The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 9, 2009 Page: 4 of 14
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OPINION
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2009 • SECTION A4
Letters to the Editor
irefighters give
thanks for funds
Dear Editor:
Bastrop County fire-
fighters want to thank
all the people who turned
out for Spring FireFest
at Fisherman's Park on
April 25. The Silent Auc-
tion netted over $1,000
and these funds will be
distributed among Heart
of the Pines, Paige, and
Smithville volunteer fire
departments to help with
repairs and replacement
of equipment impacted
by the Wilderness Ridge
Fire.
We also thank the
sponsors of the 2009
Spring FireFest: Bastrop
County Firefighters As-
sociation, Fire Citizens'
Advisory Council and
the Bastrop Chamber
of Commerce. Without
their cooperation and en-
ergy this fundraising and
educational event could
never have been accom-
plished.
And thank you to
Yesterfest and its coordi-
nators for their coopera-
tion and partnership.
Sincerely,
Bastrop County Volunteer
Firefighters
Simmons invites
historical input
Dear Editor:
During the last 16
years, I have had about
200 articles/stories pub-
lished in the Advertiser.
Some of the ones I liked
best dealt with people
and families that helped
make Bastrop.
Now I would like to
write a new series start-
ng with the Reynolds
and including the Triggs,
Kauffmans and Mon-
cures. I would welcome
input from interested
persons. This could be
saved for me, mailed to
me or left at the Adver-
tiser or First National
Bank. I don't hear well
on the phone.
Thanks,
Ernest Simmons
P.S. Rusty Reynolds
was responsible for me be-
coming a marine biologist.
Reader searches
br Rosanky past
Dear Editor:
The history of the
small communities of
Bastrop County are
something at which to
marvel. Walking through
the halls of the old court-
house building in Bas-
trop, one can be shocked
to find that many of these
small towns had thriving
centers of meeting and
commerce. The pictures
that hang on the walls
there tell of a time 100
years ago that no longer
exists. It is quite fasci-
nating to take in.
The communities
of Paige, Cedar Creek,
Smithville and Bastrop
are well-documented
with scenes of cotton
gins, baptisms and bus-
tling main streets with
alien-like automobiles.
Unfortunately, there
sn't any representation
of the town of Rosanky
there, or anywhere in the
county. I would like to
change this.
WTith the passing
of time and original
Rosanky-ans, so does
pass away the history of
our area. Only a few of
the old timers remain to
tell the story of this place.
But I am sure that many
more photographs and
nformation remain that
help to tell the story.
We have a wonder-
ful place in Rosanky,
the Community Center,
that is about as old as
anything left in town. Its
walls are mostly bare, and
thus would make a great
space to display these old
photos and memorabilia.
I would like to put out
a call to anyone that may
have historical pictures
of Rosanky and its peo-
ple. Would you mind al-
lowing me to make a copy
of such to be displayed
in the Rosanky Com-
munity Center? It might
even make its way to the
courthouse.
All original prints will
be returned to the owner
in excellent condition.
Also, do you have an old
artifact or sign from long
ago that may be of inter-
est? These are relics that
tell the story of a really
neat place, and they need
to be preserved for the
next generation.
If you have anything
to contribute, or a lead
that needs to be fol-
lowed, please contact me
at (512) 332-6905. And
if you are unsure as to
my handling of priceless
family heirlooms that
need the ultimate protec-
tion, I do have references
of past historical projects
that ensure the most pro-
fessional care will be ad-
ministered.
Thank you for your
considerations in this
project.
Erik McCowan
Rosanky
Subin ission requirements
Please include your name, address and tele-
phone number when submitting letters to the editor.
Your street address and phone number will not be
published. Letters should be 350 words or less. The
Advertiser reserves the right to edit letters for libel,
clarity and length. Letters sent by e-mail are prefer-
able. Please send them to news@bastropadvertiser.
com. Mail letters to P.O. Box 459.
YOU VE &BEN IN
RANCHING FOR 40 YEARS
-AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T
SHOWN A PROFIT?
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WHEN ALL
ELSE FAILS-
MANIPULATE
THE OATA
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Wvfci
tjiAWAV-
tyiAfiulti
SEE FER
YERSELF-IT'S ALL
HERE IN REP AN'
WHITE!
Ranching Looks Mighty
Easy When You Calve
with an inkpen!
COMMENTARY • REALITY BITES
End amnesty & immigration insanity
GA LEWIS
voter@texas.net
In 1986 Congress passed the "Im-
migration Reform and Control Act,"
pledging to faithfully secure our bor-
ders and our economy from any fur-
ther interlopers. It criminalized the
act of knowingly hiring illegal aliens
thereafter and granted amnesty to 2
million illegal aliens already in the
country at that time.
With that act, our federal govern-
ment absolved itself of the responsi-
bility to uphold the Constitution and
preserve our nation's sovereignty. Ap-
parently it was overwhelmingly diffi-
cult or impractical to manage the mil-
lions of people who had illicitly skulked
into our job markets, hospitals, courts,
and education systems. Surely t had
nothing to do with campaign contribu-
tions from employers who preferred
paying pittance salaries to people too
fearful of deportation to demand de-
cent working conditions.
I'm amazed that Ronald Reagan
signed such a bill into law, but I am
dumbfounded that Barack Obama
wants to repeat this irresponsible act
on a far grander scale. Even so, the
wheels of amnesty are already turn-
ing.
