The Texarkana Gateway to Texas and the Southwest Page: 73
224 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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lEaetlanb Counts, eCxao.
HIS countv was created in 1858 from
Coryell and Bosque Counties, and
was named in honor of Capt. Wil-
liam M. Eastland, who was murdered
while a prisoner in Mexico. It was
organized in 1873, has 10,373 inhabitants
and contains an area of 909 square miles.
Its property valuations amount to $3,-
395,676; its public schools number 58,
and 69 teachers are employed, the num-
ber of pupils enrolled being 2,708. The
county lies midway between the Colo-
rado and Brazos Rivers. The Texas &
Pacific Railway and the Texas Central
Railway form a junction, at Cisco, a good
business town of 1,000 people near the
center of the county.
Much of the surface of the county is
broken and hilly, the hills being gen-
erally densely wooded and presenting in
some places the aspect of lofty peaks
and deep gorges. At the foot of the
hills are wide, level valleys with a
variety of soils, dark rich loams covered
with mesquite trees predominating. In
other portions are broad, slightly rolling
prairies, carpeted with a luxuriant growth
of mesquite grass, and in others, still
larger areas of compact, mulatto-colored,
sandy soil, covered with a thick growth
of post oak.
About two-thirds of the surface of the
county is timbered, the post oak being
generally found on the level, sandy land,the cedar in
the broken districts, tie
elm and mesquite in the
valleys and flats, and the pecan,
cottolnwood, linn, live oak and burr
oak in tile bottoms bordering the
streams. The Leon River and its
tributaries, Colony Fork, Big and Little
Sandy, are running streams usually
for only half the year, but hold in
pools an unfailing supply of pure water.
For domestic use an abundance of fine
freestone water is obtained from springs
and wells, the latter varying in depth
from 30 to 45 feet.
One third of the county is well suited
for farming purposes, and with proper
cultivation a yield of 600 to 800 pounds
of seed cotton, 20 to 30 bushels of corn,
10 to 18 of wheat, 40 to 60 of oats, 10 to
30 of rye, 40 to 60 of barley, 200 to 300
of sweet potatoes, 90 of Irish potatoes, or
2 to 3 tons of millet may be obtained to
the acre. The mean annual rainfall is
27 inches, and is usually distributed
more favorably for fall, winter and early
spring crops than for those maturing in
summer. Good farming land, unim-
proved, can be had for about $2.50 to
$5.00 per acre, improved lands for $5.00
to $20.00 per acre. The State school
fund has some 5,000 acres still for sale.
The county is in every respect health-
ful. The atmosphere is dry and bracing.78
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Texas & Pacific Railway. The Texarkana Gateway to Texas and the Southwest, book, 1896; St. Louis, Missouri. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61116/m1/73/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .