The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 249
728 p. : maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Cedar Chopper
River Valley after it had already been settled with a German
population. They were "mostly Anglo-Saxons .., being of the
second or third generation in the United States."1o Charcoal burn-
ers, like cedar choppers, preferred
to work for themselves. To be their own bosses. To be able to
work when they wanted to work, and just be lazy when they felt
like it.
We have often seen the accusing finger being pointed at a cedar
cutter, or charcoal burner, and the word "lazy" tagged on them.
Here is a bit of common sense logic. No matter who you are,
or whatever work you do, if you are working for yourself, you can
afford to be just as lazy as you choose; that is, if you don't mind
starving your family and yourself to death.
So, if the charcoal burners are a lazy lot, as many think, then
you must admit that they likewise have a great capacity to, do
without food, and they do possess self-reliance.11
Toepperwein adds that charcoal burners were family men who
disliked being separated from their children.12 He notes also the
presence of few Negro charcoal burners and hardly more Mex-
icans, who "entered the charcoal burning business rather late"
after the turn of the century. While there were "stories of shoot-
ings, drunks, and disorders in Charcoal City,"14 Toepperwein
praised their character: "Their manner is always polite, and
their voices are soft-reserved like. They generally have their eyes
set on the far horizon, one they have never crossed ... a finer per-
son I never saw."15 Women shared the work with the men. One
grandmother said: "All I ever knowed was hard work, and cutting
cedar. We raised eight children, and never had any kind of sick-
ness. It was a hard battle at times but I am thankful."16 In each
characteristic the charcoal burners of eighty years ago bear a
marked similarity to the cedar choppers of today.
Some older men still burn charcoal, although there is no longer
as ready a market for "coal" as for posts. One man I interviewed
10Ibid., 60.
"1Ibid., 43-
12Ibid.
l"Ibid., 35.
l"Ibid., 48.
"Ibid., 59.
lelbid., 53.249
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/267/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.