When automobiles first appeared in Erath County some citizens thought they were sent by “his Satanic Majesty to scare horses and mules.” Farmers held a meeting in which some resolved to carry guns in their buggies when going to town “vowing they would shoot the first autoist they met who scared their horses, declaring they would drive the monster from the county.” Just a couple of years later, in July of 1921, the Stephenville Tribune pointed out that the same people that threatened motor cars now owned one.