The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 69, July 1965 - April, 1966 Page: 465
591 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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but for relaxation I go fishing. Our river, the Llano, is so very full
of fish that you could not imagine it. Many times I have caught
thirty to forty pounds of fish in two hours, so much that we cannot
stand to look at, much less eat, any more fish for a week. Hunting
is also excellent, and I am quite content if I can ride out every
eight or ten days to shoot a buck. This month we are still having
very hot weather (93 F. to 1000 F. in the shade), but next month
it will be cooler, so that we can start working in the fields.7 I will
also attempt to clear our ten acres and the garden of one and one-
half acres., We can make $300 from our field, since we live only
fifteen miles from the fort,0 and up here on the Indian border,
grain and sweet potatoes are sold at very high prices. All the
farmers around here are well-off and have enough money. For the
heavy work, like cutting wood for fences,10 we will hire a worker
for four weeks. Our store is very diverse; we have groceries, dry
goods, hardware, and beverages, and we sell at a profit of 25 per
cent on the average. The old Spanish silver mine has not been
found yet, but soon will be.-1 It is supposed to have existed in
our vicinity. There are minerals in our surroundings in any case,
as can be seen by the formation of the mountain ranges and rocks,
and they will be found in time. This is of very great interest to
us, since we could get rich in a short time.12
One of the main things right now is the railroad which is al-
ready being built from the coast to San Antonio. You cannot imag-
ine how much the land values rise each year. Five years ago, one
had to pay only $1.50 per acre in the vicinity of New Braunfels,
and now one acre costs five to ten dollars. Up here, land is still
cheap, since we live 115 miles from New Braunfels and ioo miles
northwest of San Antonio. In a short time, we will also buy several
hundred acres, just to speculate in land values.? Much land around
sThe area is still sought out by hunters and fishermen and is one of the major
deer hunting sections in Texas.
7Kettner shared a belief held by many Germans, that Europeans were not phys-
ically capable of labor in the "tropical" midday summer heat in Texas.
sKettner was still thinking in terms of European agriculture, with small fields
and the garden plot. Typically European, too, was his double function as store-
keeper and farmer.
'Fort Mason was founded in 1851 on a hill overlooking the present-day town of
Mason, Mason County.
10Kettner used the word Fenzholz instead of the proper German word Zaunholz,
an indication that his vocabulary was already infiltrated with English words.
"For the story of the elusive mine, see: J. Frank Dobie, Coronado's Children
(Dallas, 1930) , 1-61. The mine was not found.
12This area, though called the Central Mineral Region of Texas, has produced
little mineral value.
"SKettner and his partner were somewhat unusual in this respect, as most of
the Germans did not speculate and sought only some land upon which to settle
and make a moderate living.465
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 69, July 1965 - April, 1966, periodical, 1966; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117144/m1/543/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.