The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 505
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Cunninghame Graham in Texas
after turning loose on the range their newly acquired drove of
horses, and after building corrals and a rough ranch house, the
partners returned one day from a provisioning trip to San
Antonio to find the house and corrals burned to the ground, the
horses driven off by the Indians, and the Mexican hands, who
had been left on guard, hiding in the brush. Don Roberto had
used his entire remaining capital in stocking the ranch, and
the theft of his horses and the destruction of his ranch improve-
ments left him penniless.
He rode back to San Antonio and broke the news of this
latest disaster to his wife. Determined to make their way with-
out calling for help from Scotland, the pair now found jobs as
clerks in a San Antonio store. To a restless spirit accustomed
to life in the open, routine work and regular hours soon became
unbearable. With money they had saved at their jobs, Don
Roberto sent his wife to New Orleans where she found a teach-
ing job, while he joined up with an outfit driving cattle from
Mexico into Texas. During the whole of the year 1882 he drifted
from job to job. Some months were passed on an extended
buffalo-hunting expedition to the Texas plains country, and on
one of his jaunts through the western part of the state he met
up with Buffalo Bill at Horsehead Crossing on the Pecos River.
Being an expert horseman, he was not averse to taking a job
breaking and gentling mustangs. He wandered as far west as
New Mexico and Arizona, for he was a tireless rider, and, with
his wife safely settled in civilized New Orleans, he was free to
roam the country at will.
Occasional visits to San Antonio were made during the year.
The San Antonio Evening Light of June 30, 1882, carries a
column of personal news dated from Garza's Crossing on the
Medina River, in which appears the following significant para-
graph:
Spence, Jay Gould's right-of-way man in Mexico, gives an account of
his scientific railroad labors, and the diabolical mismanagement of his farm
on the Atascosa. Alec Cass stops and relates stories of desperados in the
Pecos country from which he has just returned. A young Scotchman speaks
of the endurance of his Buenos Ayres horses in comparison with the Texas
stock. [Italics mine.]
Judged solely by the subject discussed, it is highly probable
that the "young Scotchman" was Don Roberto himself. There
is some internal evidence indicating that he was the author of
this and other Garza's Crossing columns which appeared in505
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/588/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.