The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 283

Notes and Documents

"Rather than surrender our rights and liberties . . we will strike
a blow for freedom of speech and the honest citizens of Wilbarger
County, even though our life pays the forfeit before the sun sets
tonight."
The frontier editor, then, was an unusually outspoken cham-
pion of the people. He was also a booster of the community in
which he lived and published his paper. The Comanche Chief
offered a good example with this short chamber-of-commerce item:
"Comanche is too near Brownwood to ever make a large town,"
says the Brownwood Banner. The people of Comanche would not
know where Brownwood was if it was not for the fact that the citizens
over there did their wholesale buying in our town.3
Finally, the frontier editor was a historian, whether or not he
realized it. He was a chronicler of a period and of a way of life
which are gone forever.
The Georgetown Watchman was especially good in keeping up
with what is called the Cattle Kingdom in its early years. That
newspaper reported in 1867: "When the war broke out, Texas
had only 3,000,000 cattle; now it is said to have 12,000,000 head."'4
Later that same year the newspaper ran another significant story.
Northern capitalists are now turning their attention to the impor-
tance of our Texas cattle being driven into their country, and we may
expect sale for every marketable hoof we have in the Spring; thus
throwing an immense capital into our hands, which is only needed
for the future greatness of our country in point of internal improve-
ment: for the people have the will if they can only command the
means.5
Cattle were worth somewhere around $3 a head in the Lone
Star State in those lean days, but even at that price there were few
willing or able to buy. On northern and eastern markets cattle
usually brought ten times as much. Texas cattlemen began driv-
ing their stock north to the railroads. From there they could be
shipped to eastern markets.
Cattle raising was immediately a profitable venture, and more
2Albany Star, August 24, 1883.
SComanche Chief, June 12, 1879.
4Georgetown Watchman, April 3, 1867.
bIbid., August 24, 1867.

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