The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995 Page: 521
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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"This Wonder Age"
on machinery, new marketing and distribution patterns, the shrinking
importance and size of villages, and even limited crop diversification
were commonplace.
Using a Texas example to explain a southern phenomenon always
raises questions about that example's applicability to a larger area. At a
minimum, however, the eleven counties in the northeast corner of
Texas that are the focal point of this study were typical of adjacent areas
of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. During the 1920S, for in-
stance, in a rectangular area bounded by Palo Pinto, Texas, at the south-
west corner, Natchitoches, Louisiana, at the southeast corner,
Arkadelphia, Arkansas, at the northeast corner, and Lawton, Oklahoma,
at the northwest corner about 65 of 85 counties or parishes lost popula-
tion. Ten of the eleven Northeast Texas counties were among the losers.
The Red River did not divide the economy and society of the region. It
was, however, a political boundary, and that perhaps increased the eco-
nomic opportunities available to the residents of Northeast Texas. Still,
political dissimilarity characterized southern states. As much as any oth-
er region, Northeast Texas was typical of the Red River area and in some
ways of the entire cotton-growing section of the South.5
Perhaps the halting and uneven nature of change veiled the econom-
ic transformation of Northeast Texas. Change occurred in three distinct
chronological phases. From about 1902 to 1914 increased railroad con-
struction, exploitation of timber resources, changes in the production
and marketing of cotton, and greater availability of credit initiated eco-
nomic change. Migration from the older sections of the South moved
westward and some farmers began experiments with alternatives to cot-
ton as access to markets improved. From 1914 to 1920o the price of land,
cotton, and labor shot upward. Experiments with new crops stopped in
most counties, but increasing mechanization and the use of migrant la-
bor accelerated the rate of change. New markets and job opportunities
on the fringe of the region expanded faster than ever. From 1920 to the
early i930s unprecedented price volatility increased the risk of growing,
financing, and marketing cotton. Land owners sought greater efficiency
and productivity from labor by using more sharecroppers and seasonal
workers. Farmers again experimented with alternatives to cotton and
these experiments determined future patterns of economic develop-
ment. Larger towns grew at the expense of smaller towns and villages.
The eleven counties were Bowie, Camp, Cass, Delta, Franklin, Hopkins, Lamar, Marion,
Morris, Red River, and Titus. Also see U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United
States: 1930o. Population (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1931), I, 1058-1o62.
On political differences between southern states in this time period see Dewey W. Grantham,
Southern Progressivism The Reconciliation of Progress and Tradition (Knoxville: University of Ten-
nessee Press, 1983).1995
521
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98, July 1994 - April, 1995, periodical, 1995; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101216/m1/591/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.