Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 7, 1985 Page: 4 of 12
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Page 4-Palacios Beacon Thnra. Mar. 7,1985
This Week in Texas History
........- -mj
BY BARTEE HAILE
March 3, 1855, the United
States Congress passed the Shie-
lds Amendment, the bill that
endorsed and funded the Great
Camel Experiment. For two
decades, politicians and military
strategists had toyed with the
novel notion of using camels as
pack animals in the Southwest.
The unorthodox plan finally
would be put to the test in the
wide open spaces of West Texas.
There was nothing new about
the idea of employing camels as
beasts of burden in the United
States. As early as the 1830’s,
the Army noted the climate
similarities of northern Africa
and western Asia, the animals’
arid native habitat, and the
deserts of the Great Southwest.
The camel seemed ideal for long
distance treks across that giant
American expanse where temp-
eratures soared above 120 de-
grees and both water and vege-
The Great Camel Experiment of the 1850s
,j i. :_i.. wo™,, 3 to 34 miles a dav and went as ly disappeared into p
tation were so scarce.
While still a member of
Congress, Jefferson Davis be-
came a strong camel advocate.
When he stepped up to sec-
retary of war under President
Franklin Pierce, the future leader
of the Confederacy teamed with
Illinois Senator James Shields to
make the dromedary dream a
strange reality.
The first shipment of 34 camels
landed May 14. 1856. at the
Texas port of Indianola. The
exotic cargo and their oddly
garbed handlers, two Turks and
three Arabs, brought the harbor
community to a complete stand-
still. As Bret Major Henry C.
Wayne, the officer in charge,
reported to Davis, “The whole
town turned out to watch the
spectacle of the unloading."
Eyeing the parade of awkward
animals, unimpressed onlookers
derided the venture as another
example of Congressional mad-
ness. How could such ungainly,
thin-legged creatures replace the
powerful horse, oxen or mule?
A quick witted showman,
Major Wayne seized the first
opportunity to counter the
rrowH's Ini'^ In
customary kneeling position, one
of the camels was saddled with
an impossible load of 1,200
pounds. While observers scoffed
at the officer’s ridiculous stunt,
the animal easily rose to its feet
and ambled away.
Despite its superior strength,
the camel did not possess the
more endearing qualities of that
frontier favorite, the horse. With
a tiny brain that weighed in at
less than a pound, it was pro-
foundly stupid. Also, the camel
was sullen and bad tempered,
caring little for its own kind and
even less for humans who
crossed its path.
Throughout western Texas the
alien oddities soon became a
menace. Horses went wild at the
vety sight of the animals, and
citizens, were compelled to sound
an alarm. “The camels are
coming!" was the common cry
that warned of impending dang-
er. The alerted populace instant-
ly dropped what they were doing
and hurriedly cleared the street.
Nevertheless, the camel was
well adapted for the hot, bone
dry wasteland of West Texas. An
1859 expedition into the rugged
Big Bend country proved the
point.
With 24 camels, each toting
300 to 500 pounds, 2nd Lt.
William Echols left Fort Davis for
the Big Bend July 11, 1859. Both
Echols and the pro-camel forces
back in Washington were amazed
by the beasts' performance.
The camels took in stride the
toughest terrain Texas had to
offer. They ate sparingly, far less
than horses or mules, covered up
Williams Place: retracing
.property fromvaras to acres
BY ROBERT MURRY
PALACIOS JR. HIGH
In the spring of 1984 my
parents bought a piece of proper-
ty in Collegeport known as the
Williams Place. I chose this piece
of property to write about
because of family interest. The
legal description of the property
is as follows:
80 acres of land, more or less,
in the B.C. Arthur Survey Ab-
stract No. 11, being the West
One-half :W‘/j) of lot 16, Block 3
of the Abel B. Pierce “Ace of
Clubs Ranch” Subdivision, in
Matagorda County, Texas, accor-
ding to the map recorded in
Volume 23 at Page 19 of the Deed
Records of Matagorda County,
Texas, more particularly describ-
ed as follows:
Beginning at the northwest
corner of said Lot 16, in the
center of the highway on the east
margin in the right of way of the
Collegeport Canal;
Thence East 387.3 varas along
the center of said highway to a
point which is the center of the
North Boundary Line of said Lot
16;
Thence South 1166 varas along
the center line extending north
and south through said Lot 16 to
a point on the South Boundary
line of said Lot 16, which is the
center of said line;
Thence West 387.3 varas along
the southwest corner of said Lot
16 on the East Boundary Line of
said canal right of way;
Thence North 1166 varas along
said East Boundary Line of the
canal right of way, to the place
beginning, containing 80 acres of
land, more or less.______
The earliest records 1 found
were February 15, 1838 when
Barnabas C. Arthur was granted
19,078,087 square varas of land
on Trespalacios Bay by the Board
of Land Commissioners of Jeff-
erson County. To understand this
measurement of land used at this
time and now in legal terms of
land, a varas was a measurement
of 331/3 inches. A acre of land is
5645 square varas. To find out
how many acres you divide the
amount of square varas by 5645
and you will have the amount of
3379 acres that B.C. Arthur was
given. The Williams Place as we
now call it was part of this parcel
of land. The Williams Place is
part of a piece of land on the
county maps called the B.C
Arthur Survey after its first
owner. This is shown in the
Matagorda County courthouse in
Field Book A p. 48.
