Document text
41,
TOULON&
Kiss iffie Cowan,P.W.
McLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
04
NO. of OAS
Pile 110. 240
Page NO. 1.
IMPIRBNCE.
n Interview with Williaft/Annroe oraves,8x- Confederate jdldier,
Mart, Texas.
I was born in Mbntgomery Alabama on the 22 -id, day of May, 1848,
Sy parents having died when I was a chill I WSB reared by an Uncle
on a plantation near the town of Aontgomery. When the war betw 4o,, the
States first started. I was too young to go, but in 1864 I joined Co.
3.17th Alabama. My captain was W.V.Lee and we were 'stationed at Mobile.
0-0
I was on gnarl anty an took typhiod fever ad was too ill to be in the
comsny when they went into battle.
"I came to Texas in the year 1869 and lived in Rant County, and live4
near .0allas. I voted for the first the when Richard woke ran for Goyor-
-nor. Re wria the election ovex his opponent Gov. 8.J.Davie (the oarliet-
-bagger governor by 40.000 votes. that may not seem so ranch to you now,
but ynn mast remember that Texas was still thinly populated. Too, Texas
was under a mixed rule, partly civil, partly military, the,militarY
element prddominating.
"Peeling towards the dederal Government was BUJ bitter ad the Davis
administration wrs ver- unpopular, the main reason Ire on aceount ef
the negro .;tate jelioe. When Coke was elected Governor in Jan. 1874
I remember well the excited state of the public) mind for fear thattoses..
-ident Grant would uphold, Davis in his contention to retain the eoverm
-nors chair, bat fortunately the President did not interfere and an Cob,
was inegurated on the 17th day of Jan. 1874. There was a feeling of seediv--
POLKLORB:
Miss BM* Cowan,
MOTAnnan County, Texas,
District S.
Pile NO. 240.
Page PO 4, 2.
-rity since the close of the war. In his inagural address be said.,
"Today for the first time singe the disaster of the Civil lar, Texas
has a government chosen by. the free vote of the people.Ist the heart
of the patriot throb pith joy, for representative government and the
ancient liberties no long lost.are this day restored to the people
of Texas."
"I'have.wondersd if the present generation know what a grand man,
4ichard Coke was. Re was re-elected in the next election and then in
1877 be was sent by the Texas Vote to the United States Senate and
was sucessfally re»eleoted for this offioe until his death in 1886.
"When I came to Texas in 1869 the country was still wild and unsettled,
the business part of Dallas was Just a square aroma the Court house.
When I went to vote for Coke I marched between rows of negro soldiers
who were the military guard. I remember as we passed along between them
they would tell as not to crowd up to the polls. In some parts of the
state there was some trouble it seemed but it went off Inlet In the
little village of Dallas,the way I remember it.
"The country was mostly rfinobes there were only a few little patches
for farms fenced with the old stake and rider fence. I remember when
iohn COates came to Texas to introduce barb wire fencing the cattle--
9.men laughed at him and told him a steer would run throt it. Bat be
knew his business. Re singled oat Co lone]. Pryor, owner of term, ranches
of Austin and succeeded in Rotting him to let them have a demonstra.
-tion on his ranch i46 bad a ton acre lot fenced in and asked the
POLKLOBB:
Miss 8ffie Cowan.
meLennan County, Texasm
District 8.
Yile UO. 840.
Page O. 8.
cow -boys to mak them brake thre(the cattle), when it was proved a
steer ooald not break throl the fence Col. Pryor ordered a train load
of wire, and soon these agents had more orders then they could fill,
their fortunes were made for they had the exclusive right to sell wire
in Texas.
In those days the native grass stood knee high everywhere and in th
the spring and simmer the Landscape was covered with flowers. every
settler owned as many cattle as he could pat his brand on., ?here were
regular branding seasons and all were supposed to start at the same time
if any one commenced before the season, be was looked upon as an outlaw,
and was subject to the penalties of one.
This was also the day of the cattle thieves. The oriminals from
other states also sought refuge here since TOIERS was still in its
infancy and in seotions unsettled enough that thieves and criminals
could easily find a biding place. iben the cattle thieves, were might
those who bad tracked them and caught them did not stand back on
ceremows.e the saying goes. One morning I looked out from my window
to a post oak tree in my view and saw seven men hanging to this tree.
"About this time I decided that Texas was jest a little too wild
and went back to my native state of ilabama, and lived there until 1894,
but the call of the wild was in my blood and I ooala not be satisfied
so T oame back and have lived here ever since. When I came the first
tim4 in 1869 I ()lame by boat to new Orleans from fimbile *then went
up the MIssipiPtver to the mouth of Red River and came down it to
the town of Jefferson Texas'
?OULU&
Nies Bffie 00wal.
