Honey Grove Signal (Honey Grove, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 1923 Page: 2 of 12
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THE TEX A Si AT.PSl” Wonderful Scenic Beauty
^ KJ By Austin call^n. 0f the Davis Mountains
The movement on the part of the
Texas legislature to create a state park
fashioned after the Yellowstone Nation-
al Park and other beauty spots, has at-
tracted attention to the- Davis moun-
tains—a spur of the Rockies, running
through the counties of Presidio, Brew-
ster and Jeff Davis, Texas.
Travelers who have seen much of the
world, including Hie snow-capped peaks
of the great Northwest and that once
impregnable barrier to those who sought
to invade Italy—the Alps—say that no
prettier mountain scenery is to be found
anywhere than in these eternal, sun-
'bathed hills of West Texas.
In the early days or our state’s his-
tory Indians took , refuge under the
frowning cliffs of Davis Mountains.
Game was plentiful for replenishing the
red man’s larder, and protection was
adequate against the biting blasts of
winter and the scouting parties of white
foes, while cool, refreshing waters ran
between the high and sometimes per-
pendicular walls.
In carrying out Its program of civili-
zation and affording protection to pio-
neers, the United States government
built a fort at the foot of the Davis
mountains, close up to where the Crea-
tor chiseled in stone and fashioned
out of foliage one of His master-
pieces. Fort Davis, the name given to
the fort,^was last commanded by Gen-
eral Grierson, and played an important
part m ridding West Texas of hostile In-
dians.
The bugle notes that resounded from
canyon to canyon, on many occasions,
assembled the bluecoats of the army for
many a daring ride in pursuit of raiding
Apaches or lousy Digger Indians who
infested that region then far removed
from a white settlement. It was here
that Wesley Merritt and Lieutenant
Lawton, who later became famous gen-
erals, planned an expedition into the
"Wilds of Arizona and Old Mexico that
eventually resulted in the capture of the
cruel Chief Geronimo, and it was here,
too, that the husband of the woman who
later married the immortal Admiral
Dewey rested following a fierce engage-
ment he had with savages in the Glass
mountains.
The history of the Davis mountains
is replete with thrilling deeds performed
within the memory of men yet living.
But, while it is not generally known,
those blue peaks have looked down upon
the earliest civilized settlers of the
United States. Before there was a
.Jamestown, Virginia, before there was
a San Augustine, Florida, life thrived
and human hearts burned with all the
modern passions of love in the little set-
tlement of Ysleta, lying along the Rio
Grande valley to the westward of Davis
mountains. But even that was not the
beginning of habitation in these moun-
tains. At some distant day, long before
the meager fleet of Columbus reached
this hemisphere; perhaps before Christ-
kissed into blossom the lilies of hope
through the vales of old Judea, a race
of men and women lived on the top of
Livermore Peak, one of the high peaks
of the Davis mountains, and there is yet
to be found among ruins there all the
evidences of some sort of heathen wor-
ship by an ancient race.
For the third of a century this part
of Texas has been regarded as the
Cattleman’s Paradise. Great herds of
fine stock have been built up
among these hills and riches have
been made by those who live out there.
It is a choice cow country, in spite of its
ruggedness, and although civilization
and progress has reached into the very
heart of that region, the country is still
Wild in a way and fine sport is afforded
those who go there looking for bear or
deer, just as was the case in earlier
times.
One of the two big events that annual-
ly occur in the shadow of the Davis
mountains, and one to which stockmen
look forward with much pleasure, is the
statewide camp meeting held at Skill-
man’s Grove, an affair that takes the
biggest preachers of the state out there,
and to the bear hunt among the rugged
rocks and deep-wooded gulches. On
these hunts such well-known cattle kings
as Bill Jones, John Means and Oscar
Medley, veterans at the business, take
the lead and for more than thirty years,
it is doubtful if there has been a single
unsuccessful campaign aganist Mister
Bruin. The best dogs obtainable are
taken along, a thorough camping outfit
is provided with an abundance of sup-
plies, and after an old “sugar-footed”
bear is trailed for miles across canyons,
through woods and over jagged peaks,
he is treed at length, and generally a
stiff fight takes place and a whole lot of
excitement is enjoyed by the partici-
“The Bear was Coming Down heWarrow Path
Between a Ledge of R*cts.”
pants before the grizzly monster is
brought down by the true ^m of some
ranchman.
In spite of the bed-time Rories by
charming writers for childrel—not one
of which this writer wouldhave de-
stroyed—it is not often that %>ear will
act on the aggressive. GenefUy he is
contented with giving a fier*t growl,
that is calculated to make a <[d chill
run up and down your back, ad then
he will make for the tall timb^. But
whenever you corner him ai get
him where he has to fight, you, have
matched a scrap, and if once thevrute
gets his strong paws on you, thei wiH
be marks years afterward to tei the
story.