On October 9, 1876 Richard
Coke, Governor of Texas, gave to
the heirs of B.C. Arthur and
W.M. Furguson Assignee of
B.C. Arthur, the land forever. At
this time Jospeh Yeamans was
the District Surveyor of Mata-
gorda County. This is recorded in
a patent in Volume P p. 476 in the
county clerk office.
The heirs of B.C. Arthur then
used an attorney by the name of
N.B. Bendy to sell this land to
J.E. Pierce and wife Nannie D.
Pierce on December 16, 1876.
This is recorded in Volume P p.
Ill at our courthouse in Bay
City. In Volume P p. 41 in July
1878 J.E. Pierce and Nannie
Pierce gave this land to their
children: J.P. Pierce, Abel B.
Pierce, and Grace Pierce.
In July 1904 J.P. Pierce of
Matagorda County and sister
Pearl Pierce Smith, wife of Allen
J. Smith of Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania sold their Vi interest in
the 3379 acres to their brother
Abel Pierce for $1 as found
recorded in Volume 14 p. 608.
Then on June 27, 1907 Grace
Pierce Heffelfinger, wife of
W.W. Jeffelfinger of Minnesota
sold her Vi interest to the tract of
land for $1 to her brother Abel B.
Pierce as recorded in Volume 14
p. 218.
Abel B Pierce now owned it
all. Some transactions took place
between his brother J.L. Pierce
and Abel in which J.L. acquired
what we now call Slough Ranch
which my father farms in rice.
On October 5, 1907 in a land
dispute my great-grandfather
Robert Duncan Murry signed an
affidavit stating that the Pierces
had this land in fence and thus
claimed ownership. Maybe this is
how Abel Pierce received the
name “Shanghi Pierce”. My
great-grandfathers letter is re-
corded in Volume 19 p. 634.
On January 30, 1909 V.R.
Haisley and wife Ida J. Haisley
bought a parcel of land from Abel
Pierce. This is the first time we
can find records of the separate
piece we now call Williams Place.
This is recorded in Volume 27 p.
444. Mr. Haisley paid $4800 for
the land with $1600 down and
three yearly payments of $1066,
$1067, and $1067 at 7‘/j interest
rate and 10% interest if late. Mr.
Haisley and Ida J. had no
children. V.R. Haisley married
Clare Rummels, who together
had four children, one of whom
t c
■ » y *. ■
ROBERT MURRY
First Place
was Hattie Haisley Kundinger,
wife of Hugo Kundinger of
Matagorda County. Sometime
during the Haisleys ownership
they built a two story house on
the property and it still stands
tod Ay •
On September 11, 1950 Will-
iard B. Williams and wife Ruby
Lee purchased the land for
$8000. On October 5, 1965 Bea
Williams as my parents called
him sold the land to his brother
J.H. Williams and wife Thelma.
In 1978 Thelma Williams became
the heir by J.H. Williams (John-
ny) death. On June 18, 1984 my
father James Robert Murry, Jr.
and Jean Murry, my mother,
purchased the land from Thelma
Williams.
I also found records of lease
agreements, mineral leases, and
pasture leases on (he Williams
Place. Research can be done on
almost any land in Matagorda
County just start from the
present and work your way
backward through the records
found at our county courthouse.
Jackson County: diversified
background, strong character
BY KELLIE MATUSEK
PALACIOS JR. HIGH
Jackson County has an area of
854 square miles. This land lies
in the valley between the Lavaca
and Navidad Rivers. The land
generally slopes to the head of
the Lavaca Bay which forms the
southern boundary of the county.
The land is level and the soil
varies from sandy to black.
On March 17, 1836, the colony
which was to become Jackson
County was declared a munici-
pality. lt was named in honor of
Andrew Jackson. Texans, which
was formerly named Santa Anna,
was named the county seat. This
name was later changed to Edna.
