The Texas Almanac for 1872, and Emigrant's Guide to Texas. Page: 65
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NLA ND COAST NAVIGATION. 65
south to near San Antonio, Austin, aJd New Braunfels, and giving rise to
several streams, as the San Marcos, Guadalupe and San Antonio. Between
these ranges are many fertile valleys, some of which are rich and beautiful
in the extreme, the adjacent lands being often too rocky for cultivation.
In many instances the mountains are covered with cedar, a most valuable
timber for fencing.
Beyond, or west of the mountain ranges, the Indians are the sovereigns
of the soil at present, and for many years they have harrassed the
settlements in the "Cross Timbers," and when protection will be given
against them seems still as much a matter of doubt as ever. The frontier
settlements have suffered terribly from them, and the most terrible atroci-
ties are annually perpetrated, almost with impunity.
All the timbered portion of Northern Texas produces the same products
as the timbered country further east. The cotton grower, the wool grower,
the horse and the stock raiser, all succeed, either on a large or small scale,
according to their means. Those residing in this region contend that it is
the paradise of the poor man, while the Western Texans claim that pre-
rogative for their country. We will not decide between them, but can bear
testimony to the fact that men "live easy" and accumulate wealth in either
section, in a shorter time than can be done in any country we have ever
seen. The wheat region embraces properly that portion of this section lying
east of the " Cross Timbers." The soil is black, sticky prairie land of great
fertility, producing in ordinary seasons twenty bushels of wheat to the
acre. All the usual labor-saving implements are used by the wheat grow-
ers. Of late years the wheat has not produced as well, owing, as is thought
by some, to a want of change in the seed. All this section is said to be
more densely settled than any other portion of the State. Nearly all the
products grown in the United States succeed well here. Stock can only be
raised to a limited extent, because the range is restricted by the cultivated
fields. The Osage orange abounds here. Water is scarce. There are very
few springs and streams in this otherwise fine country. This want is gen-
erally supplied by cisterns, as in our seaboard towns, and the want of
springs and streams is scarcely felt. The scarcity of timber is another draw-
back, but the farmers say it is cheaper to haul the fine pine fencingtimber
one hundred miles, which will last twenty years, than to use inferior tim-
ber, close at hand, which may not last over five or six years. The climate
is considered healthful, though all the prairie country of Texas is subject
to the Northers of winter, occurring at intervals from November to March.
But the prairies of Texas are unsurpassed for health-by any portion of the
world. The general character of the society will compare favorably with
that in any part of the Union. Schools are within the reach of every
neighborhood, and every family can attend a church without having to go
an inconvenient distance.
INLAND NAVIGATION.
DIRECT AND CHEAP TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN THE SEA COAST AND RIVER
TOWNS OF TEXAS AND THE WESTERN, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN STATES.
BY P. H. IAmonn, (formerly of Texas.)
Inland steamboat navigation between the waters of the Mississippi valley
and the harbors and fivers of Texas, in connection with the same character
of navigation along the Gulf coast east of the Mississippi river, was one of
the most important propositions brought before the late Commercial Con-
vention of Cincinnati.
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The Texas Almanac for 1872, and Emigrant's Guide to Texas., book, 1872~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123777/m1/81/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.