According to Cecilia Munoz, depu-
SIMMONS REMEMBERS
ty assistant to the president, Obama
himself will soon begin campaign-
ng for a revamp of U.S. immigration
policy to include a "path to citizen-
ship." Meanwhile, the Development,
Relief and Education for Alien Minors
(DREAM) Act is already making its
way through Congress in an attempt
to address the tragedy of illegal alien
children with U.S. residency through
no fault of their own.
The real tragedy is that our gov-
ernment has repeatedly failed in its
duty to protect our sovereignty and
once again has no idea how to cope
with the consequences of their own in-
competence and negligence.
Rosemary Jenks, of NumbersU-
SA.com, a preeminent advocacy for
sensible immigration policy, says the
DREAM Act is written to allow any-
one to claim to be eligible for amnesty
while it places the burden of proving
otherwise on our government
Of course there is no telling how
many more illegal aliens have slipped
into the U.S. or failed to return home
after their visas expired. Commonly
accepted estimates suggest there are
18 to 20 million i llegal aliens now in
the U.S. So the equivalent of at least
16 percent of the entire Mexican popu-
lation (about 111 million) is in the U.S.
as illegal aliens.
If you are considering sending me
an e-mail prompting me to say "un-
documented workers" or "illegal im-
migrants," please don't. This issue is
about immigration being a legal pro-
cess. If you circumvent that process
you are no kind of immigrant - you
are a criminal.
It's not that I'm insensitive to the
plight of people south of our borders
who want a better life. But just how
much can we do? What about the
plight of people in Serbia or Haiti or
Rwanda who are not conveniently lo-
cated on our porous southern border?
What do we say to those who have
tried for years to gain lawful entry
nto the U.S.?
Not only should we not grant am-
nesty (again) we must insist upon lo-
cal, state and federal enforcement of
the 1986 amnesty act which promised
we would no longer tolerate violations
of our borders. We need to implement
the E-verify system and punish em-
ployers who hire illegal aliens. We
need to establish English as our offi-
cial language, encouraging legitimate
immigrants to fully pursue America's
opportunities. And we must amend
the Constitution so that only babies
born to at least one parent legally in
the U.S. are granted U.S. citizenship
at birth.
Recallin; Bastrop s unpaved roads
This is the third in a series of sto-
ries about unpaved roads once vital
to Bastrop and still important today.
This road is officially known as FM
969, but at an earlier time could have
been known as Upriver Road, Utley
Road or even as Humpback Bridge
Road.
Throughout this story I have re-
lied on advice from friends and neigh-
bors Charles Rabensburg and Mike
Prokop.
FM 969 is not the oldest road in
the vicinity of Bastrop, but it is appar-
ently the oldest going up the west side
of the river across from Bastrop. Ken
Kesselus, n "Bastrop County 1846-
1865," notes that in 1849, two roads
were added to those already around
Bastrop, ncluding one which crossed
the river, then went along the west
side of the river to Alexander's Ferry,
then turned back across the river.
That ferry was probably near the
location of what became the Hump-
back Bridge, reportedly built in about
1900 and replaced in the 1950s.
My own experience in the 969
area came after the war when I start-
ed fishing and hunting with friends
like the Prokops and kinfolks like
the Powells, all of whom owned land
along the road and the river. In those
days, there were relatively few houses
n comparison to today. The land was
used for various agriculture purposes
and was owned by native Bastropians
with names like Bryson, Hemphill
and Powell.
ERNEST
SIMMONS
Today, much of that land is still
being used for the same purposes,
but some of it has been divided into
good-sized lots with access to the road
and river. A lot more people live there
now.
The road itself has been improved
a lot. The valley of the land and river
is attractive and much of the road lies
between pastureland and the river
on one side and a series of slopes and
hills, often with cedar forests sur-
rounding large estates on the hills.
The road goes on and passes Ear-
hardt Road, an essential road used to
provide access to areas now reached
by the new 1209 road. Earhardt Road
is now a dead end, but at one time it
was connected to what is now Walker-
Watson Road, where I live.
Further along 969 reaches the
river. A 1936 map shows a little jog
in the highway just before it crossed
the river. That was the site of the Old
Humpback Bridge, generally known
as one of the worst bridges ever built.
It really did have a hump in the mid-
dle and it was one way. Vehicles en-
tering the bridge at one end could not
be seen by vehicles entering the other
end. Traffic on the bridge had to stay
on wooden runners and that could be
a problem.
Nevertheless, that old bridge
served its purpose, as did its well-built
successor. A lot of building took place.
Charles spoke of the "old Fred Moore
place, the Ira Bell place, a white
schoolhouse where his mother taught"
and places still owned by families like
the John Aliens and the Rosankys.
In later years, there was even a
place called Jones Bar, which sup-
plied access to the river, a beer hall,
lodging and even some fishing. Unfor-
tunately, it also got the reputation as
the probable source of a lot of vandal-
sm and thievery.
FM 969 continues to follow the
general path of the river and, after
following many curves, eventually
reaches Austin. In later years, a new
FM 1209 was built connecting 969 to
Texas 71 and it supplied easy access
to homes, farms and ranches. Today,
that new highway probably has more
traffic than 969.
Afterthought: I like to look for sto-
ries within stories and I have done
that in this story. Several miles up
969, on the right hand side, stand the
ruins of a small church, once the home
of a black congregation. Over the past
20 years or so, I have watched the
struggle as the members fought in
vain to save their church.
It is easy to visualize the joys and
the sorrows felt within those walls.
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 20, Ed. 1 Saturday, May 9, 2009, newspaper, May 9, 2009; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252580/m1/4/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.