%Lerman n'unty, Texas,
Distriet 8.
file MO. 240.
age BO. 4.
From Jefferson we (lame by wagon train to Bunt ,ounty. 'bore was
no railroad at Dallas. 4110 produce was sent to the market by overland
wagon trains except where they (maid go by boat. !rem six to eight
bead of oxen or horses were bitched to Ai wagon.The lumber for build-
-tug was shipped by.bont mostly from. the mills oe the !Ajoining South,'
-ern kIates, by way of the ged Alver, and from Galveston by the rivers.
For the cedar lumber they sent t- the )ied Aiver bottolls.
The northern, part of Tentil was mostly ranches very few sores
in farming. Along the river bottom's a few plantations in t t Texas.
Ihu cotton was ginned the old fashioned way with a tread mill pulled
by oxen, from whence the oomparison to a tread mill originated. The
first cotton gin that I ever saw ran b7 steam power was rt nvtlle
Texrs, and it we a source\of wnder t- every one.
OThe travelling an w:q$ always called#tho drummer; they 12:H their
mode of travel by buggy, or with wagons. They -were the et-)amplon
story -tellers. '3very One always had something to entertain their
cuetotsers with their anecdotes. -One story aP bow the knight the grip
called the attention of the waitress at the hotela to his wants ifiihey
bppened to be 'lit, of the dint)g room, he would giab hie six-shooter and
fire soveral allots inttile floor when the waiters would calmly
in hit! avearanee and minister to his needs. The party who would
summon them in this fashion would hold out his cup probably for more
coffee, /711 of which would be taken a a mrtter of course.
They would cover their territory abriut onoe a month, then the
POLKLOBB: file NO. 240.
Mies ffie Cowan, ?ago BO. -8.
McLennan county, Texas,
Distriot 8.
customer would lay in his supply for the next thirty days. They would
buy sager, coffee, flour, bnoon and tobacceo. by the wagon load, the
prices were the 88M8 all the year. All the merchandise going into his
territory were freighted out by wagon train. The drummer made his own
collections, carried the money with bin and it would have been an easy
matter for a robber to relieve him of his earnings, this often happened:
but most of the tine they were caught, all the peace officers kept blood.
hounds to traiiithe robbers, desfleredoes md oriminale The safest
and surest way to deal out justice by the people "vs to string these
law breakers u o tn the nearest tree.
After I had seen this hapoen a neiber of times, I became jest a
little bit homesick to visit my native state of labama, so in 1871
I returned to this state and in 1872 I married Also Slizabeth Lewis,
and lived in Alabrma until 1894 when the call of the wild again beck—
oned me and with my family I returned to Texas and settled at Eowe
until I moved to the lart *Immunity. About this time the cotton sold
for four and, five cents a pound IN raised our livTng and the groceries
that, we had to buy were oneap..Daeon Was seven cents a pundeflour sold
by the fifty and seventy floe pound shako for sixty and seventy cents.
Good corn meal sold in -twenty-five pound seeks for twenty-five and
thort3yents.
The way they held the District Courts, there would be half a dozen
or mut4 counties in one district. The Court, the heriff, clerk, and
tbe-attorneys for both the protecutionavehthe defense trnvelled on
boraO back or in wagons from one county to another An wagons or buggies
POLKLORE:
ilas 1:ffie Cowan, T_exase
^oLennan County;
Distriot 8,
Pile JO. 240.
Page NO 8.
camping at night. I could name some of the most prominent lawyers,
but they were pretty well scattered over the state and it woald take
up too much of 37,11.2. time. It is enough to sny. that there were some
of the beet Judges and attorneys that Texas line ever had in those days.
Speaking of the time and means of travel In those days, I can ree
member bow it took six days to make a trip from pallet, to jort ',;onoho
now known au San Angelo. This was one of the finest baling and flehing
places in Texas, the game abounded here ,in large euantities. 'here
were still a few baffalle, deer and wolves by the hundreds, nd some
Texa mustang horses. Jim led Creek nno 2eonn Ityou was the will turkey.;
paradise. the giant pecan trees Aade fine cameing Places along these
streams and then as now fishing and bunting parties often went there
for their sport.
