The Great Drouth of 1886

Subject: The Great Drouth of 1886 Mon 29 Oct 2007, 12:44 am

In 1965, a wonderful little study was published by the School of Journalism at UT, Austin. Penned by C. Richard King and descriptively titled, 'Wagons East: The great drouth of 1886, -- an episode in natural disaster, human relations, and press leadership,' the slender volume chronicles the effects of the dry period on newly arrived pioneers, and the role played by newspapers in covering and communicating their plight. And as the title hints, many families who had hoped to settle permanently in the westward counties of "Brown, Coleman, Callahan, Eastland, Palo Pinto, Stephens, and others contiguous" were forced to reverse their wagon paths when crops failed and ranches dried up. The organizer of the American Red Cross herself -- Clara Barton -- journeyed to Texas in 1887, in order to assess the measure of suffering in the state and to work toward providing relief to those affected by the drought.

It has been quite some time since I last read through this small but potently written book. King delves deeply into the disparity between what settlers were led to believe by the investors from whom many had purchased their tracts of land ... and the realities that awaited them. He highlights the conflicting aims of cattlemen, who needed large stretches of open rangeland in which to graze their herds, and those of the incoming farmers with their plows, compact acreage(s) and fences. But his main goal is to shed light on the Texas media -- even at this early date -- as an objective and sympathetic mouthpiece of the common man.

For me, 'Wagons East' provided a simple direction toward a period of drought of which I was unaware. The parched years are there, to be uncovered in the archives of the 'Dallas Morning News,' the 'Cisco Round-Up,' the 'Fort Worth Gazette' and in those of other freshly sprung Texas papers .... if one has the time and the means to dig up their dust. Yet Richard King presents this short and trying time in our state's history -- when we were yet agrarian and each family dependent upon the heavens' bounty -- eloquently and sleekly within a single binding.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: The Great Drouth of 1886 Tue 30 Oct 2007, 7:59 am

I never have been to Stanton -- seat of Martin County and located northeast of Big Spring -- but it began as a German colony called, 'Marienfield.' A page linked to below tells of how Marienfield was founded by Carmelite fathers in 1884, and how most of the settlers saw their efforts frustrated and were forced to depart the colony due to the consequences of the Great Drouth. The Carmelites had built there a large adobe monastery, which later was occupied and opened as an academy by the Sisters of Mercy. Called "one of the finest adobe structures in the soutwest," the town which evolved into Stanton is working to restore this historic convent as a memorial and an interpretive center .... as may be read here:

http://www.stantontex.com/Convent.aspx

http://www.stantontex.com/The_Convent_Article.aspx

The 'Handbook of Texas Online,' provides a short biography of one of Father Anastasius Dominikus, one of the Carmelite founders of Marienfield:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/fpe79.html
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: The Great Drouth of 1886 Tue 30 Oct 2007, 8:17 am

I believe that Dorothy Scarborough's novel of early West Texas -- entitled 'The Wind' -- was set in this time of dearth and sandstorm. 'The Wind' was one scary read, in my experience, and I'm happy to learn that the silent movie which was made of it featured an 'uptoned' ending!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Wrangler Joined : 01 Jul 2007 Posts : 30

I read The Wind in high school or it may have been college. It made an impression on me too. I was born in Crockett and had never been out of East Texas much when I read it. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to move to a place that was flat with no trees. That would be punishment enough itself but came all the sandstorms. I didn't connect the story at the time to a real historical drought.

Educational, thanks.

Anne

Subject: Re: The Great Drouth of 1886 Tue 30 Oct 2007, 9:44 pm

Anne ... please forgive me for not capitalizing book titles Wink

I gave up trying when it seemed that often, all that showed up in the resultant posting was an html tag. But I will take up the task again, as I should!

Dorothy Scarborough was an excellent writer and a talented scholar:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/fsc1.html

The Wind was much better written that most of the novels which have been published during the past few decades (in my opinion), but I guess that I'm one who prefers happy endings .... or at least, peaceful and resolved endings Smile

But much of the fright and entrapment which Miss Scarborough stirred up in this novel stays with me .... as it does you. Such leavings are the mark of a good storyteller, regardless of whether the strings at the end are neatly tied or left to hang tangled and loose.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: The Great Drouth of 1886 Tue 30 Oct 2007, 10:16 pm

I thought that the old monastery located near Big Spring rang a bell and indeed, I had read of it before. Docia Schultz Williams -- who is inclined to write of mysterious legends across our state -- provided the introduction. According to Mrs. Williams in her book, Phantoms of the Plains, the town which eventually became Stanton first was called 'Grelton' by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The German settlers who arrived with the Carmelite fathers petitioned to have Texas and Pacific title the settlement 'Mariensfeld' ('Field of Mary') instead, though, and their request was honored.

For some years, St. Joseph's Church -- also established by the Carmelites -- was the only active, Catholic congregation between Fort Worth and El Paso.

Mrs. Williams also makes mention of another order of teaching nuns -- the Sisters of Divine Providence -- who operated a school in the historic, adobe building prior to the work of the Sisters of Mercy. Furthermore, she refers to a "Kelly home" as being the only surviving portion of the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy and its convent (?).

Sadly, those associated with the Academy were battered by the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1917-1918, in addition to the hardships wrought upon the colonists by the earlier drought.

The final name of 'Stanton' was taken after Edwin McMasters Stanton, who served as Secretary of War during the administration of Abraham Lincoln.
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves