in 1897 Josie Caldwell (12), “small for her age,” and her sister Carrie (9), “have made a record that those much older might be proud of,” each picked 200 pounds of cotton, four times their own weight. Stephenville Empire Cotton ruined the soil and as a farming strategy, it was hard on people. Between 1910 and 1940, after Erath County soil was depleted by cotton and abusive grazing, half of the Erath population migrated out of the area. During this time land sold for $5 to $15 dollars an acre, this period was the end of small farmers, who were replaced by large ranches. Old-timers that I interviewed from before this time said that a farmer could stand on his porch and see ten other farmhouses.

Lena Lewis, Erath County: A Compilation, Stephenville, Texas, 1938; and Temple Nolan Saester-Hicks, Interview, Stephenville, Texas, May 19, 1981.