The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 356
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
These shingles were hewn by hand and transported by wagon.2*
They found a ready sale in the other settlements, and by return-
ing with supplies for the camp, Leakey soon built up a profitable
freighting business.26 Frio Town was built with lumber from John
Leakey's mill. It was not uncommon to find cypress trees that
measured eight and ten feet in diameter." Later a sawmill, which
was run by a water wheel, was built where Spice Wood Springs
is now located.28
J. W. Burditt bought land about a mile north of Leakey on
the Frio River from George Leakey, a son of John Leakey. He
purchased 32o acres, paying $2 an acre for level land and $1 an
acre for mountain country, a high price in that day. There were
many large stumps along the river when Burditt settled there in
1882. In 1961 two of the largest cypress trees in Texas were located
on the ranch. One measured nearly sixty feet around the base.
A dense thicket that ran from the West Prong to the present
Jack Auld ranch occupied what is now extremely fertile farm
and pasture land. It was about one-half mile wide and wild ani-
mals, including black bear-weighing as much as two hundred
pounds-were killed there.
Located on the Burditt ranch is Camp Cypress where the re-
mains of an old Indian mound can be seen. The Indians took
rocks from the Frio River and heated them to cook on. After
cracking from use, the rocks were thrown on the mound which
is quite large. Tourists have dug several feet into the mound look-
ing for Indian treasure.29
John Leakey, the grandson of a soldier who served under
George Washington in the American Revolution, was born in
Warren County, Tennessee, in 1824.-0 John Leakey had thirteen
prominent wounds in front of his body from his knees to the top
25Leakey, Grandad and I, 16.
26Ibid.
27Florence Fenley, Oldtimers of Southwest Texas (Uvalde, 1957), 191.
28Grace Lewis to B.A.C., signed statement, April 19, 1960.
29John J. Burditt to B.A.C., signed statement, April 1o, 196o (MS., in possession
of the writer).
30A. J. Stowell, Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas (Austin,
9goo), 612-619.352
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/402/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.