At the same time Jackson County
was named and became a muni-
cipality, Dr. Wells settled in
Edna along the Lavaca River. In
1837, there was a public sale of
lots and much interest spawned
the development of the town.
Everyone was planning on this
being a good place to live.
General Johnston acquired some
property from Dr. Wells and
planned for the promotion and
development of an addition to the
town. Sam A. White surveyed
the land, and Dr. Wells drew a
map of the town. This map was
filed with the county clerk on
April 25,1837. This map showed
six streets paralleling the Navi-
dad River. The names of these
streets were as follows: Water,
Commerce, Broadway, Devol,
Ta'mae. and Bonham. This map
also showed ten streets running
east and west from the river.
Their names were as follows:
Crockett, Bovil, Fannin, Travis,
Lavaca, Milam, Austin, Ward,
King, and Common. Out of these
forty-five blocks, there were
three set aside: for a public
square, for a markethouse squa-
re, and for a promenade square.
The streets were sixty Spanish
feet in width, except Broadway
Spi
which was ninety Spanish feet,
and Deval, which was ninety
English feet wide. Many of them
were forty-five varas long, which
equals 125.21 feet, and thirty
varas wide which equals 83.48
feet. Provisions were made for all
business houses to back the
river.
The land was wonderful for
crops including corn, and other
crops, and well known vegeta-
bles. This had a great influence
on the immigrants who came into
this part of the country. They
immigrated by land and water
from many countries, especially
Germany and Czechoslovakia.
The Edna Methodist Church
was one of the first buildings and
the first Protestant church in the
county. The other buildings were
the courthouse, the jail, the
temperence hall, and a school-
house. The courthouse had three
stories, and the courtroom was
on the third floor. It had a
stairway in front that led up to
the second floor, which had a
door in which to enter. The
courthouse also had five or more
windows and slick side rails to
slide down from the stairway on.
It also had a statue of a lady that
looked like the Statue of Liberty
on the top.
The schoolhouse had three
stories, a chimney, several fire
escapes, and almost thiriy-two
windows. The jail was very small
and had cells for temporary pri-
soners. Most of the criminals or
prisoners were hung before they
could spend any time in the jail.
The policemen or guards hung
the prisoners on the courthouse
lawn or behind the jail.
The first commercial transpor-
tation service within Jackson
County limits dates back to
September 21, 1840. It was
started by Ferguson and Harnell.
They agreed to start a regular
steamboat service called "The
Swan”. The steamboat went
from Texana to the pass of
Matagorda Bay to a point known
by the name Dickrows for the
space of one year.
John Brackenridge also played
a very important part in Jackson
County's history. Mr. Bracken-
ridge was a very wealthy man.
He lived from 1800 to 1862. He
was a neighbor of Abraham
Lincoln, and he allowed Mr.
Lincoln to borrow books from
him. His first house in Texas was
a log cabin. He also had his own
cemetery in which he is buried
today. The cemetery has a huge
KELLIE MATUSEK
Local Winner
monument in the center with a
huge cement wall all the way
around it. The name was after
him: Brackenridge Cemetery. It
was believed at one time that Mr.
Brackenridge's wife was buried
with very expensive jewelry;
some said that gold was under
the monument. A couple of
weeks after ths rumor, people
found grass sacks and huge holes
all over the cemetery. Ever since
then people believed that some-
one stole the gold and just left
the grass sacks there.
Jackson Counfy grew and pros-
pered with the help of citizens
such as Wells and Brackenridge
The ethnic background of the
area is rich and diversified. The
strong character of the Texans in
1836 is reflected in the strong,
independent, nature of Jackson
Countians today.
to 34 miles a day and went as
long as five days without a drop
of water. At the end of the
ordeal, the camels showed no ill
effects whatsoever.
While traipsing through the
Big Bend, a myth was dramati-
cally shattered. So-called experts
assured Echols that the camel's
water capacity did not exceed 25
pints. At a rare water hole, he
allowed the animals to drink their
fill and watched in astonishment
as each consumed 20 or more
gallons.
The experiment was a resoun-
ding success, and Army planners
worked feverishly on switching
their transportation system in the
western U.S. to camel power.
However, in 1861 this ambitious
undertaking was sidetracked by
the Civil War.
Before the conflict the camels
numbered about a hundred.
After hostilities commenced, so-
me were sold, others mysterious-
ly disappeared into private hands
and still others escaped into the
wilds. Confederate troops occas-
ionally used camels for cross
country pack trains, but at war's
end only a handful remained in
Texas.