'There were plum thickets, grapes and 4albe ry trees, as well as
many others. It was no wonder that the Klowe, the Lipan, the erichtta
and the &toots loved this hunting end camping ground.. There were the
111dere from which they mrae their arrows. there were etill
.nt a. inter day traces of their villages. I must tell you abut the
buildings of old -2prt Cvnoho which b s been ke-t very much nu the
soldiere left it and T understand tws been given to the jeet, Texas
Historioal sooiety.. As I. look bnok over the time I first knew of the
place in the days of reconstruction, there were the begro soldiers,
the aaloone, the bonkatonk4nd the old Ben Butterfield stage line
which ran throb 2..tConollo from 3an Antonio to California, a it
,wbs here that Gen. -.:olCensie his Mee for supplies from which be
POLKLORN:
Mess .'4ffie Cowan,
McLennan County, Texa,
District 8.
File NO. AO.
Page NO.7.
conducted his campaigns which drove the Indians from their biding
places to keep from starving. When be closed in on them they fled,
leaving their women and children behind them. These were token to lort
Combo ond held for ranson.
Looking to the north of old Port Ooncho one can see into Coke Conn*,
named for Governor Coke. The mention of this name again stiri old mem-
cries of those other days. ,ww of the younger generation can realise
what a grand old man be was and what be accomplished far TAXES in those
awful days of reconstruction.
Then there lingers in my memory the TOX8r cow -boy re be drove
his herds to the Northern markets. Those were days of galmeur to me,
coming fresh from the ol6 stoles, it was an experience worth the price.
The oowbep hod his problems, it woe not an easy thing to drive a herd
up the trail the storms and lightniwr would sometimes kill hundreds
at a time. Then there were the Indians. ven tho' they were beonming
oivilized and some boo bee 4 placed on reservations, they would still
make raids and if they met a herd of cattle and the trail boss would
not give them what they wonted they woulo slip around and cause the
herd to itompedeylf they did not ooze out iu the orlon and fight.
As to the trails, there we Abile,e Kansa,, and Abilene Texas,
Ybile I was in Texas in the fOls the barb wire br'd pushed the trails
as far in !astern Texas as Abilene here they wo/d rise thro' from
the Jouthwestern :art of the state especially on their way t the
market to Ibilene Kansas. At Buchanan the trails would split,the new
1
POLKLOBS: rile 1104 240,
Rage NO. 8.
NUS ffie Cowan,
ait,cLennan Coanty, Texas,
"istrict 8.
trail hranobing off westward to cross the Red river at Deansorossing,
and to find its wry up in LAW1118 to Abilene, In those drys it was
8cptetimes (tailed the J)eans trail, but no,' it is generally willed the
mnin Chisholm trail. It has been said by some who profess to know
thvt the earliest Texas trail led up the Aed river, originated at
Lockhart forty miles from Austin; orovsed the Colorado river here,
follo'ei Up $arado ()reek in sight of where later °am Use was buried
at /N'znd liook, on by Gerogetown and 6alado to Cleburne:
'Some writers have given the Texas oowboy a hard name, that he we.
wild rnd drinking. I would say that may have been the cowboy at the
ond o- the trail when be felt that he hnd to give vent to his having
roaohed the end of r long and ,langeroas jouramy bat tfle oovooy who
Arzl, trusted wit,: urivind the horde wa. gine wan muali work ell di,4
rid‘; hart, singing his way at night nt the to.,
of his VOke to knoP
tI hart from stampeding and he WES un.er the eye f the trail boos
nn. .ibver taL'riee to visit the saloon while on th,. usile
"Mc Amemoria;_ of the (Lys following the war betea Ulu states
th,t i spout as a yaung M412 seeking my fo:tuns a:Ja adventure !till
lingr wIth ae s the aelo).y eC the Loot Oause was,so vividly brought
home V, me reoently in my trip to the reunion of the Blue and the
Gray lingers yet. I will tell you in my next interview some of the
impressions this reunion give me, until then 1 biC/you good bye.
FOLKLORE: his NO. 240.
Miss Effie Cowan, 'Page NO. 1.
McLennan County, Texas, BO. Of Jords
District B.
REFERENCE.
"Interview NO. 2, with William Munroe Graves, White Pioneer
and ex- Conteder te Veteran, Mart, Texas.
"I promised in my last interview to give you some impressions
and stories of the voteicns of the reunion of the Blue and the
Gray at 4ettysburg s which I have recently attended.,
First if all let ae any that this has been a wonderful exper-
--ience after seventy --Ave years. diost of us have found that the
other side had fine fellows the same as our's, altho' each if
at believed his cause to be Just, so there is no bitterness in
meeting at this last reunion those who were on opposite sides. Just
as there is no longer bitterness in our daily contact with those who
fought on the oppdsite side.