In the early winter of 1892, I ac^m_
panied a party of Jeff Davis co\ty
ranchman on a bear hunt into tige
mountains. Bill Jones was the insp:a-
tion of the party, and he was the man
who brought down the first prize. But
a genuine thrill was afforded all of us
on that trip, when we witnessed a rough
and tumble encounter between a mem-
ber of our party and a big black Bruin.
We were something like a quarter of a
mile away, yet in plain view of the fight.
The bear was coming down a narrow
path between a ledge of rocks on the
side of a hill, while the hunter was go-
ing up the same path, and met him at
very close quarters. The first shot did
not prove fatal, and when the hunt-
er attempted to slip another cartridge
into the rifle’s chamber the rifle
jammed. And then the fun start-
ed. Infuriated by the wound, the bear
made a lunge at his antagonist, who had
to sidestep with the quickness of light-
ning to keep from going down. Being
an adept at hand-to-hand fighting, the
hunter finally succeeded in getting out
his bowie knife and burying it to the
hilt in the brute’s Heart.
In 1917, we were back in the moun-
tains again. The first fellow we met
was our old friend, Bill Jones; he had
flung across the back of a Hudson road-
ster, which had succeeded “Old Ranger,”
the horse he rode on these hunts in those-
far-away days, a big black bear—
the biggest one that had ever been
killed in that section. He got him at
the foot of the Saw Tooth mountain,
north of Valentine. '
This portion of Texas will make a
great state park and playgrounds. Deer
are plentiful, the smiling valleys be-
tween^ the hills are dotted with groves
of majestic oaks and there is everything
to please the eye for those who love Na-
ture and enjoy worshipping in her great
temples. Livermore Peak, which rises
slightly higher than others in the range,
is more than 9,000 feet above sea level.
Pines, junipers and scrubby brush cover
a part of the range, while here and there
you find soft, silhouetted sky-lines
wrought into a rugged splendor. Some-
times Nature seems to have fashioned
her work with greatest skill, while again
it is all jumbled together in wild and
broken disorder. Yet about it all there
is a magnificence, a grandeur, and a
beauty that could come only from the
hands of the Divine.
It is this empire of green valleys,
dashing cascades, winding rivulets, cas-
tle-like spires, bathed at times in
golden sun-glints, that the fathers
of our state park idea want to con-
vert into a proposed playground for
Texas. Not only does the black-tail
deer abound here, but the blue quail is
plentiful, also the wild turkey, and the
whole scene is one which appeals to the
heart of every true sportsman and out-
door lover. No doubt it was just such
a land that first put into the mind of
the romantic redman the idea of Heaven
being a happy hunting ground, for no-
where could he find a more delightful
place to spend eternity.
And the sublimity of it. Those lofty
peaks and somber chasms are painted
throughout summertime with tints of
turquoise, sapphire and gold. Then au-
tumn changes the scene into one of rus-
set, red and silver.
All the people of Texas have a right
to feel proud of this pretty section, with
its picturesque scenery and its flora and
fauna of extreme loveliness, made more
lovely and enchanting by the music of
gay song-birds. Truly it is a prize be-
longing to the whole state; a region we
should know more about and one that
doubtless we will become familiar with
and enjoy to a fuller extent when the
Bankhead highway, now under con-
struction, is completed into this part of
the state.
Among the most noticeable of the
lofty towers of the Davis mountains is
Miter’s, Peak, which stands as a ^silent
sentinel at the gateway opening into
Musquez canyon. It is almost impossible
to ascend it, even afoot. And then there
is Old Blue, twelve miles out of Fort
Davis on the road to Skillman’s Grove.
It reminds one of Mont Lomond, by the
glassy Scottisch lake, where the clans
of MacAlpin gathered. Majestic, grim,
gray-veiled and defiant, Mont Lomond
rises above the surrounding plains and
speaks in the language of a Creative
Power who knew no bounds. Away to
the west is Chelante, a giant link in
this rock-ribbed chain. It talks no
tongue that we understand, yet it
seems to proudly hold its position
as a watchman, marking the decline of
the sinking sun and cradling in the deep
folds of its mighty ravines the decades
of Time and the passing glory of each
dying day.
It is an interesting country out
there, effulgent with new vigor for the
tired body, full of wide visions for those
who can unfold and read Nature’s pages,
rich with the mystery of an ancient civ-
ilization, older than history, and full of
DC
Indian legend and cowboy romance.
The Softwood Resources of Texas
By B. C. THARP
Dept, of Botany, University of Texas.
A recent article dealt with the more
important commercial representatives
of the more than,40 families and nearly
100 genera of hard woods in Texas. This
article has to do with only one family
and in this^ family _ only three 'genera.
