The Texas Almanac for 1867 with Statistics, Descriptive and Biographical Sketches, etc., Relating to Texas. Page: 66
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o TEXAS A IANAC.
and also in the western part of Lampasas county, where sufficient salt for the
wants of the country is made.
In the Geological Rooms at Austin, previous to the late war, were speci-
mens of gold, silver, copper, and lead, obtained by casual explorers in the
western and north-western parts of the State. Those of gold and silver have
been taken away, but there still remain in the cabinet rich specimens of cop-
per and lead from those regions. Geological indications and these specimens
lead us to confidently predict that those portions of the-State have vast mine-
ral wealth. Our extensive lignite and bituninous coal-beds and bituminous
springs in various sections of the State, which our limits will not permit us
to notice, also promise large yields of petroleum.
THE GREAT WEST.
Ox our map of Texas will be found, on a smaller scale, the map of " The
Great West "-that is, of all the States and Territories of the United States
between the Mississippi and Mexican Gulf on one side, and the Pacific Ocean
on the other. As it can not be many years before Texas will have various
connections by railroads with those States and Territories, so it is a matter of
deep present interest to every Texan to have correctly presented to his view,
as is done by this map, all those States and Territories, the relations they
bear. to one another, and the distances between them. It will be seen at a
glance that a railroad connecting Houston and Galveston with St. Louis, Cairo,
and the important intermediate points, will run nearly due north. It is,
indeed, but a very short time since our people have been forced to contem-
plate this gigantic enterprise, and there are even now many who can scarcely
realize the fact that Texas is thus to be connected, by a continuous railway,
with St. Louis and the other great cities west of the Mississippi, and also,
through the Illinois Central Railroad, with the great lakes and all the North-
ern and Eastern States. It is, however, even so. That great connecting link
is now in progress, and has been for years past, although we knew it not.
The Houston Central, even if we have no other road at this end, must form a
part of that great connecting link, while there have been in progress for
years past several roads coming from Missouri and Kansas in this direction,
that wiR complete the chain at that end. Such a connecting chain of roads
from the chief Texas marts of trade, giving uninterrupted communication
from the Gulf of Mexico to the great lakes and the great eastern cities of
New-York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc., will do more to increase, the population
and wealth of Texas than all other improvements combined. The question
simply is, "Will the people of Texas consent tobe taxed, or to tax themselves,
to a very moderate amount, say from one quarter to one per cent, for the pur-
pose of expediting this great enterprise, and thereby enhancing the value of
their property from ten to fifty-fold its present value ? Or shall we continue
to make the plea that we are too poor even to give the one hundredth part of
what we have, and thereby perpetuate our poverty ? If Texans can not par-
ticipate in the spirit of progress that marks the present age, they had better
sell out to those who have some enterprise, and not cause our great State to
lie any longer a clog to the wheels of progress.
By reference to this map of the Great West, it will be seen that Texas
extends to within a short distance (about fifty miles) of Colorado, or the cele-
brated Pike's Peak gold-mining territory, whose products of the precious
metals have of late years almost rivaled those of California. It will readily be
seen that the natural outlet from this El Dorado to the balance of the world
is through Texas to the Mexican Gulf. When the Houston Central Railroad
shall have reached Preston, on Red river, it will have passed over about half
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The Glaveston News. The Texas Almanac for 1867 with Statistics, Descriptive and Biographical Sketches, etc., Relating to Texas., book, December 1866; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123772/m1/68/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.