on the
23rd I fell in with a citizen train of 45 Wagons commanded by
Captain Tong, of Seguin, who engaged John Harry as a guide.
On the 24th I moved with Captain Murchison of Langrange
[sic], in the command of 40 men and a small train.
On the 27th, I met Captain Smith's Company from Houston.
on the 29th I found the P. F. Smith association, and a company of
Tennesseeans, encamped 15 miles below the old San Saba fort,
they took Mr. D. C. Sullivan into pay as guide. The emigrant
road diverges from the proper course at the Green Mounds,
crosses the head of Lipan Camp creek, Good Spring Creek, and
the boiling fork, strikes the head of the San Saba, follows the
valley, crosses over to the Llano and thence to Fredericksburgh.
I determined to follow and examine this route, and found it
broken and rocky in places, and not well watered in summer,
besides been too far south- I made Fredericksburgh on the 31st
May and San Antonio on the 2nd June: being 27 days from El
Paso, five of which I did not travel.
There is no portion of the route I cannot represent as possess-
ing an adequate supply of water at all seasons, except it be from
the head of the Cincho to the Pecos, a distance of 60 miles, and
there are four water holes known to be upon it with water enough
for all purposes; should these fail in the hot Summer months, the
difficulty can be easily obviated by sinking wells in the valley
running up from the Cincho to within 35 miles of the Pecos, in531
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/573/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.