The Junior Historian, Volume 3, Number 1, September 1942 Page: 1
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* THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
*
VOL. III, No. I AUSTIN, TEXAS SEPTEMBER, 1942
GOOD-BYE, CEDAR MILLS
By JANE COMBS
Whitesboro High SchoolS .7OU know, Aunt Sophia, I think
the solution to my problem is
land. This loose foot of mine
has brought me half around the world,
with not so much as a copper cent or one
good friend to my credit. Excepting
you, of course. And to your kindness
and care I am indebted for my very
life."
William Pitts, .a lanky, black-haired,
black-eyed English lad was indulging
himself in the sweetest of all luxuries,
day-dreaming aloud to a sympathetic
listener. He was convalescing after a
long siege of "slow fever," and, in
truth, he. did owe his very life to the
skillful and patient nursing of Aunt
Sophia Porter, the mistress of Glen
Eden, a fine old mansion on the bank
of Red River near Preston Bend, fa-
mous for its hospitality in the early
years of Grayson County.
"Maybe you are right, son. I've seen
many a fine young fellow drift through
Glen Eden, up and down Preston Road
during the last twenty years. Some are
now fine upstanding citizens and lead-
ers in our state. Some, I suppose, are
still following their dreams. Now what
you need is something to tie your
dreams to. I think land is the very
thing. If you have man-stuff in you,.
land will make you. If you haven't-
well."
William rose, stretched himself to his
full six feet, and backed up to the fire.
"I've just decided I'm not going back
to Mr. Dorchester's counting house in
Sherman. That's a fine genteel job fora fellow who likes it. I don't want to
handle somebody else's money; I want.
to handle my own. I want to own acres
of this rich, virgin soil of Texas. I
want to build a manorhouse like my
father's in Warwick. I want to be a
power and influence among my friends.
I want a family of sons and daughters.
I want to have a part in taming this
ivild Red River valley. Some day
homes, churches, schools will span these
valleys and shadow the hills. I want to
build a home and a community that will
be a center of culture and influence for
this region. Texas will be a great land.
I want to have a part in making it
great."
"Lad, that's a fine pattern for a man.
What you need now- is some fine lass to
share your dreams and to help shoulder
your ambitions. I happen to know of a
block of land up the river a few miles
that you can get. It lies just west of the
mouth of Mineral Creek, a thousand
acres of Red River bottom-and there's
no finer land in the world. It.is bounded
on the north by the river, itself, and on
the south by Big Mineral and a range
of. cedar-covered hills - some fifteen
hundred acres, I think, in the block.
Half of it could be cultivated. A bunch
of steers pastured on that grass in the
bottom will bring top price on any
northern market. The owner of it has
gone back to his rocking chair in a
Missouri chimney corner. S'pose we
ride over and look at it."
In the due course of time, William'
Pitts acquired' title to this tract of fif-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 3, Number 1, September 1942, periodical, September 1942; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391420/m1/3/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.