The “heaviest rain in 48 years” occurred in April of 1908, there were no records in inches, but houses, crops, and livestock were destroyed all over Erath County. Residents said the flood was worse than the one in 1883 and 1892. When the Bosque River finally receded, large catfish were collected trapped in briars near the river. Stephenville Tribune
Category Archives: Erath County History
The purpose of this site is to encourage the preservation of stories about Erath County, Texas
Post Oak Leaves
There is an old saying attributed to the agricultural Texas Indians, the Caddos in East Texas and the Wichitas along the lower Bosque River, that sweet corn can be planted as soon as post oak leaves grow to the size of squirrel’s ears. Pictured above is a twig showing emerging post oak leaves just a little smaller than a squirrel’s ear (I haven’t examined a squirrel’s ear lately, but I think they are about a quarter-inch). When they age just a few more days it will be time not only to plant sweet corn, but pepper, tomatoes, and the like can be set out without too much fear of a late freeze (just hailstorms and drought).
“Comanche Rube”
Comanches were known for never surrendering in battle, but near Dublin in 1871 there was something like an exception to that rule. As three children were washing dishes, a hunger-crazed Comanche rushed in, scattered the children, and began scooping beans from a dish and “devouring them like a wild beast.” A humane Baptist preacher, Ruben Ross, thereafter known as “Comanche Rube” arrived to see the man cross his arms over his chest, a universal declaration of friendship and mercy. He had lost his bow and horse and had been wandering along Armstrong Creek for days. The Comanche was cared for in Dublin until he was able to travel. After conversing with someone, probably in Spanish, he promised that there would be no more raids in or around Dublin. The promise was kept. The gun-ports in Ross’s log church were no longer needed to guard the horses during services. Later Ross established the Round grove baptist Church.
Dean Rippetoe, Days to Remember, Xibris Corporation, 2016; Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.
Fence-Cutters Strike Erath County, Again
Early in April of 1884, fence-cutters struck again, destroying the new barbed-wire fences of Messers. Morris and Perkins, and J.W. Greene. The Stephenville Empire remarked, “The fence-cutters should be hunted down and brought to justice.” Small, open-range cattlemen were angry about large ranchers fencing off common waterholes and roads.
The Crow Opera House
In April of 1873 Dr. M.S. Crow registered his cattle brand in Erath County. He had moved here two years before and had become a large land owner. In 1889 he founded a bank with James Cage, the Erath County National. His wife, Mollie jean, insisted that the new bank include a community center – Crow’s Opera House. C. Richard King, “Opera Houses in West Texas,” West Texas Historical Association Yearbook, 38 (October, 1962), 97-110.
Comanches and Ravens
Bison herds were usually reported by scouts, but the Comanches lived in an enchanted world where assistance from animals was never a surprise. Horned toads (Phrynosoma cornutum) whose name translates as “asking about the buffalo” are said to have run in the direction of a herd when asked. But it was the raven (Corvus corax) in the north and the crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in Texas that offered more accurate information. These “wolf birds” have had a symbiotic with wolves and coyotes since their earliest evolution because the birds are unable to kill or open the carcass of larger animals. Crows have been observed micromanaging the hunt as coyotes move through brush in pursuit of game. Transferring this relationship to humans to collect butchering scraps was a natural adaption. The Comanches took notice when one of these birds “flew over the camp four times, dipping its head and cawing” as a sure sign that a bison herd was spotted and the crow/raven should be followed. Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.
The Comanches, Their bow
The Comanches used a short, recurved bow made from the prized bois d’arc tree (Maclura pomifera). Some of these bows were able to draw seventy pounds and were sometimes sinew-backed or even reinforced with strips of horn, capable of shooting an arrow completely through a buffalo or a man – as a Paluxy Creek settler discovered in 1871. The bowstrings were made of bison or deer sinew that had been separated into dental-floss-like strains that were twisted and glued. There are reports that thin strips of squirrel hides were used for bowstrings. The toughest arrows were made from shock-resistant dogwood (Cornus drummondii) and tipped with metal trade points. Arrows were coded with the hunter’s identity so he could get the credit for allocating meat to families without hunters. Firearms could not be reloaded on a running horse and were rarely used. Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.
Death on Green Greek
In April of 1865 a man named McDow and his son were splitting post oaks into rails for fencing along Green Creek, a tasks that can be head for miles around. (Just South of Alexander) A brother, Joe Grady McDow, had just driven an ox wagon away with a load of rails when Comanches rode the other two down and killed them. Seven years later vigilantes hanged Joe Grady McDow near the same spot on Green Creek. M.L. Auten, A History of Erath County. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Hardin-Simmons University, August 1951, Texas Tech Southwest Collection, Lubbock.
April Flowers
April brings the red bud trees into full flower. Best known among the many wildflowers that bloom this month is the bluebonnet. Other prominent roadside flowers include the yellow cut-leaf daisy (Engelmannia pinnatifida), the royal purple mounds of skullcaps, and the white bouquets of mountain daisies. Purple paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea), a clump-forming perennial in many color tones, is more common in Erath County than the red-orange, annual Indian paintbrush (C. indivisa). A member of the evening primrose family, the fluttermill, (Oenothera missouriensis), spreads its yellow blooms in profusion over limestone soil. Charleen Murray, “Wildflower Field Notes, 1969-1981. Stephenville, Texas.
1877: All of the buildings on the east side of the Stephenville square burned this month, except for an old red clay adobe saloon on the northeast corner, owned by Sol Slaughter and Sam Watts.
Stephenville Tribune
Stephenville strikes back
Throughout the Gilded Age (1865-1900) Erath County farmer/stockmen were struggling to survive. On April 1, 1898, members of the Farmer’s Alliance met in the Opera House in Stephenville and voted unanimously to identify with the national Populist Party. This new people’s party stood for radical economic restructuring of America and went on to win elections and eventually morphed with the more realistic progressive movement that won national elections, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt. M.L. Auten, A History of Erath County. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Harden-Simmons University, August 1951, in Texas Tech Southwest Collection.