The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 447
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A Historiography of Reconstruction in Texas
Even admitting a loss in land values, the available evidence unveils
a picture, not of "great economic impoverishment," but rather of
a developing economic prosperity unparalleled in Texas history. In
reality, Texas was little disturbed by war; her cotton, cattle, unsettled
land, and natural resources became the foundation for a healthy,
diversified economy that expanded rapidly until the Panic of 1873.
Even the 1865 flight to Mexico of a small but influential number
of Texans, carrying with them a considerable amount of capital,5"
did not seriously affect the state's economy.
Vera Lee Dugas' compilation of economic data on "Texas Industry,
i860-188o," from the United States Census returns provides an initial
examination of Texas' postwar economy. Miss Dugas cites, for ex-
ample, the rapid growth of industry in Texas during the late 186o's.
Factories more than doubled, and the value of their products rose
from $6,500,000 to $11,500,000. Most of this industrial expansion
came at the height of military and Radical rule."6
The rise of the Cattle Kingdom was a major, if not primary, reason
for Texas' prosperity. "Texas in 1865 was a vast reservoir fairly
overflowing with . .. fat cattle which were worthless at home but
of great value in the North and East," writes Edward Everett Dale,
in his colorful history of The Range Cattle Industry. He demon-
strates that cattle provided Texas, in the two decades of 1865-1886,
with great wealth, stimulating related industries, immigration, and
a lawlessness born of greed. ' Seth Shepard McKay also comments that
"some remarkable profits were made in Texas at farming and stock-
raising during the E. J. Davis regime.""
Even those alleged "excessive costs" for military and Radical gov-
ernments were returned to Texas with handsome interest in the
form of federal gifts, subsidies, improvements, frontier defense, and
federal payrolls."
52William Curtis Nunn, Escape from Reconstruction (Fort Worth, 1956), describes the
flight of this influential band. Shook, "David Irvin," 123.
53Vera Lea Dugas, "Texas Industry, 1860-1880," Southwestern Historical Quarterly,
LIX (October, 1955), 151-183.
'4Edward Everett Dale, The Range Cattle Industry (Norman, 1930), 14; see also ibid.,
33-43, 102-121. Nowhere does Dale mention any adverse influence upon ranching from
Radical Reconstruction.
55McKay, "Economic Conditions," 92. Tom Lea, The King Ranch (2 vols.; Boston,
1957), I, 236-260, is the record of one of those "remarkable profits." The postwar career
of Richard King is illustrative of financial opportunities open to unrepentant rebels.
Threats to King's rapidly rising fortunes in Rio Grande transport and in cattle came,
not from Radical government, but from competing businessmen and from cattle rustlers.
5"Shook, "Federal Military," 19-20, 25-26, 44.447
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/519/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.