Gettysburg h's many lessons--- that of national unity, that of
economic progress, that of eventual reconciliation. Bat perhaps
the best lesson to learn from any war is hew It might have ')een avo-
-ided by a little more good-will,a lit is more compromise,et little
more of a liberal attitude of the minds that see only in time of,
logical conclusions, the minds to which white is white and black is
who
black, and there is no gray. tor as n have grown in wisdom with the
years we can see that change is inevitable, that there mast also be
continuity. de will never reach any point where our m,tional life
can afford to reMain static.
FOLKLORE.
Miss 2ffie Cowan,
McLennan County Texas,
District 8.
141;e NO. 240.
Page BO. 2.
"neither can there be any comflet0 break with the past. Between those
who see 3nly the need for change and those who resist change I have
come to the conclusion that any nation will be torn asunder if they
persist in fighting it out aF in the Civil War. At this last day we can
see that Gettysburg is a good illustration of irrepressible conflict
which exist with those who do not have the patience and imagination
to progress thro' compromise.
When the President stood under the 40 foot shaft of Alabama Limestone
topped by a light supposed to glow eternal and two of the aging heroes
who fought here three centuries ago one in blue, thr: other in the gray
unveiled the monument to Teace Sternal then to the hood of bronze
was lifted from the to of the tower at twilight, an electric device
turned on the gas Jet to barn -s the symbol of good fellowship that
succeeded the eA of strife.
Shining from the top of Oak Ridge the second highest elevation
on the brttlefield,the light shining for twenty or thirty liles oasts
a glow all over the country where its rays penetrate, Just as the old
story of "Peace on earth, good will to men" casts its ligat around the
world. Ibis beacon was erected at a cost of *60.000 and was contributei
by seven stntes,Pennsylvanin, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois,
Virginia and Tennessee. On the side of the monument sre these insorip-
-tido
"With firmness in the right as Goi gives as to see the right,
An enduring light to guide as in unity and good fellowship.
TOLKLOHB: tile NO. 240.
Miss -=effie Cowan, Page NO. 3,
MoLonnan Oonnty, Texas,
District 8.
Up and down the wooded hill where the union Aegiment lost 232 of
its 275 men in one of the bloodies skirmishes of the battle -ground,
eoand system carried the words of the 4resident nd other speakers
doing honor to both sides of' the veterans of that other day, seventy..
-five years ago.
"Old memories puffed like smoke of the battlefield at Gettysbarg,when
the vetev,ns of the North and
shook with the thand,Ir of the
along the owaetery wall where
Gra7 jacketed veterans in the
the South met again on the hills that one
canon three centuries ago. len in Blue
'leaden troops once ley in the grass
woods of Seminary Aidge4from which once
came Pioketts lirigade, and a mixture of the"Blae and the Gray' across
the rolling farmlands marked this final re -anion of the Grant/Army of
h
the Rapahlio and the United Confederate Veterans of Amerioalon the 75th
anniversary of the battle.
or three daystalmost two thousand veterans from the North, 2aet,
South and .West gathered for this teiniversary in the tent cities as
guests of"Uncle .-'am",(or our present government). They mingled nnd
tnlked of that day now eo far in the past. I will try to tell yo,, some
of the story as told by veterans who took ,,art in the battle'sland who,from
4p memories store, re -told it at the reunion.
There %cab laj,- Gen. O.R.Gillette who we in avie Brigade, Heaths
Divison, tte army of Northern Virginia. The harden of ninety three years
bee nrt bent his shoulders, hie eyes are bright and the words came fast
from his lips. Be remembered how the canon belched forth and the gun
'OLKLORB:
Miss afie owan,
moLennaft County, Texas,
District 8.
Pile NO 2446
Page NO. 4.
wheels pressed the yellow wheat into the dirt of the valley. He told
of boy/titer. the Blue gidge foot -bills fade into the rol ing farmlands,
the Army of Northern Virginilolled northward behind "Jeb"Stuart's
°ovary to stri,e at farrishurg and Philadelphia to find shoes for the
rebel soldiers bare feetjajfood to fill the knapsacks which were almost
empty of parched corn rations.
"He remembered haw Lee's war -tired men came out of the valley of the
Shenandoah to meet Ueadeis army of the Potomac as it reeohed out aloq-
the rondo that centered ltke the spokes of a wheel at Gettysburg, and
bow they met and fought and forgot they ever needed shoes. h4 told how
be carried Jackson from the field at Obanoelloreville and sup.orted
Piokette left)and when he ()barged thoir onmrany went too. dowpo can
still rebember the peaches on the trees acros the field nnn the corn
being knee high, and how hot it wre the day they fonp.ht.
