The Texas Historian, Volume 33, Number 4, March 1973 Page: 7
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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With the opening of these mines, travel in-
creased greatly. The stage or hack, as it was
called, made three round trips per week over
the route from Marfa to Lajitas. Supplies
were carried in freight wagons made by the
Studebaker Company and hauled to the mines
from the Murphy and Walker wholesale house,
located in Marfa.
The Southern Pacific Railroad transported
the first machinery for the mines only as far
as Paisano, and from there freight wagons
hauled it to the mines. In the early operations
of the mines, wood was used as fuel. Hum-
phris and Company of Marfa contracted to de-
liver four thousand cords of wood annually.
The wood was obtained from Mexico and to
keep the supply up to par, it was necessary
to keep a wagon train constantly on the move.
Thirty burros were often used at a time to pull
the wagons over the tortuous mountain trails.
Mule-drawn wagons were used to carry the
ore from the mines to the mills.
As long as men were limited to walking or
to riding on animals, travel was restricted to
business and professional purposes. With the
coming of automobiles, people began to travelfor pleasure. One of the first horseless buggies
in the Big Bend area, a Dart Run-About, was
purchased in 1908 by Nick Mersfelder, a
retired ranger from Fort Davis. Mersfelder of-
ten used his horseless carriage to take pals on
fishing trips. Since the automobile was not
highly horse powered, he sometimes needed
his guests to push. On one occasion they had
to resort to mule power to pull them all the
way home.
By 1910 several people in Marfa were driv-
ing cars. J. A. Pool had an agency for Stanley
Steamers and Dave Wease had a Rambler
Agency. L. C. Brite owned a white Buick.
Doctor Darracott ordered a Brush in 1911 for
$395.00 from the Saturday Evening Post. In
1912 the first auto in the Terlingua area was
driven by four United States Revenue officers
Freight wagons hauled silver from the Shaf-
ter mines to the railroad and returned with
supplies for the mining camp. Driver on the
"left-hand wheel mule" holds reins in his right
hand and brake rope in his left.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 33, Number 4, March 1973, periodical, March 1973; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391379/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.