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
Monthly Archives: April 2022
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Dean Rippetoe, Days to Remember, Xibris Corporation, 2016; Dan Young, Unpublished Manuscript, 2022.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.