The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929 Page: 116
361 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Hiistorical Quarterly
Kentucky do the same kind of thing, and their wrath fairly
blazed."' It is not strange that those who persistently insisted
upon singing the praises of the country, regardless of whether
they were motivated by local patriotism or personal interests,
would oppose any movement to discredit their cause. Nothing
could have done more to substantiate the rumors circulating out
of the state than to put on a relief campaign.
The fourth factor which added to the controversy was the an-
tipathy of a certain class of cattlemen for the small farmer,
"nester" as he was contemptuously called. This class represented
the most unscrupulous cattlemen, and, in justice to the others, it
may be said that they constituted a minority. These men opposed
any kind of aid for the farmers, because they wanted to starve
them out.48 They looked upon the settler as a sort of pest which
was steadily advancing westward and ruining the only industry
which the Creator ever intended for West Texas, namely, cattle
raising. They grimly viewed the drouth as a blessing just as the
Texas farmer today rejoices over a blizzard sufficiently cold to
freeze the boll weevil. Although the cattlemen suffered severely
from the drouth, their plight was not near so bad as that of the
farmers. The range to the west and northwest was open. They
could drift their herds over great expanses in search of the scanty
grass, mesquite beans, and water holes filled by local showers.
Even though they lost fifty per cent of the cattle, and many of
them did, they still had something left. That was more than the
average farmer had. A comparatively small number of cattlemen
wielded an influence far out of proportion to their numbers in
defeating outside drouth relief."
"The following item, with the emphatic comment, was no worse than
the local editors frequently published:
"The drouth in Texas is so intense that potatoes are cooked in the
ground, and all the people had to do is dig and eat them. The workmen
carry salt in their pockets and don't have to go home for dinner."-
Bourbon News, Kentucky.
"If that don't take the cake! The writer of the above can beat the
'Father of Liars.' "-Albany News, August 12, 1886.
"STaylor County News, March 11, 1887.
"An idea of the methods used by these cattlemen may be had from
the following extract from a letter from the Rev. John Brown published
in the Albany News, October 7, 1887:
"I am told the papers in Texas are charging me with exaggeration
when presenting the claims of the poor farmers of Northwest Texas.
Well, I shall be glad to learn authoritatively that I am. It will afford116
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 32, July 1928 - April, 1929, periodical, 1929; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101089/m1/120/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.