In August of 1883, the people of Stephenville reported sounds that resembled cannon fire. The stage driver from Cisco said that people all over Eastland County were talking about how strange it was to hear thunder on a clear day. What they heard was the Indonesian volcano, Krakatoa. The following three winters were described as colder than normal because of the volcanic dust in the upper atmosphere that reduced the sun’s intensity. During the winter of 1883-1884, the coldest in twenty years, the Bosque River stayed frozen through February. The winter of 1885 was more normal with only a few spells of 0 degree weather.

Stephenville Empire; Fort Worth Gazette; John T. Carr, Jr., Texas Droughts: Causes, Classification and Prediction, No. 30. Austin: Texas Water Department Board, November, 1966; and Krakatoa, Encyclopaedia Britannia.