The family is the Pinaceae, known com-
monly as the Pine family, and the three
native genera represented in Texas are
Pinus (the pine), Juniperus (the ce-
dars), and Taxodium (the ball cypress).
All of the members of the pine family
except the ball cypress are evergreens.
They are also commonly known as cone-
bearing or coniferous trees. The family
is in general much better represented in
more northerly climates and in higher
altitudes. In the forests of both the
ily form the chief members, giving such
forests their characteristic appearance.
In Texas only a few pines occur. Two of
these are properly classed with what are
called soft or white pines, while the
others belong with the yellow or pitch
pines. The two soft pines are the Rocky
Mountain White Pine (Pinus flexilis)
and the Nut or Pinon (Pinus edulis).
The Rocky Mountain White Pine ex-
tends only sparsely into the mountains
of West Texas and in Texas is not of
much ^ commercial . importance. The
same is true of the Pinon pine, so far as
the manufacture of lumber is concerned.
The nuts of the latter pine, however are
sweet and quite edible. They may be
bought on the markets of northern Mex-
ico, New Mexico and Arizona, and in El
Paso, Texas.
Another rather unimportant pine is
the Rocky Mountain Yellow Pine (Pinus
ponderosa). The tree is very wide-
spread from Montana and British Co-
lumbia to California, Mexico, West Texas
and Nebraska. In the Sierra Nevada
mountains it reaches its greatest size.
There it attains a height of 100 or near-
ly 200 feet with a trunk diameter of
46 feet. In West Texas, however, it is
scrubby in size and unimportant.
Southern Yellow Pine.
The most valuable pine in the state is
the long leaf pine or Southern Yellow
Pine (Pinus palustris). In Texas it ex-
tends as far west as the Trinity river.
Between that and the Sabine there were
formerly very valuable and extensive
forests of this tree. These have been
largely depleted by the lumber industry.
The demand in recent years especially
has caused under-sized trees to be sawed
into lumber with the result that this,
the most valuable of all pines, is threat-
ened with commercial extinction. The
wood is very strong, close-grained and
durable. It is especially valuable for
heavy girders such as those used in
bridges and other massive construction
work. Edge grain long leaf pine is the
best of all soft woods for flooring, be-
ing almost as durable as hardwood.
Loblolly Pine.
Second to the long leaf pine in impor-
tance comes the Loblolly or Old Field
Pine (Pinus taeda). This tree grows
very much more rapidly than the yellow
pine. In fact, the name, Old Field Pine,
comes from the habit which it has of
converting old worn-out, abandoned
fields into young pine forests. In East
Texas it is not an uncommon thing for
this change to occur within a period of
twenty years. Rapid growth causes the
Ball Cypress.
A strong contrast to the lack of last-
ing qualities in pine is found in the other
Texas representatives of this family, the
cedars and ball cypress. The wood of
both of these is exceedingly lasting, this
being especially true of cypress. The
cypress in many respects constitutes
the most interesting tree to be found in
Texas. It is usually thought of as an in-
habitant of the swamps in the river bot-
toms from the Neches eastward. In
such locations it does or rather in form-
er times did constitute vast forests of
almost pure cypress stand. It is not
commonly found along the Trinity and
the Brazos nor the lower stretches of
Field of long leaf pine in Hardin county, Texas, logged over more than 15 years ago. Typ-
ical of many tracts logged over in earlier days of lumbering.
tree to have very coarse grained wood,
which makes It very mucn less valuable
than the long leaf pine. This inferiority
of wood texture is largely counterbal-
anced by the rapid growth of the tree.
Otherwise the Loblolly Pine would be
third in importance, second place being
taken by the short leaf pine (Pinus echi-
nata), whose wood is of finer texture.
The short leaf pine is a much slower
grower, however, and production from
it is correspondingly less. In general,
none of the pines produce timber which
is lasting when placed under ground.
Exceptions to this rule are found in very
rich heart pine, that is, pine which is
thoroughly impregnated with pitch.
Such portions of pine timber are exceed-
ingly resistant to decay.
any of the Texas rivers west of these.
