The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 80, July 1976 - April, 1977 Page: 67
492 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Steinert's View of Texas
tion for seven of us, two are going to Castroville, two to Fredericksburg,
and the young lady is going to Castell to meet her fiance, Mr. Kothe.21
We men, of course, are proudly making the trip on foot. The endless
meadowland, called prairie over here, is tiring to our eyes. Nowhere did
we see either a tree or a shrub. We tried to quench our thirst from a puddle
of rainwater. Several miles from Indian Point we came upon the farm of a
baron. Like the lady from Hannover on Galveston Island, he had used
neither a carpenter nor a stone mason in the construction of his buildings,
and he lived in want. Not until evening did we see any timber, namely
some trees by Chocolate Creek. Toward evening we had a storm and
continuous rain. Some of us got wet to our skins; others took refuge in a
small frame house by Chocolate Creek. Our supper, which cost twenty-
five cents, was bad.
The clay floor in the house was a hard but dry place for them to sleep.
Those who had to sleep under the wagon were not so lucky, and those
who spent the night under the open sky, exposed to the rain, had the worst
time of it. This morning several of them were not in a talkative mood.
After the rain it became almost unpleasantly cool. The number of wagons
stopping here had increased to eighteen. There were fires on all sides this
morning, and people were brewing their Pentecostal coffee and baking
corn bread. The many groups made a pleasant impression. Everyone was
busy; some were fetching wood; others were breaking it to pieces; some
were keeping the fires burning, and others were tending to the coffee, etc.
There was life and activity everywhere. Even the oxen vied with each other
in searching out the best grass. Since most of the wood was wet, we had
difficulties with the cooking, and the lack of skill on the part of some added
to our difficulties. I, too, was one of those who had to work more than an
hour to prepare the coffee we wanted for breakfast, but I hope things
will go better later.
Upon our arrival at Chocolate Creek we met a large German family
that was returning from the interior of Texas, from the region around
Austin, to go to Indian Point to seek the luck that they had not yet found
elsewhere. Another German family, weavers from New Braunfels, moved
to Indian Point day before yesterday because they could not make a living
in the interior of the country.
21This is Wilhelm Kothe, mentioned also in the June 18 entry as "Mr. Kothe from
Castell." He is listed incorrectly in Geue, New Land, 138, as Wilhelm Rothe, who came
as a single man from Wolfenbiittel, Hannover, in 1846. He appears in Biesele, German
Settlements, I7 ', as William Kothe, one of the original settlers of Cherry Spring, not
far from Castell.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 80, July 1976 - April, 1977, periodical, 1976/1977; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101204/m1/85/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.