1895, May – A farmer from the Lingleville area allowed his wife to accompany him to Stephenville – it was the first time she was allowed to go to town in four years. Stephenville Empire

A destructive storm struck Erath County this month in 1892 that washed out 500 feet of the Rio Grande railroad west of Dublin. Trees and houses were blown down and hail blew into six-foot drifts. Crops were destroyed all over the county. Cleburne Enterprise

Larkspur (Delphinium ranunculaceae) was grown by early Erath County settlers as a May-blooming flower and for the seeds, which were boiled in water to produce a lice-killing treatment.

Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Santa Fe: The Museum of New Mexico Press, 1979.

These poppies covered the sides of the railroad tracks until they were over-picked during the 1980s, I saw only a small cluster today. “In the early part of May the red Corn Poppies, first planted by the railroad in the 1890s, complete their annual show along the tracks near the Tarleton Avenue crossing. Bar ditches are lined with Pink Evening Primroses. Field flowers include the showy Wild-Foxglove (Penstemon cobaea). The dominant yellow flower this month is False Golden Wave (Thelesperma filifolium), Winecups (Callirhoe sp.) and Meadow Pinks (Sabatia campestris) are low-growing beauties. Sure to be seen this month and next are the red-tipped-with-yellow Firewheels (Gaillardia pulchella).”

Charleen Murray, “Wildflower Field Notes, 1969-1981,” Stephenville, Texas

When corn reached knee high, it was customary among the agricultural Indians to hoe soil toward the corn stalk, forming a mound at the base of the plant. This process, called “putting the boots on the corn,” would support the plant, prevent wind damage, promote the production of buttress roots, and bury small weeds growing near the corn.

Paul Weatherwax, Indian Corn in Old America, New York: The Macmillan Co., 1954.

1932: Tarleton coeds voted this month to continue to wear blue chambray uniforms: “The chambray – so practical for wearing in chemistry and food labs, and so convenient for getting to an 8:00 class – has won a place in the girl’s affections from which it will not be ousted.” Stephenville Empire-Tribune

“The Bosque here is, during the greater part of the time, a small stream, much of its bed is dry in summer, cattle depending on the numerous stagnant holes for drinking water. At times it is a dangerous, rushing, roaring torrent. In this time of terrible danger and devastation most of the unprecedented rainfall has been below Stephenville. Here, though tremendous rains have fallen, the river glides peacefully along, up to this time hardly filling its banks. From the Waco correspondent of the Dallas News of the [July] 2nd is copied this account of the Bosque in the recent terrific overflow: ‘The Bosque, which is a fork of the Brazos, emptying into the latter three miles above Waco, drains the western portion of McLennan, all of Bosque and all of Erath counties and has a large system of tributaries, is largely responsible for today’s rampage in the Brazos. . . . In the district the Bosque system waters the rain today beat anything recorded in the history of the country. There were several cloud-burst and the water in the main Bosque went up about forty feet in a few hours. . . . The wreckage swept into Brazos with the Bosque flood consisted of trees, fences, parts of houses and drowned stock. The main Bosque descends from a mountainous region [Huckabay] and possesses many cascades along its course. . . when it struck costly steel bridges it knocked them winding and bent them double with its gigantic force.'” Erath Appeal, July 6, 1899

May 19, 1836: Comanches raided Fort Parker (Limestone County) and carried off several children, including 9 year old Cynthia Ann Parker. She was given to a Penateka (Honey-Eaters) Comanche family. These Natives lived in the Cross-Timbers area and probably camped in present Erath County. She was raised as Naduah and later married Peta Nocona of the Panhandle-dwelling Naconis (Antelope-Eaters). Their son, Quanah Parker was the chief of one of the last Comanche bands to surrender.

James DeShields, Cynthia Ann Parker, San Antonio: Naylor Company, 1934; and Jack Jackson, Comanche Moon, San Francisco: Rip Off Press, 1979.

May of 1932 was a very wet month. Massive rainfall brought the Leon River out of its banks, “sending thousands of giant catfish into the eddying backwaters where thy are destroying crops. Citizens there are shooting and clubbing to death the voracious, hungry creatures. Several of the huge fish even entered flooded chicken houses and pulled chickens from their roosts.” Stephenville Tribune

1895: “Who would have thought of the Bosque being navigable, and of our people shipping vegetables and fruit right out of Stephenville by water?” Such a produce shipment left Stephenville this week bound for the mouth of the Brazos River. Stephenville Empire