Following the South’s surreis-
de, the age of the railroad
prevented revival of the Great
Camel Experiment. Not even the
bizarre humped creatures with
their extraordinary strength and
stamina could compete with the
steam locomotive.
Entertaining tales of camel
herds roaming the West surfaced
with amusing frequency but little
proof. Those former Army charg-
es that high tailed it for freedom
undoubtedly fell victim to pre-
dators, especially those on two
feet who carried Winchesters. By
the turn of the century, camel
sightings were a curiosity of the
Lone Star past.
A State Capital
Highlights
By lynd«fl WIRiiml
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
Bush lambasted Congress
lal fai
with Applause, and, in fact,
ned
House Parimutuel Bill
AUSTIN—State lawmakers
advanced the controversial wa-
ter plan and parimutuel bet-
ting bill before winding up last
week with a joint session ad-
dress by Vice President George
Bush.
for extending additional farm
credit, and said President Rea-
gan has threatened to veto the
bill.
He also preached an anti-
communist line and said the
public should be educated
about the red-backed Sandi-
nista government in Nicara-
gua.
Not surprisingly, he also
praised the administration’s
role in increasing federal rev-
enues and bolstering the econo-
my, but legislators sitting in
joint session did not interrupt
the Vice President’s speech
trial of Texas Attorney Gen-
eral Jim Mattox tried to prove
or disprove whether he actual-
ly tried to delay the progress
of a Houston law firm’s bonds.
A former aide to Mattox,
now his chief of the bond di-
vision, described a conversa-
tion she had with Mattox on
June 10, 1983, in which she,
in answer to his inquiries, in-
formed him how to slow down
the pace of bond approval. She
testified that a week later the
bonds division chief told her
to hold the firm’s bonds until
it could be determined that un-
ethical violations by some
members of the firm were not
spilling over into their bond
business.
Five days later, she testi-
fied, the bonds were sent on to
the Comptroller’s Office with
Mattox’s approval.
remained very quiet during his
address. The silence puzzled
many onlookers.
Bush’s hard-line on farm
credit surely put many rural
lawmakers on the defensive,
and his news about prosperity
may have fell on skeptical ears
of legislators from Houston,
the southeast Texas refinery
area, the Rio Grande Valley,
as well as farm and ranch
counties;
Senate Water Plan
The Senate voted over-
whelmingly to approve a
comprehensive, $1.2 billion
statewide water plan which
was radically different from
the House version passed two
weeks ago.
The differences will be
worked out in conference com-
mittee. The House rejected the
Senate plan as expected.
The Senate plan, authored
by John Montford, D-Lubbock,
directs $400 million for water
conservation projects and $200
million for agricultural water,
Credit Rate Drops
Texas consumers got a shot
in the arm last week when the
state’s consumer credit agency
lowered bank card rates to
16.4 percent, effective April 1,
the lowest in four years.
The current ceiling is 19.6
percent. Rates on charge cards
by individual retailers are not
affected.
tun PBpRrtwm of PiiMte MMy
compared with roughly half
' ‘ iHoi
that amount in the House plan
for water development.
As approved, the Senate bill
authorizes the state to create
underground water districts if
voters, on a local basis, fail to
do so.
The horserace betting bill is
mg
expected to make it to floor de-
bate in the next two weeks
after a lopsided victory in a
House committee last week.
The bill’s sponsor, Speaker
Pro Tern Hugo Berlanga of
Corpus Christi, made conces-
sions to minority and law en-
forcement groups in forging
the 10-1 panel approval.
Minority groups, it was re-
ported, were granted assur-
ances they would get at least
15 percent of racetrack con-
struction contracts, the first
right to purchase 15 percent of
race track stock, ana &i
affirma-
tive action in racetrack hiring.
Five percent of track pro-
ceeds will go to the State, five
percent to winners’ purses and
seven percent to track owners.
Surprisingly, black law-
uld
makers could not make stick
their original demand that
part of the State’s share
would be dedicated to welfare,
the Aid to Families with De-
pendent Children program.
If the bill passes the House
this month, it is expected to
sail through the Senate, which
approved the issue last ses-
sion.
Mattox Trial
Opposing attorneys in the
felony commercial bribery
Palacios JL Beeuen
PUBLISHER
NICHOLAS M. WEST
OFFICE MANAGER
ELAINE TEMPLEMAN
Second Class Pottage Paid At
Palacios, Tex. 77465
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Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 7, 1985, newspaper, March 7, 1985; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth725442/m1/4/: accessed June 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.