The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 494
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
monotony. This is a "country of magnificent distances," especially
between water, and the herder must live with his sheep. Took my
breakfast of venison, bread and coffee shortly after the whole party
assembled, including the Dutchman, our hunter, who had killed
nothing.
Thursday, Jan. 1. New Year. And I hope it may be a happy one,
but if this morning is a sample it will be miserable. I got letters
from home. No news, except Bullis is here and we will be ready to
start on the 3d instant. Fruits of our five day hunt, 8 deer, i turkey,
1 coon. Bought a baldfaced Spanish pony this evening, price $25-
I expect he will break my neck but I am tired of riding in the wagon
at the rate of 2 miles an hour.
Monday, Jan. 5. Fessenden and I went to town, called on Bullis
who is busy preparing to move. Dined in town in company with F.
and Woods & two hard looking "nymphs du pave" at a table d'hote
restaurant. A miserable dinner it was and the company (excepting
Fessenden of course) still more wretched.
On January 6, the column, long delayed, pulled out and struck
camp that night on Sycamore Creek. The country was full of
water and the wagons sank to the hubs. Bullis arrived and camped
with his Seminole Scouts nearby. The next night they camped
at San Felipe Spring, one of the major springs which issued from
the Edwards Plateau and flows a short distance into the Rio
Grande. The town, since renamed Del Rio, had at that time a
population of fifty living along the river. The next night they
camped on the Devil's River. Duval reported
The stream has cut its way through the limestone hills which
everywhere tower up two or three hundred feet. Most are bare except
for "saw grass" and "Jaggers" here and there, with an occasional
Spanish dagger, which at a distance look[s] like a solitary sentinel.
Here at the crossing are the ruins of an old stone "mail station"
which in years gone by served more than once as a fort for the
beleagured mail men. This was a famous Indian crossing. At one
time "Big Foot Wallace" was employed with a scout of ten men to
patrol the road and he had several severe engagements in this vicinity
with the "hostiles." Now, however, the Indians rarely come so far
east. Year by year, "Poor Lo" is being pushed farther and farther
West by the restless Saxon, and the Mexican herder is taking his place
and the peaceful sheep that of his congener, the buffalo. We had a
damp misty night and I was awakened at one-half-past 5 in the morn-
ing by Hollis sticking his nose out of the tent door, with the remark,
"It is a Scotch mist."494
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/554/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.