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 Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.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 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 Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.

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

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.

Purple martins, scissor-tailed flycatchers, orchard and Bullock’s orioles, and the black-chinned hummingbird all arrive in Erath County this month. Jack (Cactus Jack) Murray, Bird Field Notes, 1969 – 1979, Stphenville, Texas.

In early April of 1921 a tornado struck four miles east of Stephenville, the path was 100 yards wide and 400 yards long, destroying a windmill, tearing up trees, and pulling the feathers out of chickens. Stephenville Tribune

On April 7, 1848, James Stephen bought at public auction 4,409 acres for a total of $150. The land was originally given to the Blair family for their son’s death at the Alamo, but they refused to leave Tennessee to come to Texas. It would be another six years before the Stephen family would travel to the future site of Stephenville to see the land. In 1854, John M. Stephen moved an enslaved family to the post oak forest now the Stephenville square to open a trading post. Their mission was to establish good relations with the Anadarko and Comanche Indians. (good relations lasted less than four years) They traded for deerskin bags of honey and smoked buffalo hams. The following year thirty families moved up the Bosque River from Waco and established the town of Stephenville. The names of this first Black family are not recorded anywhere, but it is said that oral history still remembers their names.

The Stephenville Tribune, April 18, 1913; Homer Stephen, The Frontier Postmasters, Dublin: Dublin Progress, 1952; Dan Young, Unpublished notes, 2022.

Before barbed-wire fences became common in the early 1880s, elk, antelope, and prairie chickens were a part of the Erath County ecosystem. Enclosed cattle soon ate the native grasses down to the soil, then pawed up the roots. Into this void rushed grasses and weeds with tiny root systems that failed to absorb rainfall and led to massive erosion and the lowering of the water table. The result was the disappearance of many varieties of native plants and brooks, small streams that provided water for wildlife. In March of 1883 the last black bear was seen by T.J. Ross between Stephenville and Alexander. Dan Young; Stephenville Empire

The pink bloom shown above belongs to Japonica, or quince, its a small bush once popular in old Erath as a source of fruit-flavored toothpicks. It was planted at one end of the front porch for easy access after a meal. Conversations with O.A. Grant

Wild plum blossoms (shown above) signal the beginning of the wildflower season. First to show is the anemone, pale to purplish; followed by crow poison, with small, creamy petals on an onion-like stalk. Don’t confuse it with actual wild onion/garlic which blooms purple. Low, yellow masses of bladderpods ( in the mustard family) become noticeable along roadsides. By the end of the month, yellow daisies on leafless stems dot the pastures. The reliable prairie verbena (V. pinnatifida) starts its long blooming period in March as well. Charleen Murray. Wildflower Field Notes, 1969-1981, Stephenville, Texas.

1865: Born in Vermont, John Tarleton worked as a store clerk in Knoxville, Tennessee, for forty years. He bought land in Palo Pinto County for 15 cents an acre, and this spring walked to Texas dressed as tramp with his savings sewed into his clothes. Stephenville Empire-Tribune