However, it is a quite common inhabi-
tant of the banks of the upper Colorado
and other West Texas rivers as far out
as Devil’s river. In these locations it is
rare to find the timber of sufficient
amount to warrant its being cut into
lumber. It is confined to seepy loca-
tions along the banks or to moist can-
yons. Its habit of growth in these sit-
uations is in one respect in striking con-
trast to that exhibited in the swamps
of the eastern portion of the state. In
these swamps the roots of the tree put
up erect woody projections called
“knees.” In the West such projections
•are never seen. This is readily explain-
ed when . it is considered that cypress
roots must have air and in the swampy
si^tions of the east the only way they
caiget it is by sending up these knees.
tn \e west there is not so much water
m % soil in which they are found as to
excl|e the air. The need for knees not
exisi^g the tree in these situations
doesi\ go to the trouble to send them
up. '
An<her interesting thing concerning
cypreatimber is the conditions known
as pedness,” commonly found in a,
large picentage of the trees. This con-
dition disists in the timber being per-
meated yith tortuous cylindrical tun-
nels one-yif to three-fourths inch in
diameter! These tunnels are frequently
filled wit soft woody material as if
some beet 0r other animal had bored
his way trough, casting the bits of
wood behi^ him as he went. This,
however, iSnot the origin of the pecky
condition. V jg due to a microscopic
plant belongW to the group known as
Fungi, nymlsjrs of which cause prac-
tically all woc| decay. These fungi are
generally irst recognizable only in what
is called tW fruiting stage in which
toadstool-lit projections are produced
on the sidefyf the affected trees. The
cause of p&y cypress remained for
many yearsmknown, because of the
fact that tn particular fungus which
causes this edition rarely puts out
these fruitinaoc[ies> In connection with
the conditions js interesting to note
that many luWmen claim pecky cy-
press to be mil more durable than per-
fectly sound ciess timber. The claim
Would not seeny, be justifiable by the
facts m the ca\ but nevertheless the
lumbermen are \te positive that pecky
cypress is more Wble than unaffected
sound timber. Vpress timber is es-
pecially yaluabldfor bridge building,
posts, shingles anln other exposed sit-
uations which rec}^ the greatest dur-
ability of wood unr the most adverse
conditions. The Upess of weathering
and fire are ;praoaily the only two
means by which myre cypress timber
may be destroyed. \e tree grows very
slowly, being reputet0 require 200 to
800 years to attain diameter of two
feet. It is not rare tb trees or stumps
measuring ten to twee feet in diame-
ter are found. This gat size bespeaks
a correspondingly grt age for such
trees and warrants thi3nciusion that
the cypress attains tbeWatest age of
any living thing excepVhe giant red
woods found in Califori and the Pa-
cific slopes of the Rock%ountains.
The Cedar^
The cedars are repressed in Texas
by seven species. In pendi their wood
as is well known, is yerriose-grained
and durable. Its taking %igh polish,
coupled with its very pleasant odor
(very displeasing to moths and other
insects) make it a very valuable wood
for chests in which to keep clothing free
from the ravages of these vermin. In
addition, the wood is exceedingly val-
uable for many other ornamental uses,
including interior decoration. It is ex-
ceedingly durable when exposed to the
weather and this makes it one of the
most valuble, if not the most valuable,
of all woods for fencing purposes. In
lasting qualities it is probably second
only to cypress. Of the seven species
found in Texas, only three are of much
commercial importance. Two of the
commercially unimportant ones are of
interest to Texans because certain por-
tions of the state are the only localities
in the United States in which they oc-
cur. Pinchot’s Juniper (Juniperus Pin-
choti), is found only in Bristol, Randle
and Armstrong counties; while the Flac-
cid Juniper ((Juniperus flaccida) occurs
in the Chisos mountains of Southwest
Texas, that being the only portion of
the United States into which this com-
mon Mexican species extends. Junipe-
rus communis, a common tree of the
northeastern United States and of the
Rocky mountains, extends into the
mountains of West Texas. With us it is
not important. The checkerboard Juni-
per is another of the unimportant spe-
cies occurring from the Limpia moun-
tains of West Texas westward along the
desert ranges of New Mexico and Arizo-
na to Colorado and Mexico. A point of
interest in connection with it is that it
is said its fruit is gathered and eaten by
Mexicans and Indians.
Two other cedars, each known as
Mountain Cedar, occur in West Texas
and eastward as far as the limestone
hills extend. These are Juniperus mon-
osperma and Juniperus sabinoides.
Neither are of sufficient size to be of
importance so far as lumber is con-
cerned. Both, however, are very rich
sources for cedar posts. Cedar in this
form is shipped out from the hilly por-
tions of Central and West Texas in great
quantities. In these regions one or the
other of these mountain cedars frequent-
ly covers the hills in almost pure stands.
The only other ce^ar known to occur
in Texas is the Virginia cedar. This
tree comes into Texas from the east and
in many of the eastern portions of the
state, especially in the vicinity of
streams, there occur pure stands of large
sized trees, _ known locally as cedar
brakes. This species is a valuable
source for telegraph and telephone poles.
From the _ above brief discussion,
which in nowise does justice to the soft
(Continued on Page 7.)
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Lowry, J. H. Honey Grove Signal (Honey Grove, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 1923, newspaper, February 2, 1923; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth621262/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Honey Grove Preservation League.