The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 28
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
together. Along with Father came numerous other Confed-
erates, many of whom had known Grandfather as Colonel Young
after the Mexican War, and as it proved confusing to have two
General Youngs living under one roof, Grandfather was forced
by common consent to retire to the title of Colonel and Father
continued to be known as General Young by his comrades in
arms, who formed the principal men of San Antonio.
Grandfather's seventy-five slaves had been emancipated, his
plantations in northern Texas, with no laborers, had to be sac-
rificed, and when he arrived in San Antonio it was to start
life anew. Enterprising and energetic, he soon amassed consid-
erable means.
Father had intended to study law after getting his M. A. at
the university, but this plan had been cut short by the war. He
determined to study law in the office of one of the best law
firms in San Antonio, but his military reputation and rank led
to his being treated so deferentially by his instructors that his
study of law and admission to the bar came much too easily
and he was not as well grounded as he should have been (so
he said).
One of the enterprises in which Grandfather was engaged was
the organization of the first transportation system between San
Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico. Great wagon trains of prairie
schooners, each drawn by a team of about fourteen mules, trav-
eled across the prairies in groups of one hundred for self-
protection. My father's half-brother Newton told me of an
exciting time he had when captaining one of these trains.
Smoke rising over a hill warned him that Indians had attacked
and set fire to wagons preceding him. Uncle Newton threw
his wagon train into a circle with the teams inside and the
wagons abutting each other. Boxes and bales were thrown
beneath the wagons to form a barricade, and a post of com-
mand was similarly made in the center. Before long some five
hundred Comanches surrounded them, but as a good number of
the Indians were killed, they kept at a respectful distance, and
finally disappeared without charging the circle of wagons.
After some years there was a good deal of money owing, and
Father was sent to Mexico to collect it. His diary of the trip
is interesting, particularly his description of the officers of
Maximilian, who then ruled Mexico. The debts, amounting to
$20,000, were paid in gold dust and nuggets. Father had been28
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/34/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.