He told of how the boys in drny opened th,- bnttle cc317, there with
his hand pointing twarde the fields, "rid spoke of how the town bad
changed, all bat two, building's which be recognized. Told bow it was
said that Lincoln stopped in one to finish a ppeeob. "It was Reynolds
tho opposed as first,laid ttillette ,"le drove them book after iteynolds
was killed and chased them thro' the town. Ve 1N3t ri lot of men on that
day".
That w,a the day that _,,ee mlf,ht have won the bat1e of Gettysburg
and gone Cu to make tv,me other field the site of these statues and the
scenes of pilgrimages. But the rebel yells died out with the sun, and
while they rested g'eades men were making ready to met the attack
FOLKLORE:
miss Effie Cowan,
MeLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
iile NO. 240.
I -age NO. 5.
ltdere were many others who remembered this bat le and told stories
rf what they did. There was Charles D.Clarke of _Austin, Texas, who
lay among the lonfederates watching the artillery:1n mile away across
the valley; and still another was Robert Calair age 94, of L.os 1.1geled
Cal. who rode with the sixteenth pennsylvania javalry thro' the woods
beyond 3penglers Spring and listened tn the d-finnt yell of Stuarts
horsem n.
Our job, Blair said,with a chuckle, looking for J.E.B.Staart)
and trying to keep him from turning Aende's flank. They did'nt tarn
Aeade's flank) he finished. Gillette remembered the 1,st Uy bnot of
all he said."It was the final tet a tizast at Pickettis Brigade
at the Union center after attacls on both flanks ty(i failed. We were
au- orting Pickett's left anti the heavy artillery fire came from both
sides, the field in frnnt of as looke(1 like plowed ground where the
shells hit".
.t!
"Net far away, said Gillette, ant 1,00 on his horsejraveller, a big
white horse on the hillside where teir a ntue eands today, while
a mile aq,ly behind a little clu$p of bashes it is said that 2ende's
horse moved restlesly while the guns began to boom. The orders had
been given, the artillery s •oke began tn rise an out of the woods came
7
-icketts men on jeminary Eldge and then the cnoon found its range.
They went down like blackbirds"9,illette remembered. "When A2ckett
charged we went too. The corn was kne-- high. 41 carried the flag. le
want a. the hill but we coaldint stay there They've got markers now
and we foaght.
right on the s,ot where we went. It was a hot day,.
FOTAKT,ORB:
Ilse ffie Cowan,
MoTiennan -;onnty.Texas,
District 6.
File NO. 240.
Page NO.6.
"There was AllengoClue 86years old, of 6'antahlonica Calif, who carried
water to the Union men stretched along the ridge) and served as orderly
during the three days Battle of Gettysburg, said. that he was nearly
arrested on the last day because be had pat on the uniform of a 3otth-
-ern soldier while his was dryin g and was mistaken for a rebel.
"'John C.Stith of Aeridian -kiss, whose 46th Georgia iegiment charged
towards the iocky slopes of -ittle Nand Top Hill, just behind the
Union troops urgently samloned to guard that slope ;o the battle
grmIncl. 3omeorbere in U,nt furious charge across tie valley a spent
bullet hit him the„Montb, and he suit it oat into his hand and
w-ut On to fight acros2 the hilltop and finally to give up to the
Union reinforcements.
"Time has not been entirely unkind to as veterans of the Lost -aase
and the Union, for back y nder •ad still farther back yonder in -the
grim realities of war, the .comrades of our youth paid the great price.
As each yef'r h s taken the toll of ',.uman lives,so too, it has fteiled
the Aemory antil the haze that alw y coles with autumn, 01hes oar
memories in dinnea of ome. Yet we ca not forget oar experience,
or tha sacrifice or our ideale,for wA.c oin all ages pat len h ve
fought -nd• died, r(id then we rEaaelber the fact th t after all w are
merle ns.
Folklore;
&ffie
Ali
.cennan !aunty, Texas,
.0istrict 8.
"Theyve sommned all the veteran rom the North, Anst,
jouth and Jest,
41e70. 240.
j?ge NO. 7.
They're cr.ming back frm near ad far away.
An army strong but n -t snipped for illelents ofwar.
Thy're going back theso boys in Blue and Gray 1
They're"tenting tonight on the old 01111) grr,and,' these vote ans of old.
They re reminiscing of a bygone day.
The waving fields of yellow grain mark where their comrades fell,
Another army of the Blue an0 gray.
rd nrw they meet on common grAind,thoe boyp from North and ;oath,
-;ast nd dest,
Their guns and swords elive all been laid away,
They're clasping hazjd acros the years, the past iu blotted out,
They're bilddies now, these boys in 3lue n!q4, tray