The Texas Almanac for 1867 with Statistics, Descriptive and Biographical Sketches, etc., Relating to Texas. Page: 96
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96 TEXAS ALMANAC.
timbers of the county. Post-oak is the best building material. Plenty of
butter, cheese, milk, eggs, and poultry is easily had. Hogs breed and raise
themselves upon the mast of the cross-timbers, and bacon is easily saved with
proper attention. The population is gradually increasing. Life and property
would be perfectly safe, were it not for the occasional raids of Indians
through the county, when they steal and drive off all the horses and cattle
they can collect. Jefferson, Marion county, is the market-town for this and
the adjoining counties, the only mode of transportation being ox-wagons.
Mustang grapes are found in abundance upon the banks and bottoms of Red
river, and a fine wine is produced from them. The price of unimproved lands
upon Red river is from $3 to $5 per acre ; improved, $8 and $10, according to
the tract and improvements. Land lying off and at a distance from the river
can be bought at a much lower price. There are few freedmen in the county,
but there being no "Bureau" in the vicinity, they do as well as could be ex-
pected. Their number is falling off, owing to their emigration to Missouri.
All the varieties of fruits and vegetables common to the temperate zone do
well in this county.
CoRYELL Co rY.--(By John Armstrong, Rep.)
COt-T-SEAT, GATEvILLE.--There are no colleges in our county, but
common-schools in almost every neighborhood, as well as churches. The
Baptist, Methodist, .Cumberland Presbyterian, and Christian are the principal
denominations. No minerals, mineral springs, or iron yet found. Coal,
specimens of which I have seen, is found on Cowhouse creek, in the
south-eastern part of the county. It is probably lignite. Corn, wheat, rye,
oats, and barley are the agricultural products. The climate is fine, the soil
generally very good, and the seasons generally very dry. Timber, in some
parts of the county, is very scarce. Along the Leon river, which runs through
the county from west to east, timber is plenty. No railroads. Very little
cotton is raised. Crops generally are very good-better this year than an
average. Pasturage is fine the greater part of the year. Cattle, horses, and
sheep all do well. Wood for fuel is more easily obtained than good fencing
timber. Post-oak and cedar (mountain cedar) is the most lasting timber we
have, in many places. There is great abundance of fine stone for building
fences and dwelling-houses. Butter, milk, and cheese can all be had during
the spring and summer months, eggs and poultry the year round, in the
greatest abundance, with ordinary care. , Hogs do well, if fed occasionally;
during protracted droughts they sometimes suffer for want of water, and re-
quire feeding. I often see as fine bacon in my county as I ever saw in
Tennessee. It is sometimes troublesome to save it; but it can generally be
done, with proper care and attention. Our population is increasing slowly.
Life and property are secure, except from Indian depredations. They occa-
sionally come into the southern and western parts of the county. The home
market is the chief, except for horses, mules, and beeves; these are driven,
north and east, into other States. No settled price on lands. Very little
trading in that line. Improved lands are worth, perhaps, $8 or $10 per
acre, while unimproved lands may be purchased at from $1 to $3. Average
crops of corn, say twenty bushels to the acre; wheat, twelve or fifteen
bushels to the acre. A good hand will cultivate twenty acres of corn and
twenty of wheat. We had but few negroes, and many of them have left. A
very few remain with their old masters. Some wander about, hiring occa-
sionally, and changing employers frequently. Very few are faithful as
laborers. Our people generally do their own' work. Many would prefer to
hire white laborers, if they could be had. Very few such laborers can be
fnund among us. I think farmers generally have very little disposition to
contract with the freedmen for the coming year. .We do not raise vegetables
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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/m1/98/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.